Greetings colleagues!!
I have a question on IP policies/practices, and once again I am trying to
gather data from a number of institutions. I will post these
responses to the listserve if you prefer to respond directly to
me.
At NDSU, once an invention is disclosed to our tech transfer office, they
have 6 months (or more by mutual agreement) to assess the technical and
commercial viability and patentability of the discovery. If NDSU
elects to further pursue the invention, a minimum of 30% of the net
royalties and fees received by NDSU are shared with the inventor.
If NDSU does NOT elect to pursue an invention or discovery, our current
IP policy is to turn the discovery/invention back to the inventor.
However, NDSU policy also states "the institution may
require, as a condition of its release of the right to ownership, the
inventor to share with the institution up to 30% of any net income
received from the invention or work".
This language has come under scrutiny lately, and we are trying to get a
picture of the policy/practice at other institutions.
I would be most interested in answers to the following:
1. what is the amount of royalties shared with inventors?
2. if the university does NOT pursue the invention, does it turn it
back to the inventor?
3. if the invention goes back to the inventor, does the university
retain a % of royalties? if so, what %?
4. if you turn an invention back to an inventor, do you recover
expenses incurred by tech transfer, such as provisional patent
fees?
Websites to your institution's IP policies would be most appreciated,
too!
Thanks for your assistance!!
See you at NCURA.
Sincerely,
Valrey V. Kettner
Assistant Vice President
Sponsored Programs Administration