European research projects are increasingly judged not only on scientific excellence, but on what remains once the funding ends. Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and sustainability planning sit at the heart of that transition. If they are treated as formalities, valuable results dissolve into “project graveyards”. If they are treated strategically, they become the backbone of new services, standards, and follow‑up investments.

Drawing on the EFRA project (Extreme Food Risk Analytics) as an illustrative case, this article explores how a structured IPR strategy and a realistic sustainability framework can turn time‑limited Horizon Europe actions into durable assets for industry, regulators and the research community.