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There is no requirement for you to
disclose IP which you own yourself.
You may of course do so if you wish.
If, say, you are a student and you
would like UMIP to help
commercialise IP which you own,
then feel free to disclose it to UMIP
in confidence. UMIP will let you
know if it can help. Bear in mind
that if you are in contact with UMIP,
the University Contracts Team or any
of the University's other authorised
agents, their responsibility is to
promote the best interests of the
University and not those of
individual staff members or
students. Although they can give
general guidance, you should seek
your own independent legal advice
to ensure that your interests are
looked after.
Protection
Once IP has been disclosed to
UMIP, if it thinks after consultation
that there is potential for the IP to
be profitably commercialised, UMIP
will take steps to protect it by
patenting it or through other means
(generally at its own expense). Some
IP, such as copyright, cannot be
protected by registration, but needs
to be safeguarded in other ways.
There is information in "IP
and
Confidentiality: A Researcher's
Guide" and on the IP Awareness
Resource telling you how the
different types of IP are protected
and suggesting tips as to things you
can do yourself to protect the IP.
An impressive 83% of our
research activity is judged
to be 'world-leading' or
'internationally excellent'
