Fulton County |
Code of Ordinances |
SubPart B. CODE OF RESOLUTIONS |
Chapter 102. ADMINISTRATION |
Article V. PURCHASES AND CONTRACTS |
Division 3. SOURCE SELECTION AND CONTRACT FORMATION |
§ 102-386. Renewal of annual licensing, maintenance and support agreements for intellectual property.
(a)
Conditions of use. When the county has competitively procured the original acquisition of intellectual property and said property requires annual licensing, maintenance and support.
(1)
Statement of policy. It is the policy of Fulton County Government to respect all copyrights, patents, trademarks and trade secrets and to adhere to the terms and conditions of any license to which Fulton County is a party. Moreover, it is the policy of the county government to ensure that all resources are managed in a transparent and cost-effective manner and in accordance with applicable laws.
(2)
Costs. Therefore, the costs associated with annual licensing, maintenance and support for intellectual property shall be approved by the board of commissioners (BOC) as part of the annual budget process. Further, annual licensing, maintenance and support agreements that have been previously awarded by the BOC through a competitive procurement process will not require additional BOC approval so long as the terms and conditions of the agreements have not materially changed and the cost of the associated support and maintenance services have been approved as part of the annual budget process.
(3)
Applicability. This policy applies to all county agencies, departments and offices acquiring intellectual property.
(4)
Definitions. For the purpose of this policy, the terms used herein shall be defined as follows:
a.
Annual maintenance and support agreement provides for the technical assistance and materials related to the use, repair and/or maintenance of equipment and facilities associated with intellectual property, typically includes access to the manufacturer's technical support, the correction of defects or errors/bugs (e.g. software patches, etc.), and future releases of and updates to purchased intellectual property.
b.
Intellectual property means intangible creations of human intelligence expressed or translated into tangible forms such as patented inventions, copyrightable works, trademarks or trade secrets, which are assigned certain property rights protected under federal and state law.
c.
License agreement means language that is commonly part of the contract and states that the terms of usage as permitted by the copyright owner for the specific product for which it pertains. The price of the intellectual property covers the legal acquisition of the software license and binds the purchaser to use the intellectual property only according to the terms and conditions stated in the license agreement.
d.
Licensee means the user of the intellectual property rights, or the entity to which a license is granted.
e.
Licensor means the owner of the intellectual property rights, of the one with legal rights to grant a license for use.
f.
Useful life means the details of a product's useful life, which includes anticipated duration/term of use and total cost of ownership over the term.
g.
Service level agreement (SLA) means language that is commonly part of the contract and states the level of service/support to be provided by the licensor. The SLA documents a common understanding between the licensor and licensee about services, priorities, responsibilities, guarantees, and warranties.
(b)
Requirements for original acquisition and ongoing use of intellectual property.
(1)
Definition of business need. The department seeking to acquire intellectual property should clearly define the business need for the product and the expected return on investment. Pursuant to county policy 600-61, any software and/or hardware installations must be approved by the department of information technology in order to minimize costs and potential risk to the existing technology environment. The department should also work with the county's Budget Division to identify funding and with the department of purchasing and contract compliance to procure the intellectual property using the appropriate competitive process according to this Code.
(2)
Approval of original contract award. board of commissioners approval shall be required at the time of the original contract award when acquiring intellectual property, in accordance with this Code. The department acquiring the intellectual property (licensee) must disclose in the body of the agenda report the terms of the license agreement for the intellectual property in question; the anticipated useful life of the intellectual property; and the anticipated annual cost for maintaining the intellectual property over its useful life cycle. Additionally, the contract and all related agreements must be attached to the agenda report at the time of approval.
(3)
Annual Budget Approval Process. Once the board of commissioners has approved a contract award for the acquisition of intellectual property, satisfaction of the related maintenance and support and/or license agreements shall be approved through the annual budget process.
(Res. No. 13-0052, 1-23-13)
Note— Board Policy 800-14.