Legal and Intellectual Property Innovation Support Services

As part of the UK Government's Levelling Up agenda, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly have been allocated £132 million for local investment through the Shared Prosperity Fund. Part of this funding has been allocated for a Delegated Grant Scheme to encourage businesses that have the ambition and capacity to grow and improve their productivity and create a positive economic impact for Cornwall and Isles of Scilly whilst also delivering improvements in environmental sustainability and enhancing social responsibility. The grants have been allocated to several different streams:

a. Export grants are available to help businesses to grow overseas trading, find new markets and support local employment. b. Business grants to encourage businesses that have the ambition and capacity to grow and improve their productivity whilst also delivering improvements in environmental sustainability and enhancing social responsibility. c. Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) grant funding to encourage businesses that have the ambition and capacity to grow through research, development and innovation to improve their productivity whilst also delivering improvements in environmental sustainability and enhancing social responsibility.

Grants will also be made available soon to help businesses with developing and delivering their net zero ambitions and to support rural communities.

The RDI grants seek specifically to help businesses to grow through innovation whilst creating a positive economic impact for Cornwall and Isles of Scilly. The grants, will therefore, support:

• innovative product and service development. • the sharing of innovation knowledge and activities. • commercialisation of ideas, encouraging collaboration and accelerating the path to market. • development of innovation infrastructure at the local level.

This commission is to provide support to businesses seeking an RDI grant that have not considered how they will protect and commercialise the intellectual property (IP) generated through their prospective RDI project activity. This is especially important in collaborative RDI projects where arising IP is shared between the parties involved and SME's can often be at a disadvantage compared to larger entities with in-house legal advisors. Support is required for a number of businesses with IP, RDI collaboration agreements and contracts before, during and after any RDI activity has taken place.

This ITT is to provide for an appropriately qualified legal expert to transfer knowledge of the legal aspects of IP associated with RDI activity to support businesses in overcoming these challenges.