Understanding intellectual property ownership

Who Owns the IP?

Your status, involvement, and the type of partnerships you develop while doing research at the University of Nevada, Reno determine who owns the resulting Intellectual Property (IP). Below is a summary. For more information, contact Enterprise & Innovation at (775) 784-4421.

Faculty & Staff

University owns

  • IP created within the scope of their employment
  • IP created as the result of an assignment from a University employee
  • IP created as part of a grant award
  • IP created with significant use of University resources (including funds)
  • IP created by a University employee under a corporate-sponsored research agreement

University and other institution jointly own

  • IP created with a collaborator from another institution

University and a company jointly own

  • IP created by a University employee and a company employee under a corporate-sponsored research agreement
    • Company will receive a first option to license the University of Nevada, Reno ownership portion under reasonable terms.
    • The University of Nevada, Reno will not have any rights to company’s pre-existing or solely owned IP except as needed to perform the research project.

Faculty & staff own

  • Traditional Scholarly Works they have authored/created, including
    • books
    • book chapters
    • articles
    • course materials
    • and the like
      These items are most often covered by copyright. The University has the right to use the works for research and educational purposes.

Student

Student owns

  • Any IP created while attending the University
  • Including IP created during a Capstone course project

University owns

  • IP created within the scope of employment for the University
  • IP created as part of a project performed with University funds
    Including grants awarded to the University

Member/user of the Innevation Center or the Nevada Center for Applied Research

Member/user owns

  • Any IP created or existing prior to arrival at the center

University owns

  • IP created by faculty or staff in the normal scope of their work
  • IP created under a project funded by the University
    Including grant awards

Company employee

Company owns

  • IP created by company employee

University and a company jointly own

  • IP co-created by a University employee and a company employee under a corporate-sponsored research agreement or any other collaboration
    • The company will receive a first option to license the University ownership portion under reasonable terms
    • The University will not have any rights to the company’s pre-existing or solely owned IP except as needed to perform the research project

For questions, contact Grace Chou, chief innovation & commercialization officer at (775) 682-8756 or gchou@unr.edu.