10 This section applies to the deliverables (outcomes) of the activities included in the workplan of a WHO collaborating centre (WHO CC), and aims at ensuring appropriate rights for WHO to fully benefit from those deliverables.
20 Certain deliverables of the activities of the workplan (e.g. a publication, toolkit, report or training module) may require an agreement between the designated institution and WHO about the intellectual property rights (IP). When planning joint activities leading to such deliverables, the responsible officer and the proposed institution should identify what type of intellectual property right is applicable (for example, copyrights apply to publications, and patents may apply to other types of deliverables), and whether these rights will be owned by the designated institution giving a licence to WHO (in this case, the deliverable will be the institution's product), or by WHO (in which case the deliverable will be a WHO product). See summary table.
Summary table
| |
Product of the WHO CC, and therefore WHO CC owns IP and gives licence to WHO |
WHO product , and therefore WHO owns IP and gives WHO CC a licence |
|
Copyrights (publications) |
Paragraph 40 below (corresponds to paragraph 3.1.1 of the terms and conditions) |
Paragraph 50 below corresponds to paragraph 3.1.2 of theterms and conditions) |
|
Patents (other type of deliverables) |
Paragraphs 60-100 below (corresponds to paragraph 3.2.1 of the terms and conditions) |
Paragraph 110 below (corresponds to paragraph 3.2.2 of the terms and conditions) |
Generic clause
30 In the absence of any different provision included in the (re)designation form, any deliverable of any activity included in the (re)designation form subject to copyrights will be ruled by paragraph 40 below, and any deliverable of any activity included in the designation form subject to patent rights will be ruled by paragraphs 60-100 below.
Copyrights
40 As a rule, a product produced by the WHO CC as part of the agreed workplan and published under the institution's own name is the sole responsibility of the institution, and copyright will be vested in the institution, unless otherwise agreed. WHO is automatically granted a perpetual and irrevocable, non-exclusive, world-wide, royalty-free, sub-licensable right to use, change, adapt, translate, publish and disseminate such work product in any manner and in any format in conjunction with the work of WHO. Any adaptation, translation, publication (including in scientific journals) and dissemination to be made by either party will be coordinated between the parties in order to avoid overlap. The institution will not publish in the name of WHO, nor use its title as a WHO CC and/or the WHO emblem in the product (book, article in a journal, etc), unless this has been specifically agreed with WHO, in which case the work product is subject to a special WHO's publication clearance procedures. In no case shall the name of WHO (either as an acronym or in full text) be used in the title of these products. If granted, the permission to publish in the name of WHO and/or use the title as a WHO CC and/or the WHO emblem ceases automatically upon termination or expiry of the institution's designation as a WHO CC.
50 However, if a work product is be developed by the WHO CC as a WHO product as part of the agreed workplan, then the copyright of such work product will automatically be vested in WHO, unless WHO requests otherwise. The institution (as a WHO CC) will be appropriately acknowledged for its contribution in connection with the product. WHO retains the right to amend the work product after consultation with the institution, to decide if and how the work product will be used and whether or not it will be published and disseminated. At the institution's request, WHO will give good faith consideration to granting the institution a non-exclusive, world-wide, royalty-free right to use, translate, adapt, publish and disseminate such work product as part of its agreed workplan as a WHO CC, or to use it for the development of other work products as foreseen in the WHO CC terms of reference. Any adaption, translation and publication (including in scientific journals) and dissemination will be coordinated with and requires the agreement of WHO in order to avoid overlap. Any licence granted by WHO will terminate automatically upon termination or expiry of the institution's designation as a WHO CC.
Patents
60 Unless otherwise agreed by the parties in writing, the ownership of any inventions, know-how, data and information and other results arising from any other study or trial carried out by the WHO CC, if exceptionally agreed as part of the workplan (see section XV.5.2) shall be vested in the institution, in accordance with and subject to the terms set forth below.
70 The results of the project may be freely used or disclosed by either party provided that, without the consent the other party, no use may be made for commercial purposes and confidentiality shall be maintained with respect to results that may be eligible for protection by proprietary rights. The institution will provide WHO with the results, in the form of relevant know-how and other information, and to the extent feasible, tangible products.
80 The industrial or commercial exploitation of any intellectual property rights, including the ownership of know-how, arising from the project shall be designed to achieve, in so far as circumstances permit, the following objectives in the following order of priority:
i. the general availability of the products of creative activity;
ii. the availability of those products to the public health sector on preferential terms, particularly in developing countries;
iii. the grant to each party of additional benefits, including royalties, account being taken of the relative value of each party’s financial, intellectual and other contributions to the research.
90 The rights referred to above shall belong to the institution, or to the principal investigator if the institution and WHO so agree. To the extent that the former do not intend to exercise them, the rights shall be promptly transferred to WHO, if it so requests. Each party shall provide the other with its full cooperation to permit the effective exercise of the rights. The party in which the corresponding rights are vested may file applications for industrial property protection, promptly furnishing copies of the applications and other patent documents to the other party. All rights other than the right to file applications shall be exercised in accordance with an agreement which shall be negotiated in good faith between the institution and WHO.
100 In any publication by the institution or the principal investigator relating to the results of the project, the responsibility for the direction of the work shall not be ascribed to WHO. Unless WHO advises otherwise, all publications shall include a notice indicating that the underlying investigation was carried out
by the institution as a WHO CC. Two off-prints or copies shall be sent to WHO unless another number is stipulated.
110 However, the ownership of any inventions, know-how, data and information and other results arising from any study or trial carried out by the WHO CC as part of the agreed workplan, as a WHO study or trial, shall be vested in WHO and shall be held by the institution in confidence and not be used by it in any way without the prior written agreement of WHO.
