Since each patent, mark, trade secret or other piece of intellectual property is unique, customized IP management plans must be developed that take into account, among other things, the source of the technologies and/or inventions used to form the business opportunity, as well the type of intellectual property and its contribution to the work product. However, some basic guidelines are provided here.

Inventions developed by Duke University faculty and staff:

Duke University will generally have an ownership interest in research inventions developed using Duke resources (including University time, funds and/or facilities) as well as in inventions resulting from any research conducted at Duke, subject to the following limitations. Duke University does not have an ownership interest in market research, business model design or other aspects of business planning undertaken by the students as part of the business planning process. Duke University may, however, negotiate with the students to license back any of this content determined to be of value to the relevant technical innovation. In addition, Duke University will not assert an ownership interest in student inventions developed solely for the purposes of entering the Challenge or launching an independent student enterprise, subject to reasonable limitations on the use of University resources.

If the participating team is building its work product around inventions owned by Duke or developed using resources described above, the team members should contact the Office of Licensing & Ventures (OLV) in the process as early as possible. If the inventions have already been disclosed to OLV, then the team members should work with the licensing manager responsible for those invention(s) to confirm that the technology is appropriateness for commercialization and is not the subject of other pre-existing commercialization efforts and to discuss any other relevant intellectual property issues.

In addition, the team members should work closely with the inventors themselves, giving the inventors the opportunity to review and provide input on the work product and business plan. If the inventions have not already been disclosed to OLV, the inventors should prepare disclosures and contact OLV as soon as possible.

If a company is successfully launched under the Duke Start-Up Challenge, the team members may approach OLV with a proposal for licensing the Duke inventions. However, OLV is not obligated to enter into any business relationships with the new company. Per above, however, students may negotiate with OLV for the University to acquire any student work-product (e.g. market research, financial projections, business plan, etc.) for reasonable consideration or an interest in the company.

Inventions developed outside of Duke University:

Ownership of inventions is determined in accordance with applicable patent law, if patentable, or if not patentable, is generally made with the mutual agreement of the relevant parties. Ownership generally follows inventorship. In other words, ownership will depend on who the inventors are and to whom the inventors are obligated to assign their rights (generally employers). The participating team members should contact the inventors and owners of the inventions that are the subject of their work product early in the process, especially, if there are any concerns about the availability of those inventions for commercialization.

Licensing:

OLV is available as a resource to Duke students involved in the Start-Up Challenge. If there are questions about the licensing process, intellectual property protection and/or general questions about commercialization of research-based technologies, please contact OLV. However, OLV will not disclose specific information on any particular licensing deal.

THE PRECEDING REFLECTS POLICY GUIDELINES OF THE DUKE START-UP CHALLENGE AND THE OFFICE OF LICENSING AND VENTURES GENERALLY. IT IS NOT MEANT TO SERVE AS A SUMMARY OR DESCRIPTION OF RELEVANT LAW OR TO SERVE AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR QUALIFIED LEGAL COUNSEL.