Research Contract Terms
When contemplating grant applications from non-federal sources, please Contact Us to determine whether the intellectual property provisions of such grants may be problematic to your interests and the University’s.
Sometimes third parties expect rights to inventions or data or even control over publication in return for providing funding or materials to University researchers. UChicagoTech and University Research Administration collaborate closely in negotiating these provisions in order to protect researcher’s and the University’s interests. This page offers a brief summary of the issues. You can mouse over "view" to see more detail.
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| CONTRACT TERMS | MORE ACCEPTABLE | DEPENDS | LESS ACCEPTABLE | NOT ACCEPTABLE |
| RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS | ||||
| Sponsor/Provider Claims Ownership of any invention made with sponsor support or provider material | View | |||
| Provider claims ownership of improvements | View | |||
| Sponsor/Provider wishes to share ownership | View | |||
| Sponsor/Provider claims "work for hire" | View | |||
| Sponsor wants assignment of copyright interests to sponsor | View | |||
| Sponsor/Provider wants right to determine "disposition of rights" | View | |||
| PUBLICATION and DATA | ||||
| Sponsor/Provider controls right to publish | View | |||
| Sponsor/Provider can delay publication for invention review | View | |||
| Sponsor/Provider can delay publication for any reason | View | |||
| Sponsor/Provider owns data or research results: | ||||
| - In a clinical trial | View | |||
| - Under a Sponsored Research Agreement | View | |||
| Sponsor/Provider controls use of data or research results | View | |||
| Sponsor/Provider has access to data or research results | View | |||
| LICENSING REQUIREMENTS | ||||
| Income Sharing | View | |||
| Review by sponsor | View | |||
| Approval by sponsor | View | |||
| Terms set by sponsor | View | |||
| Sponsor/Provider allowed non-exclusive royalty free license for open use | View | |||
| Require invention to be commercialized within certain time | View | |||
| Assignment to Sponsor/Provider if not commercialized in certain time | View | |||
| Termination of license if not commercialized in a certain time | View | |||
| Timely notification and reporting | View | |||
| DISPOSITION OF RIGHTS | ||||
| No release without prior written approval of sponsor | View | |||
| No abandonment without consultation with sponsor | View | |||
| No abandonment without offering rights to sponsor | View | |||
| Patent must be dedicated to public | View |