- General Rule. In keeping with the view that one of the College's primary benefits to society is the production of original works by its employees and students, and in order to best encourage such activity, it is the general policy of the College that Intellectual Property shall be the property of the author or creator. The College may assert ownership rights to Intellectual Property developed under circumstances set forth further below.
- Retention of Rights. All College employees are expected to assign a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use any Intellectual Property created by them to the College for its use in furtherance of its academic mission (e.g., in the classroom, at lectures, in promotional materials, etc.), except where the creator assigns rights to the Intellectual Property to a third party, such as a publisher.
- “Work for Hire.” Under federal copyright law, a “work for hire” is one “prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment.” Basically, for non-Faculty employees (including students working for the College, in work-study or otherwise), any work produced in the performance of one’s duties for the College, whether or not specifically directed to do so, will be considered a “work for hire” and, thus, will be deemed owned and authored by the College. For Faculty, what is considered to be produced within the “scope of employment” is more difficult to ascertain and, therefore, works produced by Faculty will not be deemed “works for hire” unless they are the subject of a specific, written agreement with the College and the creator or creators.
- Patentable Intellectual Property
Responsibility for Disclosure of Patentable Intellectual Property: College employees who alone or in association with other entities create or intend to create patentable subject matter that follows from College funding purposefully directed toward that creation or from the significant use of resources such as College facilities or equipment (if the equipment is purchased primarily with the development of patentable Intellectual Property in mind) must disclose the matter and obtain prior authorization from the Office of the Dean of the College. Such disclosure shall be made when it can be reasonably concluded that a patentable subject matter has been or will be created, and sufficiently in advance of any publication, presentation, or other public disclosure to allow time for possible action that protects rights to the Intellectual Property for the creator and the College. Creators are encouraged to seek the advice of the Dean of the College in determining whether the subject matter is patentable or whether the College desires to pursue patenting the matter.
Determination of Rights to Patentable Subject Matter: Except as set forth below, the creator of patentable Intellectual Property will retain his or her rights, and the College will not assert ownership rights. The College may assert ownership rights to patentable Intellectual Property developed under any of the following circumstances:
- Development was funded as part of an externally sponsored research program or other agreement that allocates rights to the College.
- Development follows from College funding purposefully directed toward that creation or requires the use of resources such as College facilities or equipment (if the equipment is purchased primarily with the development of patentable Intellectual Property in mind), where the College and the creator have entered into a written agreement to that effect.
- The creator was assigned or directed by the College to develop the material.
- Material was developed by non-Faculty employees in the course of employment duties and constitutes work-for-hire under federal law.
- Other Intellectual Property
Responsibility for Disclosure of Non-Patentable Intellectual Property: In contrast to historical business practice, the tradition of academic institutions is to give Faculty members the right to retain ownership of their Intellectual Property. This policy protects that traditional right and Faculty are not obligated to disclose to the College the creation of non-patentable Intellectual Property, even when the property might have commercial value, unless the property was developed under one of the qualifying conditions listed in the next section, in which case the creator is responsible for timely disclosure to the College. However, Faculty are encouraged to disclose any protectable non-patentable Intellectual Property that has commercial value to the extent that they may desire assistance in copyright or trademark protection and marketing in exchange for profit sharing with the College. All disclosures should be made to the Office of the Dean of the College.
Determination of Rights to Non-Patentable Intellectual Property: Except as set forth below, the creator of non-patentable Intellectual Property will retain his or her rights, and the College will not assert ownership rights. The College may assert ownership rights to non-patentable Intellectual Property developed under any of the following circumstances:
- Development was funded as part of an externally sponsored research program or other agreement that allocates rights to the College.
- Development follows from College funding purposefully directed toward that creation or requires the use of resources such as College facilities or equipment (if the equipment is purchased primarily with the development of non-patentable Intellectual Property in mind), where the College and the creator have entered into a written agreement to that effect.
- The creator was assigned or directed by the College to develop the material.
- Material was developed by non-Faculty employees in the course of employment duties and constitutes work-for-hire under federal law.
- Intellectual Property Developed Under Sponsored Research Agreements or Specific College Funding
Ownership of Intellectual Property developed pursuant to an agreement with any sponsor, including the College, will be governed by the provisions of that agreement. When Faculty or any other employees obtain funds or other support from the College, such as a Summer Research Grant or other development funds, to enable specific projects in which Intellectual Property might be created, that person and the College may, particularly in the case of substantial funding, negotiate a written agreement stating what, if any, rights to the Intellectual Property produced will vest in the College. In the absence of such an agreement, the rights to any Intellectual Property created will be determined by other provisions of this Policy. Employees involved in negotiating sponsorship agreements or seeking sponsorship funds from the College should consult with the Office of the Dean of the College.
- Special Agreement
The overriding principle underlying this Intellectual Property Policy is to encourage creativity and inventiveness, so the College reserves the right to allow some flexibility in applying this policy on a case-by-case basis. In such cases, ownership and use of materials developed pursuant to a special agreement between the College and the creator/author will be governed by the principles of that agreement.