Model of a Cooperation Agreement between 
Academic Research Institutions and Not-for-Profit Private Institutions or Public Institutions (Non-Commercial Application Partners)

Cooperation Agreement
The following Agreement is hereby concluded
between
	
represented by the Administration of the Academic Research Institution on behalf of the
Institute:		

Director:		
- hereinafter referred to as the "University" -
and		

- hereinafter referred to as the "Non-Commercial Application Partner" -

Article 1 - Subject of the Cooperation Agreement
The Parties agree to conduct a research project ("Cooperation Project") entitled
	
jointly on the basis of and during the term of this Agreement.
The subject of the Cooperation Project is

	
The details of the project-related work are laid out in the work plans agreed between the Parties, as included in the proposal submitted to the DFG.

Article 2 - Contributions by the Parties
Each Party shall provide the staff and in-kind contributions required for the conduct of the Cooperation Project as is necessary on its part and bear the corresponding costs. The services to be provided by the University may be supplemented by funds from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation). The details of the services planned by the Parties are described in the proposal to the DFG.

Article 3 - Support by the DFG
(1)	The Parties expect that the DFG shall decide on the support of the Cooperation Project once it has evaluated the proposal.

(2)	The DFG’s current guidelines for the use of funds, award letter and general guidelines shall be deemed as the basis of this Agreement and shall be acknowledged as binding by the Parties; however, the Non-Commercial Application Partner shall only acknowledge these guidelines and terms to the extent that it will be affected by them.

Article 4 - Cooperation
(1)	The Parties shall use the time and care necessary for the implementation of the Cooperation Project as required and in consideration of the generally accepted rules of science and technology, in order to achieve an optimum result. The Parties shall conduct work-related discussions and agree on the progress of the work at reasonable intervals, involving the employees entrusted with the project-related work.

(2)	Each Party shall name a contact person to be contacted with regard to all matters that will need to be agreed within the scope of the cooperation.

(3)	Employees of either Party who work on defined tasks at the premises of the respective other Party for a limited time, within the scope of the project-related work, shall be subject to the instructions given by the employees responsible at the Party concerned, to the extent required for carrying out the work. The relationships under the relevant service regulations and employment contracts shall not be affected.

Article 5 - Work Results, Rights of Use
(1)	All protectable and non-protectable work results generated under the Cooperation Project exclusively by the employees of one Party are the property of this Party.

(2)	The Parties grant each other, for the duration and purposes of the Cooperation Project, the non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, irrevocable and royalty-free right of use to the protectable and non-protectable work results generated under the Cooperation Project.

(3)	In addition, the Parties grant each other, for the duration and purposes of the Cooperation Project, the non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable and royalty-free right of use to previously generated protectable and non-protectable work results to the extent necessary for the realisation of the Cooperation Project.

(4)	The Parties shall agree on a case-by-case basis on the granting of further rights of use, particularly for purposes outside of the Cooperation Project and after the expiration of the Cooperation Project. Such rights shall be granted on fair and reasonable terms.

(5)	Joint work results are work results in which employees from both Parties are involved and whose parts cannot be attributed to one Party alone. Rights of use shall be granted in accordance with Article 5, paragraph 7, sentences 3 ff.

(6)	Each Party may, according to its discretion, apply for a domestic and/or foreign patent or utility model for any invention made under the Cooperation Project based on work results generated by that Party, and claim the resulting industrial property rights.

(7)	Joint inventions are inventions in which employees of both Parties are involved and whose parts cannot be the subject of industrial property rights applications filed separately by each Party. The Parties shall come to agreements on the treatment of joint inventions, especially the application for and maintenance of industrial property rights and on the responsibility for the associated costs. The Parties grant each other an irrevocable, worldwide, transferable, sublicensable and royalty-free right of use to these joint inventions for all uses, provided the other Party’s contribution to the joint invention is greater than one-third. If this is not the case, the Parties grant each other a non-exclusive, non-transferable, sublicensable, irrevocable and royalty-free right of use for the purposes and duration of the Cooperation Project. For purposes outside of the Cooperation Project or after the expiration of the Cooperation Project, the right of use shall be granted on fair and reasonable terms.

(8)	If a Party is not interested in filing an application for industrial property rights, the other Party is free to pursue, at its own expense, the registration and exploitation of the relevant work results. The Party filing such an application shall release the other Party from having to pay inventor compensation (according to the German Gesetz über Arbeitnehmererfindungen (Law on Employee Inventions)).

(9)	The Parties are not responsible for ensuring that the rights of use granted under this Agreement are free of third-party rights. If they become aware of any third-party rights, they shall inform the other contracting Party accordingly and without delay.

Article 6 - Confidentiality
(1)	The Parties hereby agree that they will not disclose any recognisably confidential operational and business information that the respective other Party has become aware of during the Cooperation Project to any third party; this obligation shall also continue to apply for a period of three years beyond the term of this Agreement.

(2)	This obligation (pursuant to Article 6, paragraph 1) shall not apply to information that 
-	is common knowledge through publications or the like,
-	becomes common knowledge through no fault of the receiving Party,
-	was demonstrably known to the receiving Party before the date on which it was provided,
-	was generated by the receiving Party independently of such provision,
-	was provided to the receiving Party by a third party without any obligation to confidentiality.

(3)	The DFG is not deemed to be a “third party” within the meaning of this clause insofar as the DFG is entitled to such information according to its current grant conditions, award letter and general guidelines.

Article 7 - Publications
(1)	Each Party shall have the right to publish the work results it has achieved within the scope of the Cooperation Project. However, the mutual protectable interests of either Party must also be taken into account.

(2)	The Parties shall notify each other in due time about planned publications. Unless the other Party objects within a period of four weeks after it has received the proposed publication, its consent to the publication shall be considered granted. The publication date may be suspended for a limited time at the request of either Party, but no longer than for a period of five months, for example, in order to enable the respective Party to file an application for industrial property rights. In the event that the Parties are unable to reach an agreement on the content and/or the form of the planned publication within the said time limit, the publication in question may also be filed for publication without the consent of the other Party provided that the publication does not disclose the other Party’s work results or confidential information.

(3)	All publications shall refer explicitly to the Cooperation Project as the origin of the published results and to the DFG as the sponsor providing the funds.

(4)	The employment rights and obligations of any staff members of the University with regard to publications shall not be affected. The Non-Commercial Application Partner shall take the legal obligations and justified interests of doctoral and postdoctoral researchers into account to a reasonable extent, i.e. also by granting its consent to a shortening of the compulsory waiting period defined in Article 7, paragraph 2, if attainment of a doctorate or habilitation is affected by the work in the Cooperation Project.

(5)	The rights of the DFG as the sponsor of this Cooperation Project, particularly its entitlement to report on the work and the results achieved within the scope of DFG funding, shall not be affected.

Article 8 - Warranty, Liability
(1)	The Parties shall waive the enforcement of any warranty claims within the scope of the Cooperation Project with regard to the know-how provided and the achieved work results.

(2)	Otherwise, each Party, to the extent permitted by law, shall only be held liable for any property damage or financial losses caused by wilful intent or gross negligence. Liability for consequential damages shall be excluded.

Article 9 - Term of Agreement and Termination
(1)	This Agreement shall take effect upon the DFG’s granting of funds to the University. The Agreement shall expire upon completion of DFG funding, unless any arrangements or obligations beyond the end date have been agreed.

(2)	This Agreement may only be terminated early for good cause; termination must be made in writing. The DFG must be informed accordingly.

Article 10 - Final Provisions
If any individual provision of this Agreement is held to be or becomes ineffective, the validity of the remaining provisions shall not be affected. In such a case, the Parties shall endeavour to agree on a supplementary clause to this Agreement in the spirit of the initially intended purpose by mutual consent.

Any amendments or supplements to this Agreement must be made in writing and shall be subject to the prior consent of the DFG. This shall also apply to an amendment of the written form clause itself.

........................................., ................................... (City, Date)

...................... (University)

..........................................
(University Administration)

.........................................., ..................................... (City, Date)

.......................................(Non-Commercial Application Partner)

.........................................
(Management)