HI John,

I am intimately familiar with the IRS 2007-47, thanks. I just wanted to
see how flexible other institutions are about their IP.

Zoya

Comcast wrote:
> Zoya,
>
> There is an IRS regulation that impacts your institutional non- profit
> status related to IP.
>
> I can send more info if you're interested
>
>
> John Sites
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On May 14, 2010, at 14:11, Zoya Hamilton <xxxxxx@TUFTS.EDU> wrote:
>
>> Dear Colleagues,
>>
>> I found out from a colleague at Tech Transfer at my university that
>> some industries are balking at negotiating IP ownership because,
>> according to them, some universities started giving away their IP
>> rights in the last few years. To quote one industry representative,
>> "several years ago it would have been impossible for a company to
>> negotiate a contract that would not assign IP to a university. But
>> times are different now. Several schools (and names of schools were
>> given which I won't repeat) are willing to give away their IP rights
>> so we will just contract this work to them".
>>
>> IP ownership is a huge issue for us. Some of our buildings are funded
>> by tax-free bonds, thus making us subject to the IRS guidelines
>> prohibiting giving away intellectual property (to be exact,  there is
>> a very small percentage of income exempt from this regulation, but it
>> is so small that in practice it means that no sponsor-funded IP can
>> be given away). I imagine not all universities are in this situation.
>> For those of you that have the flexibility to give away IP, what are
>> the circumstances when you are willing to do it? For those of you
>> that are like us, how often do your collaborations fall apart because
>> of this issue?
>>
>> Also, in view of the comment from the company, do you think we should
>> all stick to our guns and be unwilling to give away IP? We would
>> certainly have better collective leverage, but is there even a way to
>> climb back up that slippery slope?
>>
>> Thank you for the input into this conversation.
>>
>> Zoya
>>
>> --
>> Zoya Hamilton, CRA
>> Sr. Associate Director, Research Administration
>> Office of the Vice Provost
>> Tufts University
>> Tel (617) 636-6709
>> Fax (617) 636-2917
>> http://researchadmin.tufts.edu/
>>

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