Process for 51³Ô¹ÏÍø inventors to request assignment of intellectual property that is formally abandoned by the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Commercialisation team.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø has established a process whereby inventor(s) may request the assignment of Intellectual Property (IP) that has been formally abandoned by the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Commercialisation Team (i.e. IP that has been assigned to 51³Ô¹ÏÍø College Innovations Ltd (ICIL) and they wish to conclude their efforts to commercialise).
Should the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Commercialisation Team abandon IP, they will formally notify the inventor(s) by email. Upon receipt of a notification email, the inventor(s) can request to be assigned that IP by informing the Executive or the Director of the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Commercialisation Team.
All such requests will be subject to the outcomes of 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s due diligence process, for example, any co-owners or funders of that IP will also be notified of 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Commercialisation Team's decision, if they do not wish to be assigned the IP to try and commercialise it, then it can be offered to the inventor(s).
Before being assigned the IP, the inventor(s) will be required to provide their reasons for wishing to take assignment of the IP. They may also be required to demonstrate their reasonable ability to commercialise the IP. There will be two legal instruments governing the IP transfer to the inventor(s), an Assignment Agreement and a Revenue Sharing Agreement with ICIL to share any revenue generated from their commercialisation of the assigned IP.
The inventors taking assignment of the IP are not eligible to receive a share of the revenue stream 51³Ô¹ÏÍø may receive from the commercialisation of that IP, under 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Reward to Inventors Scheme. Any inventors of the IP, who do not take assignment of that IP, are eligible to benefit under 51³Ô¹ÏÍø's Reward to Inventors Scheme from a share of IP commercialisation income, commensurate with their inventive contribution.
Upon requesting assignment of the IP, the inventor(s) will be solely responsible for commercialising the IP and for meeting patent application deadlines and any associated costs.
Please note, being assigned IP in a personal capacity and activities relating to that IP are subject to 51³Ô¹ÏÍø's Conflict of Interest policy and Register of External Interests and Annual Declaration policy and require prior approval and annual declaration as described therein.
Who should I contact about IP?
Depending on where you are in the intellectual property process, you have a few options:
- Faculty commercialisation Teams are the point of contact for staff starting their commercialisation journey.
- Intellectual Property Strategy team is the point of contact for policy questions, such as 51³Ô¹ÏÍø's IP policy and Rewards to Inventors.
- Support for the commercialisation team is the point of contact for supporting activities of the Faculty Commercialisation Teams.