Issue link: https://htpgraphics.uberflip.com/i/246964
IP Ownership Section 3 Why do you need to know? So, why is it so important to know who owns what IP in which materials? Well, it will govern what use can be made of the materials, as we shall see in a bit more detail later on. You need to be aware of the use which you can make of materials which you have created during the course of your employment. If you leave your institution, you should check what you can and cannot do with materials which you have helped to create and/or develop. If you join a new institution, would you be allowed to use materials which you developed whilst at your previous job? If you work together with a number of people, do you all own the rights in a particular piece of work to which you have all made a contribution? What happens if you update or modify materials that you have worked on or which have been created by someone else? Where would IP ownership lie? The ownership point becomes very important when you come to look at commercialisation. If you do not own the relevant IP, you cannot commercialise it without the consent of the party which does own the IP. The Basic Position If you are an employee of your institution, and you create IP during the course of your employment, then, in most cases, your institution will own any IP that you create, unless there is an agreement to the contrary. At universities, you will usually be an employee if you are a professor, reader, senior lecturer, technician, administrator or a member of research and/or support staff. The position is not so clear cut if you have an honorary contract with an NHS Trust. Was the work created in the course of your employment? If the main role of a doctor or nurse is as a patient carer, then it might not be obvious whether some particular IP in academic materials which they created was created in the course of their employment. 14