Research

The university believes that all contributors to the successful realization of new technologies and knowledge should share fairly and appropriately in the benefits. In return for their contributions, the university often grants intellectual property rights to the sponsor for industry sponsored research and/or collaborative use. The university will negotiate the precise nature of those intellectual property rights with sponsors, taking into account several factors including level and duration of support, participation of the sponsor, the nature of the intellectual property and its potential fields of use, its stage of development or market-readiness, the duration and territory of the rights, etc.

In return for significant support, the university is normally willing to grant to sponsors a royalty-free license for their internal research purposes. The university is also willing to grant certain time limited options (including rights-of-first-offer and rights-of-first-refusal) for royalty-bearing commercial use licenses. Generally the details of such licenses (i.e. degree of exclusivity, geographic domain, scope of application, etc) are negotiated at the point at which an invention is created and the option is exercised by the sponsor.

In all cases, the first step you must take in managing your intellectual property is to disclose your invention or knowledge to the University and we will help you determine the appropriate assignment of your invention. Where appropriate, we will then notify the sponsor of your new disclosure. If your intellectual property is subject to sponsor rights, we will work with you to negotiate any appropriate agreements and meet all IP obligations to the sponsor. In situations were industry is not involved and your intellectual property is not subject to any sponsor rights, the University welcomes the opportunity to assess the commercial potential and usefulness to society of your invention.