Office of Research Administration

Professor Bruce Foxman, Chemistry

Professor K.C. Hayes, Foster Biomedical Research Laboratories

Professor Thomas Pochapsky, Chemistry

Professor Jordan Pollack, Computer Science

Professor Dagmar Ringe, Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research center

Professor Stanley Wallack, Heller Graduate School for Advanced Studies in Social Welfare

Professor Arthur Wingfield, Volen National center for Complex Systems

Tamar Hajian, General Counsel, ex officio

Arthur H. Reis, Jr., Associate Provost, ex officio

Various forms of Intellectual Property, some of which may have commercial value, arise from work undertaken by persons associated with Brandeis University or in connection with their University activities and outside collaborations. This document defines the University policy with regard to these matters.

As an educational and research institution, the Universityís basic objectives in responding to and dealing with such Intellectual Property are to:

1. promote their disclosure, dissemination, and utilization for the greatest possible public benefit;
2. protect the rights in patents and other Intellectual Property which the Inventors and the University may have;
3. provide positive incentives for people associated with the University to develop and bring forth Intellectual Property, through an allocation of rewards and responsibilities among such Inventors, the University, and any other organizations that may have sponsored or financed any such activities.

Copyrightable Works are works which are protectable under the copyright laws of the United States or other countries. Copyright is a form of Intellectual Property protection which protects only the fixed expression of an idea, not the idea itself. Copyright protection is available for most scholarly works (literary, musical, dramatic, and other creative works) including, for example, teaching materials, publications, computer software, computer operating systems or code, multimedia works, and other forms of electronic media. The copyright owner/holder in a work has the exclusive right to copy or perform the work or to publish derivative works based on the original.

Intellectual Property includes Inventions, Copyrightable Works, and trademarks.

Invention shall include any idea, discovery, or other work product, including tangible research materials (e.g. vectors, genes, reagents), that may be patentable or otherwise commercially valuable, and that is conceived or reduced to practice by an Inventor. If an Invention is protected by a patent, the owner(s) has/have the right to exclude others from making, using or selling the Invention under the patent laws of a particular country.

Inventor shall include any person who makes a significant contribution to the conception, discovery, or reduction to practice of an Invention, and may be used interchangeably with the term "Creator" when used in connection with other forms of Intellectual Property such as a Copyrightable Work. In the filing of any registration or legal documents related to specific Intellectual Property, the applicable Intellectual Property laws or terms of the filing forms will determine actual inventorship or creatorship

OIPTT shall mean the Office of Intellectual Property and Technology transfer which carries out University responsibilities related to Intellectual Property.

Scholarly Works are Copyrightable Works, and comprise books, articles, papers, novels, poems, musical compositions, computer software, and similar works which are intended for dissemination as a result of academic scholarship and artistic expression. "Scholarly Works" shall not include works described in Article IIA(1), (2), (3) and (4).

Software shall include anything executable in a computer including source code, source code listings, databases, algorithms, processes, flow charts, formula and related materials. Software may be copyrightable and/or patentable.

University shall include Brandeis University and University Members.

University Members shall include the following Brandeis personnel: faculty, staff, postgraduate or postdoctoral fellows, research assistants, graduate research assistants, teaching assistants, trainees, graduate or undergraduate students. This definition applies to all adjunct or visiting faculty, staff, and students, and any person with a contractual or consulting relationship with Brandeis University, whether full-time or part-time.

University Resources shall include laboratory space, special equipment, computing equipment and software, students (undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral, or trainee), facilities, personnel, and University funding.

Work-for-hire is a legal term defined in the Copyright Act as "a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment and which is owned by the employer."

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Absent a University-endorsed agreement to the contrary, the University shall be presumed to own all Intellectual Property which:

1. are developed in the course of, or pursuant to, a publicly- or privately-sponsored agreement, contract or program with, or through, Brandeis University,
2. are funded by the University, or are obligated to the University by written agreement,
3. utilize University Resources or University Members, or
4. are created as a Work-for-hire or as an assigned task. Students and staff who are compensated (by salary or other means) for their work shall be presumed to be performing an assigned task or Work-for-hire.

C. In the event that the University chooses not to assert ownership rights to Intellectual Property, University Members may develop the Intellectual Property using University Resources only if there is a clear written agreement between the University Member and the University to do so.

D. Members of the faculty routinely create Scholarly Works. Under the Copyright Act, work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment is considered Work-for-hire. As a matter of fundamental principle, however, the University encourages wide dissemination of Scholarly Works produced by the faculty, and the University shall not claim ownership. The following rules shall therefore apply:

1. For Scholarly Works that earn more than $50,000 cumulative for the individual Creator, royalties in excess of $50,000 will be shared according to Article VIII of this policy.
2. The University strongly encourages the Creator to retain ownership of copyright to his or her own Scholarly Works, and to retain rights for the University to use such Scholarly Works for any education or research purposes.

B. When required, the IPPC shall evaluate Intellectual Property disclosures or other Intellectual Property issues and advise the Provost regarding all matters relating to Intellectual Property policies or disclosures in accordance with the provisions set forth herein.

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B. If an Intellectual Property is co-invented, each Inventor associated with the University has a duty to disclose the Intellectual Property to the OIPTT. All Inventors may discharge this obligation by means of a single disclosure form signed by all Inventors.

C. Each recipient of funds under a governmental or industrial sponsorship agreement or contract is responsible for understanding and complying with his or her obligations under that agreement. Most such agreements require that all Intellectual Property arising from sponsored research must be reported to the sponsor.

D. Inventors are urged to disclose any Intellectual Property to the University before they release information regarding the Intellectual Property to people who are not co-inventors. Intellectual Property rights can be destroyed if an Invention is published or disclosed before a patent application is filed unless the disclosure is protected by a written confidentiality agreement.

E. If an unpublished idea is being discussed with a commercial enterprise, an exchange of confidential information should be covered by a confidentiality agreement. Forms for such agreements are available from, and should be prepared by, the OIPTT. If a confidentiality agreement is received from an outside company by a person associated with the University, that person should forward the confidentiality agreement to the OIPTT for review.

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B. In some cases the Inventor may request that the University waive rights it may have to Intellectual Property that was conceived or reduced to practice with University support as described in the written disclosure.

C. The OIPTT shall, when required, evaluate all written, completed disclosure forms and formal request forms for waiver with good faith and reasonable diligence. If it appears that a request for waiver should be granted, or if the University decides for any other reason not to prepare a patent application or other protection on the Intellectual Property, then the University shall issue a written waiver or decision not to protect the Intellectual Property, disclaiming any rights the University may have to the Intellectual Property as disclosed. The University may decide for those cases involving University supported Intellectual Property to retain a percentage of the rights to the Intellectual Property through negotiations with the Inventor and may be subject to such external sponsor restrictions as may apply. However, despite any such waiver or decision not to protect such Intellectual Property, the University shall retain the right to make and use the Intellectual Property for any non-commercial University purposes.

D. If the University fails to make a determination regarding a waiver or a decision to protect the Intellectual Property within a period of thirty (30) calendar days from the date of the waiver request to it, then the Inventor may so notify the Director of the OIPTT in writing. Within thirty (30) calendar days after the Director of the OIPTT is so notified, a decision must be rendered in writing by the Director of the OIPTT or all of the Universityís rights, as described in the written disclosure, shall be forfeited automatically and reassigned to the Inventor, subject only to such external sponsor restrictions as may apply.

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B. The Inventor(s) is obliged to bring to the attention of the Director of OIPTT, any contracts or agreements (including but not limited to, consulting, material transfer, confidentiality, research, option or license agreements), any prior art or existing related technologies, issues regarding conflict of interest, science, or commitment, and any other issues or information related to the Intellectual Property or the licensing of such Intellectual Property of which s/he is aware.

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1. the Inventor(s), or his/her heirs, shall collectively receive 40%;
2. the department(s) with which the Inventor(s) is associated shall receive 15%. These funds are in addition to the regular University budget for the department and shall be divided between direct support to the Inventor for his or her research (5%) and the Inventorís department to foster research in the department (10%).
3. the University shall allocate 15% to a fund under the direction of the Provost for the promotion of research;
4. the University shall retain 15% for use at its discretion; and
5. the University shall allocate 15% in support of the OIPTT.

C. If the provisions of this article are inconsistent with the requirements of a sponsorship agreement, then the sponsorship agreement shall prevail.

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B. The University should, no less frequently than every five years from date of enactment, review, revise, and update the Intellectual Property Policy as appropriate.

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Patent Statute found in the United States Code as Title 35,

U.S. Patent and trademark Office website,

Copyright Act = federal copyright law found in the United States Code as Title 17, U.S.

Copyright Office website,

trademark law under USC Title 15

FAQs

OIPTT, etc.

Procedures: ID form

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