INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, PATENT, AND COPYRIGHTABLE SOFTWARE

Effective: August 15, 2024

Purpose: The purpose of Emporia State University’s Intellectual Property Policy is to foster the creation and dissemination of knowledge and to provide certainty in individual and University rights associated with ownership and the distribution of benefits that may be derived from the creation of intellectual property. The policy is intended to be a broad statement to provide uniformity while allowing flexibility.

Scope: This policy applies to all full or part-time employees, including student employees, creating intellectual property at Emporia State University. Student employees and staff members of official student publications shall be exempt from this policy to the extent set forth in the publication’s related guiding documents and the terms and conditions of their employment for that publication.

Responsible Office: Academic Affairs

Policy Statement: When revenues are to be shared, the creator(s) shall obtain their share only after Emporia State University has recouped any direct costs incurred for equipment, materials, and costs paid to third parties. The portion of the revenues to be shared among multiple creators shall be shared equally unless otherwise agreed in writing by the creators. Finally, this policy implements the Board of Regents Intellectual Property Policy (BORIPP).

Intellectual Property Rights Retained Exclusively by Creator

The University has no rights in any intellectual property that is created solely as a result of the employee's own creative and intellectual effort, time, resources, and money. In addition, notwithstanding the use of University resources or the “work for hire” principle, a faculty member retains exclusive intellectual property rights in their course material, regardless of the delivery methodology (e.g., via mediated courseware), except that course materials developed pursuant to a specific appointment to create a course to be delivered via mediated courseware shall be the property of the University. For purposes of this policy, an appointment to teach a course during the summer or intersession terms shall not be considered a “special appointment” to which this exception applies. In cases of a specific appointment, when the University expressly directs the creation of a course to be delivered via mediated courseware in an appointment specific to that purpose, and provides materials and time to develop the course and compensates the employee specifically for this purpose, the University shall have the right to revise and decide who will utilize the course materials for the purpose of instruction, and has the right to decide on the sharing of revenue and control, if any.

Copyright

The ownership of the various rights associated with copyright is dependent upon the specific type of intellectual property. The University shall assert limited ownership of some of the various rights as set forth below. Because the University has a fiduciary responsibility for the appropriate use of state funds, unless otherwise provided for under this policy, all rights associated with works produced as “work made for hire” or other works that make “substantial use” of institutional resources belong to the University.

For any State or Federal agency which has separate statutory authority regarding rights in copyrightable materials, ownership of intellectual property developed in the course of work for that agency shall be determined pursuant to the authorizing statute. Ownership of other work shall be determined pursuant to this policy.

Mediated Courseware.

The University shall have limited ownership or control rights for mediated courseware as specified below:

• Self-initiated mediated courseware.

When employees develop mediated courseware without specific direction by the University, unless otherwise agreed, the ownership of the courseware shall remain with the employee. Normally, no royalty, rent or other consideration shall be paid to the employee when that mediated courseware is used for instruction at the University and such mediated courseware shall not be used or modified without the consent of the creator(s). The mediated courseware shall not be sold, leased, rented or otherwise used in a manner that competes in a substantial way with the for-credit offering of the University unless that transaction has received the approval of the Provost. Should approval be granted to offer the course outside of the University, the creator shall reimburse the University for substantial use of University resources from revenues derived from the transaction offering the course.

• University-directed mediated courseware.

When the University specifically directs the creation of mediated courseware by assigning one or more employees to develop the mediated courseware and supplies them with materials and time to develop the mediated courseware, the resulting mediated courseware belongs to the University, and the University shall have the right to revise it and decide who will utilize the mediated courseware in instruction. The University may specifically agree to share revenues and control rights with the employee.

Scholarly and Artistic Works

Notwithstanding any use of University resources or “work made for hire,” the ownership of textbooks, scholarly monographs, trade publications, maps, charts, articles in popular magazines and newspapers, novels, nonfiction works, supporting materials, training materials, artistic works, and like works shall reside with the creator(s) and any revenue derived from their work shall belong to the creator(s), unless otherwise agreed in writing. Except for textbooks, the University shall have royalty-free use of the work within the University, unless otherwise agreed in writing, pursuant to the employee’s employment with the University.

Manuscripts for Academic Journals

• Notwithstanding any use of University resources or “work made for hire”, the ownership of manuscripts for publication in academic journals shall reside with the creator(s) and any revenue derived from their works shall belong to the creator(s).
• If the manuscript is to be published, the creator(s) shall request the right to provide the University with a royalty-free right to use the manuscript within the University in its teaching, research, and service programs, but not for external distribution, and, if successful, the creator(s) shall grant such right to the University.
• Upon the establishment of national governmental or nonprofit entities whose purpose is to maintain in an electronically accessible manner a publicly available copy of academic manuscripts, the Kansas Board of Regents will review each entity and upon determination that providing the manuscripts will not jeopardize the publication of articles or infringe on academic freedom, require the creator(s) to provide to the appropriate entity a limited license for the use of each manuscript.

Patent and Copyrightable Software

Patents obtained on inventions resulting from University sponsored research or the ownership of copyrightable software with an actual or projected market value in excess of $10,000 annually shall be retained by the University or may be assigned to an organization independent of the University and created for the purpose of obtaining patents on inventions, receiving gifts, administering or disposing of such patents, and promoting research and the development of intellectual property at the University by every proper means.

The following policies shall be followed with respect to inventions or software:

• Anyone who conceives an invention resulting from a research project sponsored by the University or who develops copyrightable software that is not included in mediated courseware shall report the matter to the appropriate research administrator at the University.
• If the University decides that the invention does not warrant patenting, the inventor is free to patent it. In such case, however, the University does not relinquish its right to publish any of the data obtained in the research project.
• If the University patents the invention but decides not to further the use of the copyrightable software, it shall assign the rights therein to the creator(s) within 3 years of the date of the patent issuance.
• When any revenue is obtained by or on behalf of the University from the development or assignment of any patent or from royalties, license fees or other charges based on any patent or copyrightable software, not less than twenty-five (25) percent of revenues shall be paid to the inventor or creator(s). Revenue sharing shall begin only after the University recoups costs as set forth in this policy.
• The remainder of any revenue mentioned in the previous paragraph shall be used to sponsor further research and research-related activities in the University.
• In case of cooperative research sponsored in part by an outside corporation or individual, a written contract shall be made between the University and the cooperating agency. This contract should include a statement of policy substantially equivalent to that outlined below:

“It is agreed by the parties to this contract that all results of experimental work, including inventions, carried on under the direction of the scientific staff of the University, belong to the University and to the public and shall be used and controlled so as to produce the greatest benefit to the public. It is understood and agreed that if patentable inventions or copyrightable software grow out of the work and such inventions or software have commercial value, the cooperating agency shall receive preferential consideration as a prospective licensee, with a view to compensating said cooperating agency in part for the assistance rendered in the work.”

“It is further agreed that the name of the University shall not be used by the cooperating agency in any advertisement, whether with regard to the cooperative agreement or any other related matter.”

• In case of a research project where it is proposed that all costs including overhead, salary of investigator, reasonable rent on the use of equipment, etc., are to be paid by an outside party, the University shall negotiate with the outside party the appropriate disposition of any resulting patent or copyrightable software rights prior to the provision of any funding by the outside party. “Appropriate disposition” shall include an option to negotiate a license to any resulting intellectual property. The University shall reserve a royalty-free right to publish all data of fundamental value to science and technology and to use the patent or copyrightable software rights for teaching, research or other educational and academic purposes.
• Changes in the above policies may be made by the University to conform to the requirements of the United States Government when contracting with the United States Government or a Federal Government Agency.

Trademark Policy

The University maintains a trademark policy that provides for the protection of the trademarks and service marks of the University.

The University shall establish procedures to accomplish the approval by the Provost to allow mediated courseware to be sold, leased, rented or otherwise used in a manner that competes in a substantial way with the for-credit offering of the University. The University shall establish reporting procedures to monitor creation of University-directed mediated courseware. The institution shall establish procedures, which are separate from this policy that require employment contracts and course catalogs or syllabi to state that the employee or student is subject to this policy and to resolve questions concerning intellectual property rights and any disputes that develop under this policy. Final decisions on disputed matters will be made by the President of the University or designee and shall constitute final agency action.

Definitions: All words and phrases shall be interpreted utilizing their plain meanings unless otherwise defined in another University or Board of Regents policy or by statute or regulation.

Course Material - means the substantive content of a course as created, compiled, and/or organized by the instructor including lecture notes, outlines and slides; assignments and examinations; reading and reference materials; and audio and video materials embedded in the course.

Employee - shall mean a full or part-time employee of the University including student employees.

Mediated Courseware - means a content delivery methodology that meets all of the following criteria:

• Enables employees to rely exclusively or substantially on non-classroom contact hours for instruction;
• Makes extensive use of technology, including but not limited to video conference, streaming media, and similar technologies, and
• Permits geographically dispersed individuals to access courses.

Self-initiated Mediated Courseware - means mediated courseware created by the employee without specific direction by the University, i.e., not University-directed mediated courseware.

Substantial Use - means that the creator of intellectual property receives more than normal support for the project or receives time and/or resources specifically dedicated to the project.

University-Directed Mediated Courseware - means mediated courseware created pursuant to a specific assignment and the University provides the employee with materials and time to develop the mediated courseware.

Procedures: All procedures linked and related to the policies above shall have the full force and effect of policy if said procedures have first been properly approved by the University’s administrator in charge of Academic Affairs.

[Academic Affairs procedures - coming soon]

Related Policy Information: [coming soon]