Our IP principles

Our Intellectual Property (IP) management principles make it easier to collaborate with us.

What is IP?

When you collaborate with the University, this can lead to the creation of new IP. This might take the form of inventions, documents, products, services, processes or software.

Intellectual Property, or IP, can include:

    • Literary, artistic, musical and dramatic works
    • Field and laboratory notebooks
    • Cinematographic and multimedia works
    • Performances of performing artists, sound recordings and broadcast
    • Patentable and non-patentable inventions
    • Registered and unregistered designs, plant varieties and topographies
    • Circuit layouts
    • Registered and unregistered trademarks, service marks and commercial names and designations
    • Other databases, computer software and related material
    • Scientific discoveries
    • Know-how and other proprietary information.

We use patents, trademark or copyright laws and legal contracts to register or protect these creations.

Who benefits from IP creation?

Any IP we create may have the potential to deliver impact. This may be social impact, by making the world a better place, or it could have a commercial or economic application. To continue to build an entrepreneurial culture, we share the profits between all IP creators who helped originate the IP.

How do we manage IP?

IP is an essential part of our collaborations but it can be complex, so IP management needs to be considered from the start. This will help you achieve the impacts you are looking for and can help to avoid delays and disputes.

Our IP management principles guide how you can access and use University-owned IP.

What are our IP principles?

Deliver impact and benefit:
We work with partners who can help increase access to our research so that our IP will benefit society and drive real-world impacts.

Easy to do business with:
We are prompt and transparent when negotiating IP arrangements. We develop our arrangements in keeping with these principles.

Agree terms upfront:
At the start of any collaborative activity, we put in place clear IP management and ownership arrangements with our partners.

Led by the party best placed to commercialise:
Whichever party is best placed to create impact from our IP will lead the commercialisation process.

Share the value  – we offer commercial incentives so that our partners use our IP:
In return, we expect fair and reasonable consideration. This relates to access to, and commercialisation of, University-owned, University-developed or jointly owned IP.

Preserve the ability to publish, teach and undertake research:
We retain the rights to IP if it facilitates our primary activities of research, teaching or ability to publish.

The University’s Knowledge and Technology Transfer team can answer any questions you have.

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