Policies and Statutes
What is protected as intellectual property, who owns it, how it is managed, and what rights accrue to an intellectual property owner are set by a combination of federal statutes (supplemented by case law that helps interpret those statutes) and University of Arizona policies.
Federal Statutes
Inventions and works of authorship are brought into being by creative individuals, but the property characteristics, or bundle of rights, attached to those innovations through patents and copyrights are, with limited exceptions, brought into being by the application of federal statutes. The statutes most relevant to University of Arizona researchers are:
- The U.S. Patent Statute allows applicants to seek patent protection for inventions, including any process, machine, manufactured item, or composition of matter, all of which are defined very broadly by the courts, or any new and useful improvement on any of those categories. The statute also specifies initial ownership of patent rights, specific rights of a patent holder, and under what conditions rights to a patent might be lost. Chapter 18 of the statute (Bayh-Dole Act) grants universities a right to elect title to inventions made with federal assistance.
- The U.S. Copyright Statute specifies the subject matter of copyright as original expression in writings (including sets of computer instructions), recorded speech, recorded or written music, paintings, etc., but not the ideas embodied in the expression. This statute also specifies the initial ownership of copyrights, and enumerates the specific rights of copyright owners.
- The U.S. Plant Variety Protection Act permits applicants to seek protection for certain plant varieties that, while new, do not otherwise meet the requirements for patents.
University Policies
- The Arizona Board of Regents' policy on intellectual property (ABOR IP Policy) encourages University employees to engage in creative endeavors, and recognizes intellectual property as one tool that Arizona universities may use to disseminate new knowledge thus created. The policy generally specifies the categories of intellectual property that fall under the policy, describes factors that determine IP ownership, lists the administrative responsibilities of the universities and their employees who create IP, describes the interaction between publication rights and the protection of IP, specifies that revenue from the commercialization be shared with those who created the IP, and provides guidelines for faculty owned companies and conflict of interest.
- Each of Arizona's public universities has established its own, institution-specific, implementation of the common ABOR IP policy. The UA IP Policy defines for this University terms used in the ABOR policy, sets criteria for the ownership and use of ABOR-owned IP, and defines procedures to be used in the management of IP at the University of Arizona.
- The University of Arizona Conflict of Interest Policy provides guidelines for UA employees interacting with companies through consulting agreements, the formation of spin-off companies, and research agreements with companies in which faculty members have significant equity positions or financial interests must follow the Conflict of Interest Policy. Department heads have the front line responsibility for ensuring compliance with the University policy. Any potential conflict of interest must be reviewed by the Institutional Review Committee (IRC). Any commitment involving intellectual property must be reviewed by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies.
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Last modified: June 24, 2008.
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