Ownership of Inventions and Creative Works Developed or Authored by University of Connecticut Employees*

The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) is UConn’s designated receiving office for invention disclosures from faculty members, staff members, students and others working at the university. These disclosures can describe inventions, discoveries or other types of intellectual property, and they can cover patentable, non-patentable, copyrightable and non-copyrightable technologies and creative works. (Please note that software may be patentable as well as copyrightable.)

The flow chart below consists of questions designed to provide general information to help inventors, authors and other creators of intellectual property understand who owns their inventions and creative works.

Please note that not every circumstance can be included in a simple flow chart such as this. Nonetheless, this flow chart can serve as a general guide to understanding the ownership of intellectual property developed by university personnel during research and other programs at UConn, whether supported by university funds, federal agencies, non-profit foundations, industrial sponsors or other sources.

Furthermore, the final determination of who meets the legal requirements to be named an inventor on a patent or to be named an author of a copyrightable creative work depends on the details of the intellectual contributions made during the inventive/creative process that led to a specific invention, discovery or creative work. [Individuals who have questions regarding ownership of inventions and creative works are encouraged to contact the OVPR directly at 860-486-3622.]

*A university employee is any member of the faculty or staff, including visiting professors, postdoctoral trainees and students paid by the university.