The COVID-19 pandemic demands an urgent and unprecedented response.
University research and expertise is critical to this effort, and OUI is supporting a growing number of projects from Oxford University involving IP and technology that could help address the current pandemic. These include vaccines, rapid diagnostics, ventilators, therapeutics and remote monitoring technology.
The following guidance explains how we approach licensing COVID-19 related IP to 3rd parties in these exceptional circumstances.
Guidance for organisations seeking to licence or otherwise access University of Oxford IP relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic
OU and OUI will expedite access to Oxford IP to enable global deployment at scale of associated products and services to address the COVID-19 pandemic
The default approach of the University and OUI regarding (1) will be to offer non-exclusive, royalty-free licences to support free of charge, at-cost or cost + limited margin supply as appropriate, and only for the duration of the pandemic, as defined by the WHO
Licence terms for supplying downstream (post-pandemic) commercial markets will be the subject of a separate agreement
The grant to a Licensee of access to IP under (1) does not guarantee it will be granted downstream commercial rights
Where relevant University IP is licensed to support commercial sales after the point at which the pandemic is declared by the WHO (or other appropriate body) to be over, such licences will carry appropriate financial terms to allow the University to reinvest proceeds in research and teaching.
The University and Oxford University Innovation Ltd will wherever possible adhere to the above principles, subject to our obligations to 3rd party funders and to cases where the overarching principle (1) can only be achieved by a different approach. All licences granted under these principles will preserve the University’s academic research freedoms to publish and use the IP for teaching and research purposes.
