On Tue, 19 Sep 1995 10:09:26 EST, Ilze Krisst ably articulated the dilemma
that universities face when they try to do contract work for industry, but
also insist on holding on to their intellectual property rights.

There is no question that many companies feel that if they are paying for
the work, they should have unfettered access to the product. Perhaps the
problem is in defining exactly what they are trying to acquire. Can a
contract be devised to provide a solution to a specific problem, including
any license necessary for the use of any intellectual property arising from
the work necessary to implement the solution, while the University retains
all other rights?

A related problem is the insistence of a university on including in
contracts a clause allowing the university to designate any data arising
from the research as confidential, in order to protect intellectual
property rights in the event an invention arises. The sponsor may not want
to risk being unable to freely use (in a timely manner) the data he has
paid for: that does not seem an unreasonable concern (in the case of a
drug safety study, for instance). Has anyone got a general solution to this
problem?

Solutions to these problems may not involve giving up anything, but
rather, defining the problem in a different way that admits solution.

At what point does contracting to provide services become "Work for Hire"
which would, I understand, endanger the tax-exempt status of the
institution?

Like Ilse, I would appreciate the experts' insights.

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 * Charles E. Graham, PhD.                  xxxxxx@UNIX1.SNCC.LSU.EDU *
 * Director, Office of Sponsored Research               504-388-8692 *
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