Intellectual Property – a brief introduction

19th October 2011

Andrew WilsonTechnology Transfer Project Manager

• Importance • Definitions• Who owns your research?• Recent cases / issues

Gowers review of IP

• For many citizens, Intellectual Property (IP) is an obscure and distant domain – its laws shrouded in jargon and technical mystery, it applications relevant only to a specialist audience. And yet IP is everywhere. Even a simple coffee jar relies on a range on IP rights – from patents to copyright, designs to trade marks.

Importance of IP

• Ideas are expensive to produce and cheap to copy (blockbuster films £100M, blockbuster drugs £B)

• Product development, marketing and sales is an expensive and time consuming process – up to 13 years to get drug to market

• Intellectual Property Right framework is in place to encourage innovation in all fields of arts and science (and investment in R&D by companies) and to make innovations publicly available to that others can build up them.

Hargreaves’ Review 2011

External environment – why IP important to UWE

• Apart from building and land IP is usually a universities most valuable asset• Funders want bang for their bucks (eg Charities, companies, government,

Research Councils, Hefce)• They always have done but increasingly they want this demonstrated by

Universities… IMPACT agenda• Charities, companies, government, Research Councils, Hefce• They’re investing in research for a reason - better treatments, quality of life,

and UK Plc

Intellectual Property - an overview

• Intellectual – coming from the human mind

• Property – a tradable commodity like a car or a house – IPRs can be sold (assigned), rented (licensed)

• Intellectual Property is the term used to describe the outputs of creative endeavour in literary, artistic, industrial, scientific and engineering fields which can be protected under legislation.

• Intellectual Property Rights give legal recognition to the ownership of intellectual property.

• IP = research outputs

Intellectual Property Rights – an overviewType of IP What it protects Term

Patents How things work. New ideas capable of being made or used and involving a non-obvious inventive step.

20

Know how / confidential information

Secret information, formulae, ideas, results and expertise.

Indefinite (unless disclosed). NDAs often have terms

Copyright Written work, films, videos, typographical arrangements, including computer software, music, art, drawing and data.

70 years from death of creator, usually

Design rights (registered and unregistered)

How things look. Form and appearance of objects (including semiconductor topographies).

15/25

Trade marks (registered or unregistered)

Distinguishing symbols. Product brand names, company logos etc.

Indefinite

Plant breeder’s rights

New plant varieties. 25-30

Database rights Databases and collections of information. 15

What has IP got to do with me?

• You all create IP during the course of your research, eg ideas, documents, drawings, papers etc

• The outputs of your research will be beneficial in someway. Giving consideration to IP dissemination / exploitation may help maximise this.

• IPRs ‘Protect’ the output of your research, enables you to control use by others and may enable you exploit them and to subsequently benefit financially

• You shouldn’t use other IP without permission / licence

UWE’s IP Policy

• http://rbi.uwe.ac.uk/Internet/contracts/default.asp

Student IPR

• Undergraduate and students on taught courses generally student owned (unless otherwise agreed eg 3rd party funding or use of UWE background IPR)

• Postgraduate – UWE claims ownership of IPR

• Publication requires permission from UWE (except theses)

• Confirmation in writing to be bound by IP Policy and Regulations – good idea to read

Student IPR

• May be asked to sign Assignment of IPR agreement• If IP of future value or required due to 3rd party terms• If so this agreement will be explained in detail before you are asked to sign• Treated as member of staff for revenue sharing• Professional support for commercialisation • Marketing • Patent/legal costs

Revenue sharing from exploitation of UWE IP

Net Revenue

Inventors’ share

Faculty share

University share

Any sum 50% 25% 25%

Further information

• UK Intellectual Property Office (general IP information and searching)

• Supervisor

• Faculty Research Office

• RBI

Star Wars costume maker strikes back against Lucasfilm movie empire

The Supreme Court has ruled, though, that the helmets were not sculptures or artistic works, which means that an exception in Section 51 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act applied. This says that an object that is made to a copyrighted design document only infringes that copyright if it is an artistic work.

Copyright – parody?

• Newport state of mind / new york state of mind• Banded in UK not in US, parody not protected under ‘fair use’ is US

• Moshi Monsters - Lady goo-goo and dustbin beaver

• Interesting court cases…

Patent Nuclear War