IP

AUTM surveys universities about student IP policies and successful practices

Submitted by tim on Thu, 11/01/2012 - 14:54

AUTM, ACCT Canada, the NCIIA and PraxisUnico recently conducted a survey to develop resources to facilitate more productive commercialization of student inventions. More than 90 colleges and universities in 15 countries participated in the survey. Here are some highlights from the survey results.

  • 72% of the survey participants were from public schools and 24% private.
  • 26% of the schools reported 5 or fewer patentable or copyrightable student inventions occur annually, 44% reported 6 - 25, 18% reported 26 - 100, and 12% reported more than 100.
  • Ongoing efforts to support student entrepreneurship and/or invention on campus included a variety of programs:
    • Entrepreneurship classes, bootcamps or other programs   84%
    • Business plan competitions   72%
    • Incubators for student-owned companies   50%
    • Student entrepreneurship funding   41%
    • NCIIA programs   10%
  • 72% of universities and colleges provide resources to help students learn about and navigate IP and commercialization issues.
  • 70% have a formal policy and/or guidelines addressing ownership of student inventions.
  • 36% have formal procedures for processing student inventions.
  • 48% proactively inform faculty and staff about policies or guidelines relating to student ownership rights and how it could impact them.
  • 51% proactively inform companies working with students on R&D, or involved in student education in any other way, about policies or guidelines relating to student ownership rights and how it could impact them.

Additional data and resources will be available through AUTM, ACCT Canada, NCIIA and PraxisUnico in the coming year. These resources will include:

  • A database of policies, guidelines and best practices.
  • A new chapter in the AUTM Technology Transfer Practice Manual.
  • Webinars for students, technology transfer offices and companies using students as interns or in connection with a practicum or other part of a student's educational program.

Intellectual Property Primer

If you're responsible for creating or revising your institution’s intellectual policy (IP) statement, you may be wondering where to start. You can review policies from other institutions, but without a little background, the whole process can seem overwhelming.

We created this primer to give you a place to start. We interviewed IP professionals from a variety of backgrounds, and discovered that although they didn't always agree on the elements of a good policy, their ideas frequently overlapped.

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