Doug posted an interesting scenario.  Recently there has been an increase in
SBIR participation at Washington University and I'm extremely interested in
seeing some discussion on this topic.  I've heard the same, "everybody is
doing it line" and I'm curious to know, "Is everybody doing it?" and "Have
you experienced pitfalls that the rest of us can learn from?"

Kaaren Downey

*************on 12/5/95 Doug Wilkerson wrote*******************

>     I am posting this question on both RESADM-L and TECHNO-L, so I
>apologize to those individuals who subscribe to both!
>
>     I need to know how other institutions handle the issue of faculty
>engaging in (or initiating) outside business activity which is directly
>related to their responsibilities as a faculty member. I have a
>faculty member who says that "everybody is doing this at other
>institutions", so hopefully someone can help me.  Perhaps a hypothetical
>case would help:
>
>     A basic science faculty member is hired for educational, research
>and service duties.  The faculty member proposes to take 2 months
>vacation time (or maybe sabbatical time) and set up a small business which
>will apply for an SBIR grant (phase I) to develop biomedical educational
>materials for courses similar to those being taught by this person at our
>institution. Presumably some of these materials may even be used by this
>institution (either as gifts or as purchases), but these materials
>presumably will also be sold to other institutions.  After the 2 months
>vacation time, the faculty member proposes to return to work, but if the
>SBIR is funded, the required 51% of his/her effort would be paid for by
>the company and the remainder by the institution.  That is, he/she
>presumably would go to a part-time faculty status for the period of the
>SBIR and then return to full-time status at the end of the SBIR.
>
>     In addition to the possibility of conflict of commitment, I am
>concerned about intellectual property issues.  For example, once this
>"door is opened", what is to prevent anyone with a patentable idea from
>setting up a small business and claiming that the invention/discovery was
>made while working at the small business, rather than while working at the
>institution?
>
>     This issue suggests another question.  How much of a faculty member's
>time does an institution "own"?  Does it "own" 24 hours per day or only 8
>hours/day?  Should activities a faculty member engages in (including
>establishing a business related to the scope of his/work for the
>institution) during the 16 hours/day he/she is not working at the
>institution be of any concern to the institution?  My initial thought
>would be that if it were not, it would play havoc with institutional patent
>policies, since all valuable intellectual property would probably be
>conceived or committed to practice during those hours the faculty member
>was not working at the institution.
>
>     Does anyone take the position that anything invented/discovered by a
>faculty member which is within the scope of his/her employment must be
>assigned to the institution regardless of when (nights, weekends or
>vacation) or where (home or mother-in-law's garage) it is invented or
>discovered?  How tenable is this position?
>
>     I hope that someone can provide some wisdom to help me sort out
>these issues. THANKS!
>
>Doug Wilkerson, Ph.D.           VOICE:  (419) 381-4252
>Assoc. V.P. for Research        FAX:    (419) 381-4262
>Professor of Pharmacology       e-mail: xxxxxx@GEMINI.MCO.EDU
>Medical College of Ohio
>3000 Arlington Ave.
>Toledo, OH 43614
>
>
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Kaaren J. Downey                            Phone: (314) 747-0926
Assistant Director, Sponsored               FAX:   (314) 362-5872
 Projects Services                  e-mail: xxxxxx@medicine.wustl.edu
Washington University
Medical Campus Research Office
724 South Euclid Ave.
St. Louis, MO  63110

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