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Definitions
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Intellectual
Property is tangible and intangible
personal property such as concepts, ideas, and
other works that can be protected from unauthorized
use through patents, copyrights, trademarks,
and trade secrets.
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Ownership of intellectual property
rights varies depending on the type of work
created, whether institutional resources were
utilized, and whether the work was conceived
and first reduced to practice within the scope
of an individual’s employment with the
University. Generally patentable inventions
are owned by the University while ownership
of copyrightable works varies, depending on
a number of factors. The University
Policy on Copyrights provides greater
clarification on the subject of ownership of
copyrightable works.
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Patents
provide the right to exclude others from making,
having made, using, or selling an invention
without prior permission, for a period of 20
years from the date a patent application is
filed. These exclusive rights must be established
in each country of interest through a process
of filing and prosecution of a patent application.
For an invention to be patentable it must be
novel, useful, enabling and non-obvious to one
skilled in the art. Types of patents include:
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Utility
Patents: new and useful process,
method, machine, composition of matter,
or improvement thereof.
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Design Patents: new, original and
ornamental designs of manufacture.
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Plant
Patents: Asexual production of
a new plant.
- Copyrights
provide protection to tangible forms of expression
but not to the underlying idea behind the expression.
Copyrightable works include written, musical, dramatic,
pictorial, graphic, sculptural, and architectural
works, as well as motion pictures, sound recordings,
computer programs, and software. Copyright protection
generally extends 50 or more years beyond the life
of the author. While copyright is automatically
established at the time of creation and formal copyright
registration is not absolutely necessary, provision
of the copyright notice (©, name of author,
date) and formal registration does provide certain
benefits. Copyright registration is a relatively
simple and inexpensive process, and can be accomplished
by referring to the Library
of Congress.
- Trade Secrets
of institutional research is considered contrary
to academic standards for publication and knowledge
dissemination. However, there are times when maintaining
information in confidence is necessary, especially
if that information is provided by non-ECU collaborators
and industry partners. Information of a confidential
nature should only be provided to ECU under the
terms of a Confidential Disclosure Agreement
(CDA). In other instances unpublished information
and research data generated by ECU may also benefit
from a CDA before sharing with collaborators from
other organizations. CDA’s recognize the proprietary
nature of unpublished information and restrict the
manner in which that information can be used by
the receiving party. This is particularly important
entering into a dialog with potential collaborators.
- Material Transfer
Agreements (MTA’s), like CDA’s,
establish terms of confidentiality for tangible
material, such as biological materials. An MTA should
be used if tangible material is to be made available
for use or review to an academic colleague or to
a potential corporate collaborator.
- Inventorship
is a legal concept for recognizing individuals who
contribute to the conception of the invention, as
it is defined by the patent. Conception is defined
as: the complete performance of the mental part
of the inventive act. All that remains to be accomplished,
in order to perfect the act or instrument, belongs
to the department of construction, not invention.
It is therefore the formation, in the mind of the
inventor of a definite and permanent idea of the
complete and operative invention, as it is thereafter
to be applied in practice, that constitutes an available
conception, within the patent law.
- Authorship and
inventorship are entirely different. While inventorship
is a legal concept that is very clearly defined,
authorship is founded in academic tradition and
its interpretation varies between individuals, departments
and schools. Typically, authorship includes individuals
who participate in the intellectual aspect of experimental
design, data analysis, and manuscript preparation,
but has been known to extend to others with less
involvement as a matter of generosity and courtesy.
- Publication or
public dissemination of potentially patentable information
can jeopardize international patent rights if publicized
before a patent application is filed. However, U.S.
patent rights can be preserved even after publication
if a patent application is filed within one year
of public dissemination. Publications, in this sense,
need not be in scholarly journals. Articles in local
newspapers, newsletters, theses and dissertations,
and funded grants can become a bar to future patent
rights.
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