Author: Julien Sudre, Horizon Europe grant writing and project management specialist, founder of Grant360 and Innotrope
The European Intellectual Property (IP) Helpdesk provides free, confidential, first-line guidance, training and practical resources to help beneficiaries of European Union (EU)-funded research and innovation projects manage intellectual property. Horizon Europe coordinators, researchers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can use it to clarify ownership, access rights, protection, publication and exploitation questions before they become obstacles. It complements rather than replaces a beneficiary's legal advisers, technology transfer office or patent attorney.
The most useful way to work with the Helpdesk is to bring a specific question, the relevant project documents and a decision that needs to be made. This guide explains what support is available, when to use it and how to translate the guidance into project management actions.
What is the European IP Helpdesk, and who can use it?
The European IP Helpdesk is a European Commission-supported service offering free first-line IP assistance to European SMEs and research teams involved in cross-border business or EU-funded research and innovation. Its services include a confidential Helpline, training and an online resource library. Researchers and project beneficiaries can use its Horizon Europe-focused materials and support to better understand IP-related obligations and decisions.
The Helpdesk is not a consortium member, a substitute for legal representation or an authority that approves a project's IP arrangements. Responsibility for contractual decisions remains with the beneficiaries and their authorised advisers.
Practical example: A university and an SME plan to develop software together. Before signing their Consortium Agreement (CA), they can consult the Helpdesk's resources to identify the ownership, licensing and access-rights questions they should settle, then ask their respective legal teams to draft the appropriate clauses.
Official source: European IP Helpdesk - overview and services.
Which European IP Helpdesk services can a Horizon Europe consortium use?
The three core options are the Helpline for a specific question, training for building team knowledge, and the resource library for reference materials. They serve different purposes and work best together.
- Confidential Helpline: immediate use: clarify a concrete IP question before a decision. Practical output: first-line guidance and issues to take to legal counsel.
- Webinars and training: immediate use: build shared understanding across partners. Practical output: common vocabulary and more consistent internal procedures.
- Guides, factsheets and case studies: immediate use: prepare agreements, workflows and discussions. Practical output: checklists and questions for the consortium to resolve.
How does the Helpline work?
Submit a clearly framed IP question through the Helpdesk's official contact channel. The service states that its experts respond within three working days; this is a stated service target, not a guarantee that a complex legal dispute will be resolved in that period. Describe the type of project, its stage, the relevant contractual provisions and the decision at stake, while avoiding unnecessary disclosure of confidential technical details.
Example question: "Two beneficiaries jointly created a dataset and intend to license it to an industrial user. Which ownership and access-rights issues should we address in a joint ownership agreement before negotiating the licence?"
Contact the European IP Helpdesk.
What training and reference materials are available?
The Helpdesk offers online and on-site training, including webinars on IP in EU-funded projects, licensing and commercialisation. Its library contains guides, factsheets, case studies and other materials covering IP management and exploitation. Check the current programme and the date of each publication before relying on it for a contractual decision.
Example: Before the first consortium-wide exploitation workshop, a coordinator can ask partners to review a relevant IP guide and attend a webinar. The workshop can then focus on unresolved project-specific choices rather than basic definitions.
Official sources: Training programme · European IP Helpdesk resources.
When should you contact the Helpdesk during a Horizon Europe project?
Contact the Helpdesk before an IP decision becomes difficult to reverse: while preparing the proposal and consortium arrangements, before disclosing potentially protectable results, and when defining post-project exploitation. IP management is a continuous activity, not an administrative task reserved for the final reporting period.
Useful moments include:
- Proposal preparation: question to resolve: what pre-existing knowledge will partners bring? Suggested management action: identify potentially relevant background and exploitation assumptions.
- Grant preparation and kick-off: question to resolve: who may use background and project results, and under what conditions? Suggested management action: review the CA and establish an internal IP decision process.
- Implementation: question to resolve: can a result be published, protected or licensed? Suggested management action: check ownership, confidentiality and protection before public disclosure.
- Reporting and exploitation planning: question to resolve: which results have a credible route to use? Suggested management action: update the result inventory, responsibilities and exploitation pathways.
- Project closure: question to resolve: who will maintain, license or deploy each result? Suggested management action: agree on post-project actions and applicable continuing obligations.
Example: A research team plans to present a potentially patentable invention at a conference. The coordinator should first identify the result's owners and consult the relevant institutional IP specialists about protection and disclosure timing. The Helpdesk can provide first-line guidance on the issues to consider, but it cannot make the filing decision for the owners.
For the wider legal and operational framework, see Intellectual Property in Horizon Europe and the cluster's exploitation and intellectual property guide.
Which IP questions should project managers raise first?
Start with background, ownership of results, access rights, confidentiality, protection and intended use. These decisions are connected: an exploitation pathway may be impractical if the future user lacks the rights needed to use essential background or jointly owned results.
Background: Which data, software, know-how or other assets existed before the project, and what access will other beneficiaries need?
Ownership: Which beneficiary generated each result? If several partners generated it jointly, what arrangement will govern their respective rights and decisions?
Access rights: Who needs access to background or results to implement project tasks or exploit their own results, and on what conditions?
Disclosure and protection: What must be checked before publishing, demonstrating or releasing a result? Is patenting, copyright, trade-secret management or another approach appropriate?
Exploitation: Who will use each result, for what purpose, through which route and with which additional resources?
These are starting questions, not an exhaustive statement of the applicable legal rules. Consult the signed Grant Agreement, CA and professional advisers for the specific project. For a practical planning framework, read How to Write an Effective Exploitation and Dissemination Plan in Horizon Europe.
How can you turn Helpdesk advice into a project-level IP management process?
Assign an owner to each IP question, record the decision and revisit it when the result or exploitation plan changes. Advice has limited operational value unless the consortium translates it into responsibilities, documents and deadlines.
A practical workflow is to: identify the result or issue; check the Grant Agreement and CA; gather the relevant facts from the partners; consult the Helpdesk where useful; obtain project-specific legal advice when needed; document the agreed action; and update the result inventory and exploitation plan.
Illustrative result record:
- Result: prototype sensor and analysis software.
- Generating beneficiaries: University A and SME B.
- Background dependencies: University A's calibration dataset.
- Open question: conditions for SME B's commercial licence.
- Next action: review ownership and access arrangements with both legal teams.
- Responsible person: exploitation lead.
- Review trigger: before external demonstration or licence negotiations.
This record is an original operational example, not an official European Commission template. It helps distinguish a result's scientific maturity from its legal and commercial readiness.
Can the Helpdesk support international exploitation and collaboration?
Yes. The wider European Commission IP Helpdesk network includes regional services covering several non-European markets, which can provide first-line information on IP issues relevant to cross-border business. The European IP Helpdesk can help beneficiaries identify questions arising in EU-funded collaboration, while a relevant regional Helpdesk may be useful when a result is to be commercialised or protected in another jurisdiction.
Example: A consortium develops a medical device and considers licensing it to a distributor outside Europe. Before negotiations, the result owners should identify the territories concerned, existing protection, ownership and licensing restrictions, and the local professional advice required. International Helpdesk resources can support the initial assessment but do not replace jurisdiction-specific legal or regulatory advice.
Official source: European Commission IP Helpdesk services and regional coverage.
Is Horizon IP Scan currently available?
The European Commission's Horizon IP Scan was a separate, tailored IP assessment service for eligible SMEs involved in collaborative research. Its official information page currently states that applications are closed. Do not present it as an open application opportunity or confuse it with the European IP Helpdesk's ongoing Helpline, training and resource services.
If your consortium needs a structured IP assessment now, consult the current Helpdesk services and your institution's technology transfer or legal team, and verify whether any new programme-specific support scheme is accepting applications.
Official source: Horizon IP Scan - service page and application status.
How does the Helpdesk fit into an exploitation and dissemination strategy?
Use the Helpdesk to clarify the rights and protection decisions that make dissemination and exploitation feasible. Dissemination shares project results with relevant audiences; exploitation puts results to use. Communication promotes the project and its activities to wider audiences. An effective strategy coordinates all three without assuming that every result should be published immediately or commercialised.
Example: A consortium has developed a software tool. It may communicate the project's objectives publicly, disseminate a scientific paper on its methodology and exploit the tool through an open-source release, a paid service or licensing. The appropriate sequence depends on ownership, third-party components, confidentiality, user needs and the intended exploitation route.
See What Is the Difference Between Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation in Horizon Europe? and Why Is Exploitation Mandatory in Horizon Europe?.
Conclusion: How should Horizon Europe beneficiaries use the European IP Helpdesk?
Use the European IP Helpdesk early, ask specific questions and integrate its guidance into documented consortium decisions. Its free first-line advice, training and reference materials can help project teams identify IP issues, prepare better-informed discussions with legal specialists and align protection, dissemination and exploitation. The Helpdesk does not take responsibility for the consortium's agreements or legal decisions: beneficiaries must still verify their own contractual obligations and obtain tailored advice where needed.
For coordinators, the practical objective is to make IP a routine part of result management - from identifying background at the outset to agreeing who will use project results after funding ends.
About the author
Julien Sudre - Horizon Europe grant writing and project management specialist. Julien Sudre works on Horizon Europe proposal development, collaborative project management and communication. Through Grant 360, he develops practical resources to help research and innovation organisations plan, manage and exploit EU-funded projects.