1. Anatomy of an Intellectual Property Policy
Alan B. Bennett, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Public Intellectual Property Resource for Agriculture

2. An IP Policy provides the framework to
strategically manage IP
Integrates institutional mission with
national laws and international treaties
Provides clarity for researchers and private
companies

3. National legal frameworks
Bayh-
Bayh-Dole Act
Universities may elect title to inventions developed through
UC Patent Policy
Federal funding
Mandatory Invention patents on inventions they elect
Universities must file Disclosure
University must have written agreements with faculty and
Inventor Assignment of Title to UC
Distribution of Net disclosure and assignment of inventions
staff requiring Income*
University must share a portion of revenue with inventors
- Inventor Receives 35%
Excess revenue must support research and education
- Campus Research Fund Receives 15%
Government retains non-exclusive license to the invention
Government retains march-in rights at Inventor’s
- Remaining 50% to General Pool
Campus/Lab
Requirement for substantial US manufacture

5. Establishing an IP (intellectual property) policy is necessary for several important reasons.
IP rights, including patents, copyrights, trademarks, and industrial property rights attach
to research, administrative, and scholarly (including course- ware) work products.
Therefore, any public sector institution entering into research contracts with private
sector entities will encounter IP issues.
Remember that it is too late to begin formulating IP policy when negotiations about IP
have already begun. As Lita Nelsen, Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(M.I.T.) Licensing Office, observes, “Although policies will change over time as the program
evolves, the major issues must be decided in advance. Otherwise, a new program is likely
to stall or fail altogether in an entangled committee indecision and policy ambiguity.”

6. Matching the mission to IP policy
What are the institutional objectives?
To disseminate knowledge by publication only
To be a technology transfer “engine”
To support regional economic development
Or some mix of all of the above

7. Example - CIMMYT
Mission: CIMMYT applies science and partnerships to
improve the productivity and profitability of farming
systems and sustain natural resources in developing countries
CIMMYT IP POLICY
In seeking intellectual property rights, CIMMYT will be guided by its commitment to serve
the resource poor, rather than by opportunities to obtain recurring revenues. To the
extent that financial returns are generated via intellectual property, they will be used
by CIMMYT to support its efforts to implement the FAO Global Plan for the Conservation
and Sustainable Utilization of Agriculture, adopted by 150 countries in 1996.

8. Main components of an IP policy
1. Ownership
2. Obligations of researchers/employees
3. Obligations of the institutions
4. Administering the IP policy

9. Main components of an IP policy
1.Ownership
• inventor/author owns
• university owns
• company providing research funds owns
• government providing research funds owns
• public domain, that is, no one owns

10. Main components of an IP policy
2. Obligations of researchers/employees
• obligation to disclose before publication
• assignment ownership to employer/institution
• obligation to assist in evaluation and patenting
• obligation to report conflict of interest

11. Main components of an IP policy
3. Obligations of the institution
• obligation to manage IP effectively
• obligation to pay patenting costs
• obligation to share revenue (or not)
• obligation to:
support maximum public benefit
maximize revenue
ensure broad access for research

12. Main components of an IP policy
3. Obligations of the institution
• obligation to manage IP effectively
• obligation to pay patenting costs
• obligation to share revenue (or not)
• obligation to:
support maximum public benefit
maximize revenue
ensure broad access for research

14. Main components of an IP policy
4. Administering the IP policy
• who is responsible
VP research
Provost
Dean etc…..

15. Developing and “deploying” an IP policy
In most institutions the IP policy should be developed
in consultation with researchers, faculty senate or
other bodies to be accepted
What are the steps
• Articulating the institutional mission (leadership)
• Making the policy comprehensible to the reader
• Providing incentives for participants
• Establishing IP management as a service
• Applying the policy with consistency
• Showcasing the benefits