assistance that may reasonably be required, at the contractor’s own and sole expense. 

However, the contracting authority reserves the right to decide to conduct its own defence or to negotiate its own settlement, at its own discretion. The contractor will be responsible for any payment arising out of any settlement or judgement following such a dispute or threat, except for the payment of a settlement made by the contracting authority without the contractor’s written consent. Such consent may not be withheld without reasonable grounds. 

If the infringement of a third party’s Intellectual property right on a Product and its Documentation is declared in a judgement, arbitration sentence or party settlement, or if such is likely to happen, the contractor agrees to (1) or procure for the contracting authority the right to continue using the Product and its Documentation , (2) either replace them with substantially equivalent non-infringing Products , or, if none of the foregoing is available, (3) grant to the contracting authority a credit in the amount corresponding to the purchase price of the proportion of the Product which can no longer be used. 

The contractor will not be responsible under the present guarantee for any third party claiming an infringement of its Intellectual property rights based on (1) the contracting authority’s use of Products in combination with equipment not delivered by the contractor, if such combined use is the cause of the claimed infringement, or (2) the contracting authority‘s use of any Product and Documentation delivered hereunder in a form other than the one delivered by the contractor, if such change in form is the cause of the claimed infringement. 

IV.2.3.7. The guarantee against third party claims is due by the contractor until five (5) years following the end of the framework contract, or until five (5) years following the last use by the contracting authority of the Product and its Documentation delivered by the contractor, whichever period ends last. 

## IV.2.4. Co-operation 

IV.2.4.1. The contractor undertakes to develop and install the Products  and provide the Informatics Services in accordance with the document: ICT Architecture System and Application Technical Landscape (Appendix A). The contractor agrees to co-operate with other suppliers to make the Products  work with those of these other suppliers. It agrees to attend meetings called for that purpose by the contracting authority. 

IV.2.4.2. The contractor shall assist and advise the contracting authority on the use of its Products and Services . It shall be responsible for Product integration as regards its inclusion in the framework contract, its operation in the contracting authority’s environment and the introduction of New versions . 

## IV.2.5. Product  developments 

IV.2.5.1. Any Product delivered under this framework contract shall have been demonstrated by the contractor, at its expense, to conform to the technical specifications sent to the contractor as part of the invitation to tender or the negotiation pursuant to which the present framework contract has been drawn up. 

IV.2.5.2. Any Product capable of replacing a previously approved Product in the same operational environment, with no loss of performance and at no extra cost to the contracting authority, may be added to the relevant Annexes of the framework contract. 

