Intellectual Property Ownership and Licensing

Inventions, ideas, designs, technologies, publications and a host of other types of intellectual property will arise in the course of research projects. Sponsors who are considering entering into a research relationship with a faculty member at the University will often ask the University about our policies on ownership and licensing of that knowledge and those created works that may be legally protected.

Intellectual property is valuable to industrial sponsors because to make a profit, the industrial sponsor will want to gain a competitive advantage from the results of the research collaboration and retain that competitive advantage for as long as possible. It is important for the University and the industry sponsor to discuss the rights of each party to own, access or use any intellectual property generated in the project early on in the process to determine whether there is a meeting of the minds on how intellectual property will be handled, or whether significant differences exist that may not be able to be addressed during the negotiation process.

What are the University’s policies regarding ownership of intellectual property arising from Research? 
As a sponsor, I’m contributing money, materials, etc. to this project. Will all the intellectual property arising from the research project be jointly invented or jointly owned? 
Are there any other principles that I should be aware of regarding the ownership and use of the results of the research?
As a principal investigator, how do I let the Research Services Office know how I would like my intellectual property to be owned/licensed to the sponsor in my sponsored research agreement?