ICARS PRINCIPLES ON THE MANAGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL ASSETS AND OPEN ACCESS TO RESEARCH PRODUCTS
Approved by the ICARS Board of Directors in August 2026.
Equal partnership (principle 3) and local ownership (principle 1) are two of ICARS’ five core principles. ICARS acknowledges that partnerships, including Low-and Middle-Income Country Partners (LMIC) partners, are critical elements to ensure access to the best knowledge and innovation for AMR mitigation.
Engagement with LMIC partners can harness efficiencies in LMIC development and increase impact through effective delivery, scale-up and deployment of solutions/interventions.
Therefore, ICARS has prepared this policy to set out this framework on the Management of Intellectual Assets [1] and Open Access [2] to Research Products for engaging with LMIC partners.
ICARS’ IA policy, management and practice are intended to be supportive of and consistent with international agreements promoting the respect for IA and use, fundamental human rights as stated in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and national laws and regulations governing IA in LMICs where ICARS-funded projects are implemented.
Policy statement
ICARS supports Open Access to information that will support antimicrobial resistance (AMR) solutions and does not intend to own/co-own IA or Data generated in LMICs through ICARS (co)-funded projects.
The rules and principles of this policy are non-binding. Thus, the provisions of this policy are subordinate to the terms specified in the individual agreements between ICARS and the LMIC partners.
All terms in italic are defined in section F.
The purpose of this policy is to maximize impact and global access to ICARS (co-) funded projects and activities, while making sure that knowledge and information is shared in a way that maximizes their benefit to LMICs, and respects local ownership in project development and implementation.
Intellectual assets (IA) will result from all ICARS-funded (or co-funded) projects/ activities implemented in collaboration with LMICs and/or international partners as research outputs or global knowledge products. Therefore, there is a need to ensure that ICARS’ IA management approach, including with respect to intellectual property rights (IPR)[3], is in line with ICARS vision and mission and transparent to LMIC partners.
The policy covers all IA generated as a result of an ICARS-funded (or co-funded) project and activity.
ICARS initiates open discussion amongst partners to understand the policies and interests of each partner regarding the handling of IA resulting from project work, and to come to a common understanding of how we can best share innovation and knowledge freely with the global community, while respecting local ownership and individual stakeholder interests.
ICARS-funded (or co-funded) project outputs have a range of contributors, such as responsible ministries, research organisations/academia, private sector partners, community organisations, or multilateral partners. ICARS will discuss Open Access, ownership and sharing of results, including Data [4], early in partnerships with transparency to develop a common understanding, balancing the interests of ICARS and all other stakeholders.
As a general principle, LMIC project partners must accept a responsible and restricted commercial use of Data or IPR that derive from the project, as ICARS requires that Data and IPR are subject to Open Access.
The LMIC partners must comply with ICARS’ ethical guidelines as stipulated in the ICARS Conflicts of Interest Policy and refrain from activities during the project that are incompatible with ICARS’ ethical guidelines or otherwise could negatively impact ICARS’ integrity, independence, credibility or reputation.
ICARS strives to make all final research outputs and knowledge products Open Access in a timely manner. Such (joint) products and outputs will respect and acknowledge all contributions of partners and funding sources.
Open Access generally means by ICARS approved submission for publication or other public reporting within 6 months following the termination of the project regardless of whether the project is considered successful or not.
Open Access is always done subject to the legal rights and legitimate interests of the LMIC partner and other stakeholders, including with respect to protection of research ethics, IPR, confidentiality, Data privacy and sensitivity (e.g. politically sensitive information).
Access to (including Open Access) and equitable sharing of (and use of) underlying research and raw Data generated by the LMIC partners, will be discussed at the country level and only provided by the respective LMIC partners when appropriate, under consideration of local ownership, confidentiality obligations, sensitive information, Data privacy and protection of research ethics.
Any IPR owned, licensed or developed by a LMIC partner prior to or independently of a project shall continue to be held by the LMIC partner or licensor without licenses or otherwise to ICARS.
Any IPR developed by ICARS or the LMIC partner as part of a project shall be held by the party having developed the IPR. Any IPR developed jointly by ICARS and the LMIC partner shall be held jointly by the parties in accordance to the contribution of each party.
Whether developed solely or jointly, IPR deriving from projects shall always be subject to Open Access. This means the LMIC partner agrees to limit its exclusive right to commercial exploitation of the IPR.
ICARS is committed to the prudent and strategic use of IPR for the benefit of LMICs and ICARS will carefully consider requests to register or apply for (or allow LMIC partners or third parties to register or apply for) patents or other protection claiming the Intellectual Assets As a starting point, no party shall be entitled to claim IPR arising from projects funded by ICARS, unless such IPR is necessary to:
ICARS will manage its own and licensed IPR with integrity, transparency, fairness, equity, responsibility, and accountability, while respecting and not infringing the rights of partners or third parties. ICARS will expect the same from its LMIC partners.
Partners may have different interests or incentives for participation, which should be stated explicitly, made transparent and managed and monitored as appropriate.
To ensure the effective implementation of sustainable solutions in LMICs, ICARS will establish public and private partnerships in the development of solutions, including but not limited to governments, institutions, biotech companies, farmer unions, etc.
All such partnerships will be governed by appropriate partnership agreements, including provisions on IPR arising out of such partnerships.
ICARS will allow for responsible commercialization/ restricted use of/ access to research outputs and other IA only where appropriate for sustainability of AMR solutions, while supporting widespread affordable access to LMICs.
All LMIC partners must comply with donor requirements stipulated by ICARS donors. The relevant donor requirements will be stipulated in the individual agreements between ICARS and the LMIC partners.
The Board of Directors shall authorise and oversee a periodic review of the administration of this policy at least every two years. The review may be written or oral. The review shall consider the level of compliance with the policy, the continuing suitability of the policy, and whether the policy should be modified/ improved.
For the purpose of this policy:
‘Intellectual Assets’ or ‘IA’ means any results or products arising from research and development activities. This includes, but is not limited to, Data, knowledge, information products, databases, improved germplasm, technologies, inventions, know‐how, processes, and software. IA may or may not be protected by Intellectual Property Rights. [1]
‘Open Access’ means the worldwide, irrevocable, unrestricted and free online access for any third-party to information products, including Intellectual Assets, as well as the unrestricted right to re-use of content, which may be limited to non-commercial use and/or subject to appropriate licenses, provided that proper attribution is given. [2]
‘Intellectual Property Rights’ or ‘IPR’ means any and all rights in and to Intellectual Assets, whether registerable or not, in any jurisdiction. This includes copyright, database rights, patents, design rights, trademarks, and trade secrets, as well as extension of the terms of any such rights. [3]
‘Data’ means any factual information that has been collected, observed, generated or created to validate research findings by generally accepted scientific standards and irrespective of media, including, but not limited to, data sets used to support publications. Data does not include laboratory notebooks, preliminary analyses, drafts of scientific papers, plans for future research, peer review reports, communications with colleagues, or physical objects. [4]
