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1. The results of research actions that are supported by the Fund shall be owned by the recipients generating them. Where legal entities generate results jointly and where their respective contributions cannot be ascertained, or where it is not possible to separate such joint results, the legal entities shall have joint ownership of the results. Joint owners shall enter into an agreement regarding the allocation of their shares and the terms of exercise of their joint ownership in accordance with their obligations under the grant agreement.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, where Union support is provided in the form of public procurement, results of research actions supported by the Fund shall be owned by the Union. Member States and associated countries shall enjoy access rights to the results, free of charge, upon written request.

3. The results of research actions supported by the Fund shall not be subject to any control or restriction by a non-associated third country or by a non-associated third-country entity, directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediate legal entities, including in terms of technology transfer.

4. With regard to results generated by recipients through research actions supported by the Fund and without prejudice to paragraph 9 of this Article, the Commission shall be notified prior to any transfer of ownership or granting of an exclusive licence to a non-associated third country or to a non-associated third-country entity. Where such transfer of ownership or granting of an exclusive licence contravenes the security and defence interests of the Union and its Member States or the objectives set out in Article 3, the support provided from the Fund shall be reimbursed.

5. The national authorities of Member States and associated countries shall enjoy access rights to the special reports. Such access rights shall be granted on a royalty-free basis and transferred by the Commission to the Member States and associated countries after the Commission has ensured that appropriate confidentiality obligations are in place.

6. The national authorities of Member States and associated countries shall use the special report solely for purposes related to the use by or for their armed forces, or security or intelligence forces, including within the framework of their cooperative programmes. Such use shall include study, evaluation, assessment, research, design, product acceptance and certification, operation, training and disposal, as well as the assessment and drafting of technical requirements for procurement.

7. The recipients shall grant access rights to the results of research actions supported by the Fund on a royalty-free basis to the Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies, for the duly substantiated purpose of developing, implementing and monitoring existing Union policies or programmes in the fields of its competence. Such access rights shall be limited to non-commercial and non-competitive use.

8. Specific provisions regarding ownership, access rights and licensing shall be laid down in the funding agreements and the contracts regarding pre-commercial procurement to ensure maximum uptake of the results and to avoid any unfair advantage. The contracting authorities shall enjoy at least royalty-free access rights to the results for their own use and the right to grant, or to require the recipients to grant, non-exclusive licences to third parties to exploit the results under fair and reasonable conditions without any right to sublicense. All Member States and associated countries shall have royalty-free access to the special report. Where a contractor fails to exploit the results commercially within a given period after the pre-commercial procurement as identified in the contract, it shall transfer any ownership of the results to the contracting authorities.

9. This Regulation shall not affect the export of products, equipment or technologies integrating results of research actions supported by the Fund, and shall not affect the Member States’ discretion as regards their policy on the export of defence-related products.

10. Where two or more Member States or associated countries have, multilaterally or within the framework of the Union, jointly concluded one or several contracts with one or more recipients to further develop together results of research actions supported by the Fund, they shall enjoy access rights to those results insofar as they are owned by such recipients and are necessary for the execution of the contract or contracts. Such access rights shall be granted on a royalty-free basis and under specific conditions aiming to ensure that those rights are used only for the purposes of the contract or contracts and that appropriate confidentiality obligations are put in place.