This Intellectual Property (IP) policy addresses rights to patentable inventions, tangible research property, software, trademarks and copyrightable works, including educational materials and electronic media, collectively termed “technology”, that have been made or created by faculty, students, and staff at KGI. It also incorporates related policies regarding trade secrets, consulting, conflicts of interest, and research agreements. Student Inventors collaborating with faculty or companies, as in a Team Masters Project (TMP), should consult with the faculty member, principal investigator or TMP director. The complete policy appears in the KGI Operational policies and KGI Graduate Faculty Handbook, with excerpts as follows:

All faculty, staff and students at Keck Graduate Institute including, without limitation, visiting faculty, fellows and students, who participate in research sponsored by governmental or industrial entities or by non-profit foundations or in KGI-funded research or who use significant funds or facilities administered by KGI must sign an “Invention and Proprietary Information Agreement” (IPIA). Under this agreement, when a work is created that uses substantial KGI funding or facilities, KGI retains all rights to associated IP unless the President (or designee) waives such rights in writing. The IPIA requires KGI inventors to assign to KGI or (in some cases) to another party as required by law, title to any IP created through the use of such funds or facilities unless otherwise agreed. An IPIA shall be signed prior to employment or enrollment at KGI, and no KGI affiliate can participate in research at KGI facilities until such agreement is signed. If the IP generates net income to KGI, student inventors have the potential to share in that income under the same policies that apply to faculty and staff; to obtain specific details about the royalty allocation procedure, please contact TTO@kgi.edu.

In some cases, KGI does not own a student’s work, as with a work of fiction written without use of KGI resources. If you have any questions about KGI’s IP policies, please contact TTO@kgi.edu