Invention from University Research: Who Profits?

[FunnyCurrent]

---

Members do not see this ad.

If I create/invent something in the course of doing research as a medical student who eventually gets to patent it?

I'm guessing the university wants to retain this right and has it written into a document somewhere... but I don't ever remember signing anything that said my research belongs to them.

 

[alamo4]

It depends on the school policy.

We had to sign a document saying the university gets 30%, dept gets 30%, the tech transfer office gets 10% and the actual inventors get the final 30% to divide amongst themselves. When you invent something or put IP up for licensing, you then sign a paper where everyone listed as an inventor gets a given %, and you all sign that. This is assuming you invented something while you were being paid as a lab assistant or whatever. One advantage is that if you do invent something, they help with all the patent application and legal aspects and set things up for people to bid on licensing it, have lawyers to defend the patent, etc.

However, if you invent something as a class project or on your own time, it's all yours and your co-inventors.

If you have something like a tech transfer office or technology licensing office, you can call or email them and ask university policies.

 

[IlDestriero]

This is a complicated topic and the source of many lawsuits. You would have to review the specifics for your school/hospital.
My friend's father developed something while on the faculty of a major research university, really only the idea which was an offshoot of his research at the time. He left and started his own company, got sued, settled for $x, sold the rights to a global corp for >50x. The university got the shaft and he got in the running for the Forbes list. I gather that's not the norm.

 

[Medstudent1968]

If I create/invent something in the course of doing research as a medical student who eventually gets to patent it?

I'm guessing the university wants to retain this right and has it written into a document somewhere... but I don't ever remember signing anything that said my research belongs to them.

Since you're not a member of the faculty, the main issue for you would be your research funding. Much of the research funding that I've seen includes clauses that claim total/partial institutional ownership of any IP that results from the funded research.
Your school probably has a designated IP office/officer that you could send an email to.

 

[surftheiop]

I dont know if this is true all places, but based on the IP talk I heard in undergrad (at a private university).

If your paying tuition, you have full rights to anything you invent where the research wasn't being funded by a grant held by faculty. This is why Harvard doesn't inherently own part of facebook.

Once your on a stipend as grad student and then on as faculty, they have a right to a certain percent of anything you make from a patent even if it was developed on your own time, I think at our school you got to keep like 50%, department takes 25 and university 25. (Don't remember if this is exact)
The upside to this is that the school has a bunch of IP lawyers to help you get an actually useful patent, and has business folks with really good connections who will help you with pitching the ideas to venture capitalists,etc. So for example I think Stanford owned 5% of Google based on the collection of patents it was based on.

Ive heard public school professors tend to get a worse deal, but I dont know the details.