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 Grants Administration |
Intellectual Property PolicyApproved by Board of Regents - August 2002 I.
PREAMBLE Armstrong Atlantic State University,
hereinafter referred to as the University, is dedicated to teaching,
scholarship, and the extension of knowledge to the public. Personnel at the
University recognize as two of their major objectives the production of new
knowledge and the dissemination of both old and new knowledge. Inherent in these
objectives is the need to encourage the production of creative and scholarly
works and the development of new and useful materials, devices, processes, and
other inventions, some of which may have potential for commercialization. Such
activities contribute to the professional development of the individual faculty
and staff members involved, enhance the reputation of the University, provide
additional educational opportunities for participating students, and promote the
general welfare of the public at large. Such creative and scholarly works
and inventions which have commercial potential may be protected under the laws
of various countries that establish rights called Intellectual Property, a term
that includes patents, copyrights, trade secrets, trademarks, plant variety
protection, and other rights (definitions are provided in Section V of this
document). Such Intellectual Property often comes about because of activities of
the University's faculty and other employees who have been aided wholly or in
part through use of facilities of the University. It becomes significant,
therefore, to ensure the utilization of such Intellectual Property for the
public good and to expedite its development and marketing. The rights and
privileges, as well as the incentives, of the authors, creators, or inventors
hereinafter referred to as the "Originators" must be preserved so that
the use of their abilities and the abilities of others at the University may be
further encouraged and stimulated. The Board of Regents of the University
System of Georgia has established an Intellectual Property Policy which
stipulates that: "Each institution of the System is required to develop
policies and procedures for the administration of this Intellectual Property
Policy." Therefore, in order to establish the respective rights and
obligations of the University, its faculty, students, and other employees in
Intellectual Property of all kinds now and hereafter existing and of all
countries, regions, or other political entities, the University hereby
establishes this Intellectual Property Policy. II.
RIGHTS AND EQUITIES IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY A.
Sponsor-Supported Efforts Sponsored project agreements with the
University or its foundation often contain specific provisions with respect to
ownership of Intellectual Property developed during the course of such work, in
which case the terms of the sponsored project agreement shall establish
ownership. When the sponsored project agreement is silent on the matter, all
rights in intellectual property shall vest in the University. Income, if any,
from such Intellectual Property shall be shared with the Originator, subject to
the sponsor's requirements, in accordance with Section III.J. B.
University-Assigned Efforts Ownership of Intellectual Property
developed as a result of University-assigned efforts shall reside with the
University. Copyrightable works created by an employee in the course of his/her
employment are considered to be works made for hire under copyright law, with
ownership vested in the employer. However, any income from such Intellectual
Property shall be shared with the Originator, in accordance with Section III.J.
The above notwithstanding, a faculty member's or student's general obligation to
produce scholarly and creative works does not constitute a work for hire or a
specific University assignment. C.
University-Assisted Individual Effort Ownership of Intellectual Property
developed by faculty, staff, and students who make more than purely incidental
use of University resources shall be shared by the Originator and the
University. For purposes of this Intellectual Property Policy, the use of the
following University resources generally shall not result in shared ownership:
all resources available to the public without charge; University-owned/leased
office space or equipment; computer equipment; library resources, including
electronic resources; and Internet access. Use of the following University
resources in the production of Intellectual Property generally shall constitute
more than purely incidental use, shall be defined as University-Assisted
Individual Effort, and shall result in shared ownership of the Intellectual
Property under this Section: significant resources provided by University-funded
and/or University Foundation-funded grants, and stipends; University employees
(other than faculty) within the employment period; long distance
telecommunication services and other cost-added supplies and services; and
University facilities other than offices and the library. Income, if any, from such Intellectual
Property shall be shared as described in Section III.J. D.
Individual Effort Ownership of Intellectual Property
developed by faculty, staff, and students of the University shall reside with
the Originator of such Intellectual Property provided that: the Intellectual
Property was not developed in accordance with the terms of a sponsored project
agreement (see Section II.A); the Intellectual Property was not developed by
faculty, staff, or students as a specific University assignment (see Section
II.B); and there was no significant use of University resources in the creation
of such Intellectual Property (see Section II.C). The Originator of the
Intellectual Property shall have the opportunity to demonstrate that this
classification applies. E.
Other Efforts Ownership of Intellectual Property
developed by faculty, staff, and students of the University under other efforts
is determined according to the criteria specified in Sections II.A. through II.D.
above. Such efforts include, but are not limited to, consulting for outside
organizations, collaborating with non-University personnel, or serving on
non-University boards, committees, task forces, etc. Any agreement should
include a statement that the faculty member has intellectual property
obligations to the University and this Intellectual Property Policy should be
attached to the agreement. In the event that there is any conflict between the
University personnel's obligations to this Intellectual Property Policy and
their obligations to the entity or collaborative arrangement for which they
provide these efforts, the obligations to this Intellectual Property Policy
shall control. III.
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES A.
Responsibility
and Organization The administration of the principles
and policies set forth in this document is the responsibility of the Vice
President and Dean of Faculty, whose office shall do so with the advice of the
University Intellectual Property
Committee and a University legal advisor. The Intellectual Property Committee
shall be appointed by the President and consist of no less than five, nor more
than nine, members. One of these members shall be designated by the President to
serve as Chair. The committee shall include representatives of the Vice
President and Dean of Faculty, the Vice President for Business and Finance, and
the Faculty Executive Committee. The Chair may add ad hoc members as necessary.
The Intellectual Property Committee
will review current procedures and practices and make recommendations for future
directions; resolve conflicts of interest; arbitrate decisions concerning
intellectual property, and mediate and resolve any disputes between the
University and Originators. Care
will be taken to include representation on the committee from areas with major
and consistent involvement with intellectual properties. B.
Disclosure
of Intellectual Property For circumstances meeting the criteria
for II.A. through II.C., University personnel shall promptly provide the Vice
President and Dean of Faculty with a disclosure describing their creative and
scholarly works and new material, devices, processes, or other inventions which
may have commercial potential. University personnel shall also cooperate with
the Office of Academic Affairs and sign all papers deemed by that office
reasonable and necessary to protect and commercialize Intellectual Property
covered by this Intellectual Property Policy. The Name of the University should
be used in an Originator’s title to show institutional affiliation in
connection with University-related work made public. However, the name of the
University and/or Originators may not be used for promotional purposes of a
commercial nature without the written approval of the Vice President and Dean of
Faculty. Disclosures are not required for
circumstances meeting the criteria delineated in Section II.D. or for works of
authorship where there is no intent to commercially exploit the intellectual
property (examples include, but are not limited to, articles for publication in
scholarly or professional journals and instructional or research material for
internal use), even though the ownership of the copyright may reside in the
University as determined by Sections II.A., II.B., or II.C. In cases where
disclosure is not required, the University shall assign the copyright to the
author for publication purposes. C.
Obligations
of Principal Investigators/Project Directors Principal Investigators/Project
Directors shall be responsible for informing coworkers of their rights and
obligations under contracts, grants, and the like before the initiation of
research or other sponsored projects. D.
Confidentiality Certain contractual obligations and
governmental regulations require that information be maintained in confidence.
Some works, such as certain computer software, may best be protected and
licensed as trade secrets. Additionally, inventions must be maintained in
confidence for limited periods to avoid the loss of patent rights. Accordingly,
the timing of publications is important, and University personnel shall use
their best efforts to keep the following items confidential (to the extent
allowed by law): all information or material designated confidential in a
contract, grant, or the like; all information or material designated or required
to be maintained as confidential under any applicable governmental statutes or
regulations; and all information relating to Intellectual Property developed by
University personnel which may be protected under this Policy until application
has been made for protection. Top E.
Collaboration Collaboration between University
personnel and persons not employed or associated with the University, including
researchers at other universities or companies, can result in the development of
Intellectual Property jointly owned by the University and other persons or their
employers. Protection and commercialization of such joint Intellectual Property
can be difficult without extensive cooperation and agreement among the owners.
Accordingly, it is important for University personnel involved in, or
contemplating collaborative activities that may result in, the development of
Intellectual Property to advise their immediate supervisors and the Office of
Academic Affairs of such activities. F.
Administration of "Sponsor-Supported Efforts" (II.A.) and
"University-Assigned Efforts" (II.B.) The Intellectual Property Committee has
the responsibility to evaluate Intellectual Property developed through
Sponsor-Supported Efforts and University-Assigned Efforts, and to determine
whether to administer such Intellectual Property by undertaking those efforts it
determines to be appropriate to protect and license or otherwise commercialize
such Intellectual Property. G.
Administration of "University-Assisted Individual Effort" (II.C.)
Any Intellectual Property which is the
result of University-Assisted Individual Effort, shall be administered by the
Originator unless the Originator and the Committee agree to have it administered
by an entity of the University. Such Intellectual Property which is administered
by the University shall be treated as "University-Assigned Effort" (II.B.)
Intellectual Property and shall require the Originator to assign to the
University his/her share of the ownership rights in such Intellectual Property,
but the Originator shall retain the right to a division of revenue as prescribed
by section III. J. of this Policy. H.
Administration of "Individual Effort" (II.D.) Intellectual Property which is
administered by the Originator shall be assigned to the Originator under a
simple agreement which provides for periodic reports describing the Originator's
administrative activities, generation of payments or royalties, and if
appropriate, payment to the University of a portion of net revenue from the
exploitation of the Intellectual Property. "Individual Effort"
Intellectual Property may be assigned to the University to be treated and
administered as University-Assigned Effort (II.B.) Intellectual Property if both
the Committee and the Originator agree to do so (see the discussion in Section
III.G.). I.
Declined Intellectual Property Whenever the University chooses not to
administer Intellectual Property or chooses to cease administering Intellectual
Property, such Intellectual Property, subject to any obligations to a sponsor,
may be released to the Originator to dispose of as the Originator sees fit. The
release of such Intellectual Property must be approved by the President. J.
Revenue Sharing with Originators The proposed division of net revenue is
presented below. Net revenue is defined as gross receipts received by the
University from license activity minus contract amounts due sponsors, if any,
and the out-of-pocket costs incurred by the University in protecting and
licensing the Intellectual Property: REVENUE DISTRIBUTION
Top The percentage for the Originator’s
Department should be used to fund Research and Scholarship activities. The percentage for the Originator's
Research Program applies only while the Originator is employed by, and
conducting research at, the University. If this is not the case, this share is
reallocated to the Faculty Development, Internal Grants Program. In the event the Intellectual Property
is licensed to the Originator, or the Originator has a significant financial
interest in an external entity which holds license rights, the Originator shall
waive the right under the University Intellectual Property Policy to receive the
Originator's share of royalties identified above (except when the development of
the Intellectual Property meets the criteria established for the Individual
Effort category, in which case this clause does not apply). In the event the Originator does not
receive the Originator's share, that share shall be distributed to the other
parties in the proportions detailed above. In the event the terms of the license
of the Intellectual Property provide the University with equity, or an option to
acquire equity, in the entity which licenses the Intellectual Property, the
share of such equity due to Originators as identified above will be distributed
to the originators when such equity is transferable or convertible to cash.
Under both of these circumstances,
either the Originator or an entity in which he/she has a significant financial
interest already is taking a significant share of the royalties "off the
top." K.
Interpretation, Decision, and Appeal Cases where the Originator and the
University agree to the classification and proposed mechanism of
commercialization of the Intellectual Property will be processed by the
University in accordance with this policy. All cases in which questions arise as
to equities, rights, division of royalties, or any other Intellectual
Property-related matter shall be referred to the Intellectual Property Committee
for consideration, interpretation and application of policy, and decision.
Appeal of an Intellectual Property Committee decision shall be to the
Vice President and Dean of Faculty, then to the President, and, finally, to the
Board of Regents. Appeals within the University must be made in writing within
sixty (60) days of written notice of a final decision. Appeals to the Board of
Regents shall be made in accordance with Article IX of the Bylaws of the Board,
which requires that all appeals be filed within twenty (20) days of the final
decision of the President of the University. IV.
PREVAILING POLICY AND HEIRS AND ASSIGNS A.
Prevailing Policy In the event of conflicts between the
Intellectual Property Policy of Armstrong Atlantic State University and the
Intellectual Property Policy of the Board of Regents of the University System of
Georgia, the Intellectual Property Policy of the Board of Regents shall prevail.
B.
Heirs and Assigns The provisions of this Policy shall fix
the interests of and be binding upon the heirs and assigns of (1) all University
personnel and (2) all others who agree to be bound by it. V.
DEFINITIONS Intellectual Property shall be deemed
to refer to copyrighted materials, patentable materials, software, trademarks,
and trade secrets, whether or not formal protection is sought. Copyrighted
Materials
shall include the following: (1) books, journal articles, texts, glossaries, bibliographies, study guides,
laboratory manuals, syllabi, tests, case studies, and proposals; (2) lectures,
musical or dramatic compositions, unpublished scripts; (3) films, filmstrips,
charts, presentations, transparencies, and other visual aids; (4) video and
audio CD’s, tapes or cassettes; (5) live video and audio broadcasts; (6)
programmed instructional materials; (7) mask works; (8) research notes, research
data reports, and research notebooks; and (9) other materials or works other
than software which qualify for protection under the copyright laws of the
United States (see 17 U.S.C. Section102 et seq.) or other protective statutes
whether or not registered thereunder. Mask
Work
means a series of related images, however fixed or encoded: (i) having or
representing the predetermined, three dimensional pattern of metallic,
insulating, or semiconductor material present or removed from layers of a
semiconductor chip product; and (ii) in which series the relation of the images
to one another is that each image has the pattern of the surface of one form of
the semiconductor chip product (see 17 U.S.C. Section 901 et seq.). Novel
Plant Variety
means a novel variety of a sexually reproduced plant (see 7 U.S.C. Section 2321 et seq.). Top Patentable
Plant
means an asexually reproduced distinct and new variety of plant (see 35 U.S.C. Section 161). Significant
Financial Interest
means anything of monetary value, including, but not limited to, salary or other payments for services
(e.g., consulting fees or honoraria); equity interests (e.g., stocks, stock
options, or other ownership interests); and intellectual property rights (e.g.,
patents, copyrights, and royalties from such rights). This definition applies
equally to the Originator, his or her spouse, or his or her dependent children. Software includes one or more computer programs
existing in any form, or any associated operational procedures, manuals or other
documentation, whether or not protectable or protected by patent or copyright.
The term "computer program" shall mean a set of instructions,
statements, or related data that, in actual or modified from, is capable of
causing a computer or computer system to perform specified functions. Trademarks shall include all trademarks, service
marks, trade names, seals, symbols, designs, slogans, or logotypes developed by
or associated with the University System or any of its institutions (see 15
U.S.C. Section 1127). Trade
Secrets
means information including, but not limited to, technical or nontechnical data,
a formula, a pattern, a compilation, a
program, a device, a method, a technique, a drawing, a process, financial data,
financial plans, product plans, or a list of actual or potential customers or
suppliers which: (i) derives economic value, actual or potential, from not being
generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable through proper means by,
other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; and (ii)
is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to
maintain its secrecy (see O.C.G.A. Section 10-1-761). |
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