Treatment and Use of Intellectual Property
You represent and warrant that your Entry is an original work created solely by You, that You own all Intellectual Property in and to the Entry, and that no other party has any right, title, claim or interest in the Entry, except as expressly identified by You to us in writing in Your application. Intellectual property rights means copyrights, topography rights, software rights, database rights, design rights, patents, utility models, trademarks, service marks, domain names and trade secrets.
IP Rights for Concepts & Results Developed
Participants own the IP to the solutions that they develop. However, the LEGO Foundation will retain the right to non-commercial use to make learnings arising from the development and user-testing publicly available.
For solutions jointly developed by the LEGO Foundation and the Partner - the IP shall be jointly owned and the Parties will grant each other a non-exclusive, worldwide, transferable and free license for non-commercial use.
Results developed by the Partner are to be owned by the Partner only. However, the Partner agrees to grant the LEGO Foundation a non-exclusive, worldwide, transferable and free license for non-commercial use and to make the results publicly available (open source).
Prohibited Use of Grant Funds
Award funds must be used for the project for which they are awarded, and may not be used:
- For non-charitable purposes; (for-profit organizations, see Section 7 for information regarding charitable purpose;
- For activities that do not benefit children, education, or research either directly or indirectly;
- For general funds used for broader purposes than the solution proposed
- To make a grant to any individual for travel, study, or other similar purposes, or to make a grant to any organization that is not part of your proposed solution/strategy;
- Individuals, sub-contractors, and sub-grantee organizations that are not registered to do business (observing the current legislation) in their base country;
- For lobbying as the primary purpose of the proposed project. Any organization who is preforming lobbying activities must be careful to follow all applicable laws within their jurisdiction and cannot act as an agent of the LEGO Foundation;
- For the creation of any endowment or for the aggregation of philanthropic capital by organizations that regrant to nonprofit organizations;
- For the creation of a venture capital fund, or pooled funds to invest in or distribute to for-profit organizations;
- For loans or microloans to individuals, nonprofit, or for-profit entities unrelated to the proposed solution;
- To fund general operating support for the Lead Organization and/or any partners;
- Revenue loss; Cash payments to beneficiaries
Funds may be sub-granted from a Lead Organization to other partners to implement the proposed solution, and not for general funds used for broader purposes. All sub-grantees (and sub-contractors) must be pre-approved by the LEGO Foundation. This can be done by naming the sub-grantee(s) (and sub-contractor(s)) in the grant proposal and/or if a finalist, by working closely with the LEGO Foundation.
Indirect Costs
While general operating support is not allowed, the LEGO Foundation recognizes that applicants may have overhead costs that are not directly attributable to the proposed project but are necessary for implementation. We will consider paying for these indirect costs up to a maximum of 15% of direct project or activity costs within the award limit. Ensure that any indirect costs are accounted for in your budget in the application. Any portion of salaries and other similar costs that will be allocated directly to implementation of the proposed solution are eligible expenses and can be their own line items under “PERSONNEL.”
Guidance Related to Non-Charitable Applicants
For-profit entities must ensure that any grant funds will be used solely for charitable purposes and any profits made will be 100% reinvested back into the proposed project each year. The proposal must sufficiently set out the charitable aim of all activities within the project.
It is possible for the LEGO Foundation to fund certain parts or specific workstreams of a large project to avoid (the appearance of) support to commercial activities/matters. If a project has both commercial and charitable activities, the LEGO Foundation is allowed to fund the charitable activities of the project. However, the activities must be separated financially from the commercial activities.
A project or workstream must be fully inside the scope of the LEGO Foundation charter meaning the project must indirectly or directly support research and education and/or indirectly or directly reach children and their learning/development.
Under the Danish Commercial Foundation Act, a grant distribution may not be used to benefit the owners/shareholders/potential shareholders financially or commercially (whether directly or indirectly) and breach of this obligation may imply a claim for repayment of the full grant from the LEGO Foundation and, potentially, a claim for damages if other losses have been incurred.
Grant Agreement
The 12 successful Finalists and/or Awardees selected for the Accelerate phase will be expected to enter into a grant agreement with the LEGO Foundation, containing key terms and conditions which are separate/in addition from/to these Rules and Terms posted on this website for this Accelerator.
Reporting
Any Grantee who enters into a separate grant agreement to receive funding will be required to report progress towards milestones and other goals. Those reporting requirements may vary, based on the organization and the project, and will be determined by the Challenge Sponsor. However, a minimum of one financial report per year and one narrative report per year will be required.
Financial and Organizational Capacity
All applicants must demonstrate their financial and organizational capacity to carry out the proposed project and to appropriately manage any Award (i.e. grant).
Currency of Grant Payment
It is anticipated that awards made by the LEGO Foundation will be paid in US Dollar (USD) unless the LEGO Foundation determines otherwise, at its own discretion. Determination of award currency changes could be based on the home country of award recipients, the ability of the LEGO Foundation to make payments in the home country currency and other factors the LEGO Foundation may consider. Each Applicant agrees that it shall bear the risk of any currency conversion into the currency of its home country.