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A contract duly executed and legally binding which indicates a course of action.
Assignment
A written agreement that transfers ownership of, or an interest in, (intellectual) property to another person or organization.
Author
The originator or creator of a written work. This pertains to all publishable works not only in print format, but in software, and other electronic/digital media.
Information that is treated as private and not for publication. Information is confidential if it is intended to be kept in confidence or kept secret.
Confidentiality Disclosure Agreement or CDA
A legal document that allows for the discussion and use of confidential (secret) information to another party such that the communication is not a "public disclosure" (which prevents patenting) and prevents the use of the information by the recipient for personal gain. CDA is also referred to as a Non-Disclosure Agreement or NDA.
Contract
A legally binding agreement between two or more persons or parties establishing specific terms and conditions for the working relationship between the signators.
Copyright
Copyright protects the expression of an idea once an original work of authorship is fixed in a tangible medium of expression. A copyright protects the exclusive right of the author or creator of a literary or artistic property (such as a book, movie or musical composition) to print, copy, sell, license, distribute, transform to another medium, translate, record or perform or otherwise use (or not use) and to give it to another by will. As soon as a work is created and is fixed in a tangible form (such as writing or taping) the work automatically has federal copyright protection.
Copyright & Patent Committee
Made up of five individuals: two faculty members appointed to the University Research Council by the Senate, at least one other faculty member, the General Manager of the Foundation or designee, and one at-large member. After disclosure has been made, upon approval of the Committee the work is sent to the University's President for signature. After the signature is obtained, the process of patenting and copyrighting begins.
To make known verbally or in writing some information previously held in secret or confidence. For the purposes of patenting and maintaining a discovery proprietary, both a private disclosure and a public disclosure are viewed as placing the disclosed information in the "public domain", unless the disclosure is made under the protection of a Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA). You cannot patent an idea that is in the pubic domain. It is therefore imperative that you secure a CDA prior to discussing your materials with anyone. It is necessary to omit details of the invention that "enable someone skilled in the art" to reduce the idea to practice, if a disclosure (e.g. a paper or lecture) is going to be made without first securing a CDA.
A violation or trespass on a right or privilege.
Intellectual Property (IP)
Intellectual property includes any creative idea that is expressed in tangible form. "Intellectual property" is a generic expression referring to ideas or the expression of ideas that may be protected by patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets or trade dress. An intellectual property is any product of the human intellect that is unique, novel, and non-obvious (and has some value in the marketplace) including; an idea, invention, an expression or literary creation, unique name, business method, industrial process, chemical formula, computer program process, or presentation.
Invention
A non-obvious, novel and useful idea relating to a device or process that has been reduced to practice.
Inventor
A person who thinks of, finds, discovers, or creates a device or process.
A written authority granted by the owner of an intellectual property to another person or organization empowering the latter to make, use or sell the intellectual property for a limited period or in a limited territory.
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
The purpose of this document is to define the expectations, terms and conditions of the working relationship between two (2) parties. It is frequently the predecessor to a formal agreement.
Materials Transfer Agreement (MTA)
A legally binding document in which one party releases substance, element or item (material) to another party for the purposes of research. It defines how the material may be used by the recipient party and limits the commercial exploitation of the product(s) of the research without the permission of the provider party. Primarily pertains to biomedical and chemical research.
Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
Please see CDA: Confidentiality Disclosure Agreement
The party or parties who control rights to an authored work or an invention, whether patented or not.
In return for disclosing an invention to the public, an inventor is awarded an exclusive right to the benefits of the invention by the U.S. Patent Office for twenty years from the date of the patent application. The patent grants the patent owner the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or offering to sell the invention throughout the U.S., or importing the invention into the U.S., and if the invention is a process, the right to exclude others from using, selling, or offering to sell throughout the U.S., or importing into the U.S., products made by that process. (35 U.S.C. 154.)
Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-PI
The main and partner investigators on a given project.
Public Domain
Belonging to the community at large. Unprotected by patent and copyright. Subject to appropriation by anyone.
An idea that is proven to work.
Royalty
A payment made to the owner (licensor) of an authored work or invention for the sale of each article sold under copyright or patent.
Creative work by a faculty member that is not funded by an outside agency and is consistent with his/her primary academic effort. The work reflects the subject matter the faculty member is teaching.
Sponsored Research
Directed research funded by a company to accomplish a specific objective. A faculty member shall consult with the TTO prior to entering into any agreements regarding sponsored research.
A distinguishing characteristic or feature firmly associated with a person, product, or company legally reserved to the exclusive use of the owner as maker or seller.
Trade Secret
A formula or process or device used in business that is not published or divulged which gives an advantage over competitors.
Money invested in return for an ownership element in a new business. The risk factor determines terms of the deal.