This policy shall apply to all forms of Intellectual Property created or developed, in whole or in part, by Members of the University (1) making Substantial Use of University Resources, (2) as a direct result of University duties, (3) pursuant to the terms of an agreement to which the University is a party, or (4) in the course of or related to activities on grants or contracts administered by the Research Foundation.
A. General Rule
B. Exceptions and Clarifications to the General Rule
C. Creator's Non-Commercial Use
Where the University owns the Intellectual Property under this policy, the Creator is permitted to continue to use the work for his or her own noncommercial purposes. Any distribution by the Creator to academic colleagues outside the University beyond the limits of "fair use", as defined in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, shall be permitted pursuant to written agreement from the University through the Chancellor or Designated Individual at each College.
Authority and responsibility for this policy shall reside with the Chancellor. The Chancellor may seek the advice and assistance of the Intellectual Property Committee (as described in Section V.E.). The responsibility for administration of the policy at the college level is delegated to the Designated Individual at each College.
A. Disclosure of Intellectual Property
B. Determination of Ownership Rights
C. Legal Protection and Commercialization
D. Creator's Additional Rights
E. Intellectual Property Committee
F. Sponsored Research Requirements
The Research Foundation shall monitor disclosure and reporting requirements and other obligations to Sponsors regarding University-owned Intellectual Property developed under a Sponsored Research agreement or grant, including but not limited to obligations to the U.S. government under 37 C.F.R. Part 401, as amended (regulations implementing the Bayh-Dole Act).
G. Management Organization
The University may make an agreement with one or more intellectual property management organizations to undertake the legal protection and/or, with the permission of the Creator, commercialization activities, described in this Part V. Any such management organization shall be required to abide by the time limits set forth in Section V.D.
H. Not Applicable
This Part does not apply to University-owned Intellectual Property described in Sections III.B.2 and III.B.3, or in Section III.B.5 to the extent this Part conflicts with the terms of the negotiated agreement.
A. Policy
A Creator of University-owned Intellectual Property is entitled to share in the income, including royalties, equity interests (subject to any University conflict of interest policy), and dividends, earned from the commercialization of that Intellectual Property.
B. Distribution
Subject to the terms of any Sponsored Research agreement and unless otherwise agreed by the University and the Creator, gross income created from commercialization of University-owned Intellectual Property shall be distributed as follows:
C. Multiple Creators
Where two or more Members of the University contributed to the creation of Intellectual Property, the Creator's share of revenues shall be divided among them equally, unless the Members of the University agree upon a different distribution among themselves and notify the University in writing of their agreement.
A. University's Equity Interest
Subject to the review and approval of the Chancellor, and after a diligent effort to identify prospective sponsors or licensees, the University is permitted to take an equity interest in sponsors or licensee companies under the following terms and conditions:
B. Member's Significant Interest
C. Consulting Agreements
Conflicts involving Intellectual Property may arise when a Member of the University enters into a personal consulting or other agreement with a third party. Such agreements may include provisions as to the licensing or assignment of Intellectual Property and may come into conflict with this policy. Prior to signing any consulting or other agreement that deals with Intellectual Property owned by the University pursuant to this policy, a Member of the University shall have the agreement reviewed by the Chancellor to be certain such agreement does not inappropriately assign University rights to third parties. If the agreement is in conflict with this policy, the Member must either obtain from the Chancellor a waiver of any University rights, or otherwise modify the consulting agreement to conform with this policy. This requirement is in addition to, and does not eliminate the necessity for, any approval required by any University conflict of interest policy.
This policy constitutes an understanding which is binding on the University and Members of the University for the use of University Resources and for participating in research programs at the University. Any questions of interpretation or claims arising out of or relating to this policy, or dispute as to ownership rights of Intellectual Property under this policy, shall be settled by the following procedure: The issue must first be submitted, in the form of a letter setting forth the grievance or issue to be resolved, to a review panel of five members, including a representative of the Creator, and designees of the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the President of the Research Foundation, the Chair of the Faculty Advisory Council of the Research Foundation, and the Provost of the Creator's College. The panel shall review the matter and then advise the parties of its decision within 30 calendar days of submission of the letter. The decision of the panel may be appealed by either side to the Chancellor. The decision of the Chancellor shall be final.
The University owns all right, title and interest in Trademarks related to an item of Intellectual Property owned by the University, or to a program of education, service, public relations, research or training program of the University.
The University hereby assigns its ownership rights in Inventions resulting from Sponsored Research to the Research Foundation. The Research Foundation may file patent applications, as named assignee, for such Inventions, subject to the terms of this policy, including the distribution provisions set forth in Section VI, with respect to income earned from the commercialization of such Inventions. Furthermore, nothing in this policy shall prevent the Chancellor from appointing the Research Foundation as the Chancellor's designee for performance of the functions assigned to the University in general or the Chancellor in particular, or to retain distribution of income from commercialization of Intellectual Property.
This policy is effective from the date of approval by the University Board of Trustees with respect to Intellectual Property created after that date and shall remain in effect until modified or revoked.
Chancellor shall mean the Chancellor of the University or his or her designee.
Commissioned Work shall mean work commissioned by the University in writing from a Member of the University, outside the scope of his or her employment.
Copyrightable Work shall mean an original work of authorship, including any Scholarly or Pedagogical Work, which has been fixed in any tangible medium of expression from which it can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, and may include, but is not limited to, books, journals, musical works, dramatic works, multimedia products, computer programs or codes, videos, films, sound recordings, pictoral and graphical works and sculpture
Creator shall mean a Member of the University whose creative activity results in the development of Intellectual Property. As used in this policy, the term "creator" also includes groups of researchers, authors or inventors whose joint efforts produce Intellectual Property
Designated Individual shall mean the College officer who has been appointed by the College President to be in charge of Intellectual Property matters.
Intellectual Property shall mean all forms of intellectual property, including but not limited to Inventions, Copyrightable Works, Trade Secrets and Know-How, and Tangible Research Property, but excluding Trademarks.
Invention shall mean a process, method, machine, manufacture, discovery, device, plant, composition of matter or other invention that reasonably appears to qualify for protection under the United States patent law, whether or not actually patentable. "Invention" shall also include computer programs and codes, but only to the extent they are patentable
The term Member of the University shall include full-time and part-time faculty, staff, and graduate students engaged in faculty-directed research, whether paid or unpaid, as well as individuals compensated by grant funds made available to the University by or through the Research Foundation. Any other person who develops Intellectual Property while making extraordinary use of University Resources shall also be deemed a Member of the University, unless there is an agreement providing that such person shall not be subject to this policy.
OGC shall mean the Office of the General Counsel and Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs.
Scholarly or Pedagogical Works shall mean Copyrightable Works created for traditional academic purposes. Examples include scholarly books (including text books), instructional materials including lecture notes, classroom presentations, research articles, research monographs, student theses and dissertations, novels, poems, films, videos, musical compositions and performances, dramatic works and performances, visual works of art including paintings, drawings, sculpture, installations and performance art, and other scholarly publications or works of artistic imagination, whether such works are disseminated in print, electronically or through some other tangible medium.
Significant Interest shall mean the following:
The term does not include: (1) income from seminars, lectures or teaching engagements sponsored by public or nonprofit entities; (2) income from service on advisory committees or review panels for public or nonprofit entities; (3) financial interests in business enterprises or entities that, when aggregated for the Member and the Member's spouse and dependent children, meet both of the following tests: (a) do not exceed $10,000 per year in value, as determined through reference to public prices or other reasonable measures of fair market value and (b) do not represent more than a 5 % percent ownership interest in any single enterprise or entity; or (4), salary, royalties or other continuing payments that, when aggregated for the Member and the Member's spouse and dependent children, are not expected to exceed $10,000 per year in value.
Sponsor shall mean an organization, agency or individual which or who provides funding, equipment, or other support for the University, directly or through the Research Foundation, to carry out a specified project in research, training, or public service pursuant to a written agreement (Sponsored Research). Sponsors include Federal, State, local and other governmental entities, as well as private industry, individuals, educational institutions and private foundations.
Substantial Use of University Resources shall mean unreimbursed use of University Resources at a level not ordinarily used by or available to, all or virtually all, faculty, staff or graduate students, as the case may be. Ordinarily available University Resources include assigned office, laboratory and studio space and standard office, laboratory and studio equipment, office computer workstations, library and other general use information resources and the means of network access to such resources. The University does not construe the payment of salary in the form of release time or sabbatical as constituting substantial use of University Resources, except in those situations where the release time or sabbatical is granted specifically to support the development of Commissioned Work. Use of ordinarily available University Resources for private, commercial purposes is considered substantial use.
Tangible Research Property shall mean tangible items produced in the course of research including, but not limited to, biological materials, research notes and reports, laboratory notebooks, computer databases and software, circuit chips, equipment and engineering drawings.
Trade Secrets and Know-How shall mean facts, information, data, designs, business plans, customer lists and other secret knowledge which give the owner a competitive edge.
Trademark shall mean a distinctive word, design or graphic symbol, or combination of the same, that distinguishes and identifies the goods and services of one party from those of another. The term "Trademark" shall include service marks.
University shall mean The City University of New York.
University Resources shall mean any resources available to a Member of the University as a direct result of his or her affiliation with the University and which would not otherwise be available to a non-University-affiliated individual, including but not limited to, funds and financial support, facilities, equipment, supplies, services, non-faculty University personnel, students, release time and sabbaticals.
Amended May 18, 2009