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UTMB Management Responsibilities Handbook

Intellectual Property

Accountability

The UT System intellectual property policy applies to all persons employed by the UT System and the component institutions of the System; to anyone using system facilities under the supervision of system personnel; to candidates for masters and doctoral degrees; and to postdoctoral fellows. Intellectual property, in general terms, is anything useful and tangible which results from a person’s creative efforts, including artistic ingeniousness or inventiveness.

The Board of Regents of the UT System may assert ownership in intellectual property of all types (including, but not limited to, any invention, discovery, trade secret, technology, scientific or technological development, and computer software), regardless of whether the property is subject to protection under patent, trademark, copyright, or other laws. Similarly, the Board has sole ownership of intellectual property that it commissions or that is produced as a work for hire. However, the Board does not assert an interest in faculty-produced handbooks, scholarly writings, art works, musical compositions and dramatic and non-dramatic literary works that are related to the faculty member’s professional field, unless such work is commissioned by the UT System or component institution of the System, or is produced as a work for hire.

Intellectual property arising in the aforementioned context must be reported to the Center for Technology Development in the form of an Invention Disclosure and/or Software Disclosure form. Disclosures are reviewed by the Academic Advisory Committee on Intellectual Property, and the Technology Administration Committee for scientific/technical merit and business opportunity/commercialization potential, respectively. Notification of the University’s intent to assert and to maintain their interest in the technology will be based on the recommendations of the committees. Protecting the intellectual property in the form of a patent, copyright, etc. will be done at the University expense. Prior to distributing licensing/commercialization royalty receipts to the inventor(s), as defined in the University intellectual property policy, incurred University expenses will be reimbursed.

Major Responsibilities

The department head is responsible for notifying department personnel of their responsibilities regarding intellectual property rights. Copies of the UT System and UTMB Intellectual Property Policy and Guidelines can be obtained by contacting the Center for Technology Management. The department head must sign all invention and software disclosures prior to submission to the Center for Technology Development.

Potential Problem Areas

Department heads should take the following precautions to ensure adherence to the UT System and UTMB policies and procedures:

• Sponsored research agreements, material transfer agreements, or other contractual agreements that contain provisions affecting intellectual property must be reviewed by Research Development Services. The parties to the agreement are the Sponsoring Company and the Institution, not the principal investigator or department head. The principal investigator’s understanding of his/her obligations, outlined in such agreements, will be accomplished through the signing of a similar statement on the agreement signature page. Agreements of “non-standard” form will be referred to the UT System Office of General Counsel for review and approval. Note: No individual, including the department head, has the authority to sign a document contractually binding UTMB.
• It is important that all departmental employees be informed of the terms and conditions of the UT System intellectual property policy statements and guidelines.

Consulting agreements between a faculty member and an outside organization (commercial or non-commercial) are considered outside employment under UT System Regents’ Rules and Regulations, and must receive prior approval of the department head and dean to assure that the duties under the agreement do not conflict with the duties the employee owes to UTMB. In clinical departments, a determination must also be made as to whether the money received will become MSRDP income.

NOTE: On occasion, companies will try to circumvent the University Intellectual Property Policy by entering into a “direct” consulting agreement with a University employee.

Questions regarding intellectual property should be addressed to the Center for Technology Development.

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