APPENDIX E

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY POLICY AND PROCEDURES

[Revised per Faculty Motion 13-13a; adopted by the Board of Trustees on May 23, 2014]

Lafayette College is committed to fostering an environment that promotes and protects the
creation and dissemination of knowledge, inventions, and artistic works by faculty, staff and
students. The fullest realization of this goal is achieved only when the College ensures academic
freedom for all of its community members, protects its identity and functional interests, and
recognizes the ownership, whether shared or individual, of intellectual properties and patents.
This policy fully intends to safeguard and protect those rights.

A robust Intellectual Property (IP) Policy is necessary for fostering scholarship in the community
and for promoting the best interests of the College. The College’s IP policy should encourage
innovation and the creation and dissemination of IP for the public good, rather than implement
procedures motivated by a desire to develop sources of revenue. A strong IP policy balances the
IP rights and obligations of the faculty, staff and students with the institutional rights and
obligations of the College. The policy stated herein is structured to include a clear and fair
system for the distribution of any benefits accrued, if and where appropriate, by IP created by
members of the Lafayette community.

Definitions of terms used in this appendix are given at the end of this appendix (Section E.7).

E.1 Scope

The guiding principle of the IP policy is that the products of teaching and scholarship except
patents are the property of the community member. The College, however, has the sole
ownership interest in copyrightable material if it involves an identity interest (Section E.1.1) or a
functional interest (Section E.1.2). If a community member employs an extraordinary use of
College resources in developing copyrightable material, then the IP rights will be determined by
the deliberate determination procedure (Section E.3). Community members who develop
patentable discoveries using College resources have a duty to assign patent rights to the College.
In those cases where patentable inventions are created by a community member with only
incidental use of College-supplied desktop computers or laptops, e-mail and phones, however,
the patent rights are retained by the creator.

E.1.1 Identity Interest. The College has an identity interest in copyrightable materials that
are integral to, and reflect more directly on, the identity of the College rather than the
identity of the creator. The College has an identity interest in items distributed beyond the
College, such as: the college catalogue, alumni bulletins, institutional web pages,
admissions brochures and campaign materials. Copyrightable materials in which the
College has an identity interest will be owned by the College.

E.1.2 Functional Interest. The College has a functional interest in copyrightable materials
that enhances the effective functioning and coordination of the College’s operations. The
College has a functional interest in administrative and personnel procedures, including
software, and internal handbooks and reports. Copyrightable materials in which the
College has a functional interest will be owned by the College.

E.1.3 Extraordinary Use of College Resources. The College has an ownership interest in
copyrightable materials generated with extraordinary use of College resources, which

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refers to support by the College that is not normally available to a community member in
their standard role (see section E.7.5).

E.2 Implications for Faculty, Staff and Students. The extent to which the College’s IP policy
affects the different constituencies on campus is given below.

E.2.1 Faculty. Faculty members who create products of teaching and scholarship own
their IP except for patentable inventions, in which case the ownership rights rest with the
College. Pedagogical, literary, artistic and creative works are owned by the faculty
member, consistent with American Association of University Professors guidelines about
copyrights and the prevailing view in academia. Lecture notes and other course notes
such as problem sets and syllabi are the faculty member’s IP. Works related to
scholarship, such as journal articles, books, textbooks, videos, photos, and artistic works
in any medium, are also the faculty member’s IP.

The use of resources normally available to the faculty member does not abrogate that
right. For faculty, the support normally provided in the form of salary, lab or studio space,
funding for sabbatical leaves, and internal grants available on a competitive basis through
the Academic Research Committee are considered normal support (see E.7.5 for further
definition of normal support).

The IP generated in outside employment (such as consulting) or without College

resources is not covered by this policy. Faculty members are bound by the terms of
employment set forth in the Faculty Handbook.

E.2.2 Staff. In most cases, the copyrightable materials created by a staff member relate
to either the functional or identity interests of the College, and therefore is owned by the
College. In some cases, however, a staff member may undertake a project that is
considered scholarly work, in which the College has no functional or identity interest. In
such cases, ownership goes to the creator even though the default is to give it to the
College. Staff members who develop patentable discoveries using College resources
have a duty to assign patent rights to the College.

E.2.3 Students. For students, the College does not have an identity or functional interest
in their IP except when they are employees of the College or are under the supervision of
a faculty member. If a student project is developed in the context of normal coursework,
then the rights to copyrightable materials is retained by the student. If students are under
the supervision of a faculty member and are working on IP of the faculty member, then
the faculty member and student are strongly encouraged to draw up a written agreement
in consultation with the Intellectual Property Policy Committee, specifying the terms of
how the IP generated by their collaboration will be handled before the project begins. If
patentable inventions involve significant faculty mentorship and/or Lafayette resources,
then the student has a duty to assign patent rights to the College. In all other
circumstances where students are employed by the College, the IP policy for staff applies
(Section E.2.2).

E.2.4 Group Projects. In the case when there are two or more community members
collaborating in the creation of patentable inventions, all parties should sign the
disclosure form. The disclosure form should indicate a fair distribution of fractional shares
among the collaborators.

E.2.5 Acknowledgement of Help. There are often many community members involved in
the creation of IP even if the IP is clearly the work of one creator. Acknowledgment of
help in the creation of IP should be given by the creator in the appropriate manner.

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E.3 Process for Deliberate Determination of IP Rights

E.3.1 Deliberate determination is not required. For all scholarly work (except for patents)
in which the College has no identity or functional interest, or where there is no
extraordinary use of College resources, there is no need to report the creation of IP by a
community member to the Intellectual Property Policy Committee. Outside consulting and
work done by community members without College resources is not subject to the
reporting requirements. In those cases where the College has a routine and clear case of
an identity or functional interest, the College owns the copyrightable material and there is
no need to report it to the Intellectual Property Policy Committee.

E.3.2 Deliberate Determination Required. In the case of patents or when copyrightable

materials have received extraordinary support from the College, the creator must declare
the IP to the Intellectual Property Policy Committee via the disclosure form as soon as
the situation becomes clear. The Intellectual Property Policy Committee will make
recommendations regarding the most suitable distribution of IP rights between the creator
and College as well as distribution of partial shares between community members.
Normally, within sixty (60) days of receiving complete formal disclosures of IP requiring
deliberate determination, the Intellectual Property Policy Committee will make a
recommendation to the Provost. After receiving the report from the Intellectual Property
Policy Committee, the Provost will make a determination of IP rights in writing, normally
within thirty (30) days. If a decision is made in which the College retains its ownership of
a patent, then the College should vigorously pursue patent applications and technology
transfer. The distribution of IP rights should be specified in writing and signed by the
creator and College’s representative.

If the College decides not to pursue ownership of the IP or does not make a decision
within a reasonable period of time after receiving the complete disclosure form, then the
IP reverts to the creator.

E.3.2.1 Disclosure Form. The form for disclosure of IP requiring deliberate

determination of IP rights will be available in the Academic Research Committee’s
Research Manual and website.

E.3.2.2 The Intellectual Property Policy Committee will be composed of the chair of
the Academic Research Committee, a representative appointed by the Provost, and
a third member chosen by the Provost and the Chair of the Academic Research
Committee. In considering cases involving patents or other matters that fall outside
the expertise of the three committee members, the Intellectual Property Policy
Committee will ask qualified faculty members as well as external professional
counsel to advise on an ad hoc basis as needed. The Intellectual Property Policy
Committee will also serve as a resource for any questions about IP policy and
procedures for the community, and initial inquiries about the need for deliberate
determination can be made on an informal basis.

The Intellectual Property Policy Committee will report all deliberate determinations
and their recommendations to the Academic Research Committee, which in turn will
report the activities in the Academic Research Committee’s annual report. The
Intellectual Property Policy Committee will also report their deliberate determinations
and their recommendations to the relevant reporting party(ies).

E.3.3 Third Party Agreements. All IP produced by work sponsored by public or private
organizations is governed by this appendix, unless otherwise specified in a written
contract or in federal or state laws and regulations. Contracts with third parties can
contain provisions governing IP rights that supersede the College policy. The Provost

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must approve the IP provisions in such contracts, and normally such contracts must also
be reviewed by the Vice President of Human Resources and General Counsel.

E.3.4 Appeal of the Provost’s Determination of IP Rights. In the event where the creator
disagrees with the Provost’s determination of IP rights, the creator may appeal the
decision to the President within thirty days. Upon receiving the appeal, the President will
render a decision regarding the appeal within thirty days.

E.3.5 Failure to Report IP Requiring Deliberate Determination. The College should

support an environment that encourages frank discussions of IP ownership issues. Each
community member is required to understand fully the nature and extent of the College’s
identity or functional interest and to know when IP rests with the College. For students
working with faculty, the faculty member has an obligation to ensure the student has an
understanding of the ownership of any IP produced. If the creator does not report IP that
requires deliberate determination, then ownership of the IP remains with or defaults to the
College.

E.4. Options for Development. If the College assumes ownership of marketable IP, then the
College will seek appropriate avenues for exploiting its commercial development given the
potential costs.

E.4.1 Revenue. If revenue is generated by IP held by the College, the College and
creator will split the revenue in the following manner. After all costs associated with the
copyright or patent are recouped, the first $10,000 will go to the creator. The creator will
receive sixty percent, and the College forty percent, of further revenue. This distribution
will continue regardless of the creator’s status at the College.

E.5 Transfer of IP Rights. There are circumstances in which either the creator or College may
want to transfer IP ownership to the other. For IP developed without significant use of College
resources and held by a community member, the community member may ask the College to
consider accepting assignment of ownership, but the College has no obligation to do so. Even if
the College has clear ownership of IP, the transfer of IP ownership to the community member
may be appropriate, especially if it facilitates the distribution of the IP to the greater community.

E.6 Consultants. When the College has an identity or functional interest in copyrightable
materials created by hired consultants, the College will stipulate by contract that ownership stays
with the College. Hired consultants are not considered community members and as such are not
covered by the other policies of Appendix E.

E.7 Definitions.

E.7.1. Intellectual Property (IP). Intellectual property is a creative work or invention in

which the law allows ownership rights for the creator. The two main types of IP in the
academic environment are copyrights and patents. Copyrights are an exclusive legal right
available to creators to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical
material. Patent protection is granted by the government to the creator for inventions that
are useful, non-obvious and novel products or processes.

E.7.2. Community Members. Faculty, staff and students.

E.7.3. Creator. One community member, or two or more collaborators, who develop the
IP.

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E.7.3.1 Collaborators. Two or more community members who share in the creation of
IP. In the case of more than one creator, fractional shares will be agreed upon
beforehand to the extent possible. If parties outside the community are involved in
the creation of IP that requires deliberate determination, then distribution of IP rights
between all parties should be described prior to or as part of the disclosure process.

E.7.4 Scholarly Work. Scholarly work refers to original work including publications,
exhibitions, and/or performances, as described in section 4.2.2.2 of the Faculty
Handbook. The guidelines for recognized forms of scholarly work in each discipline are
located on the Provost’s website, and are described in section 4.2.2.1.1 of the Faculty
Handbook.

E.7.5 Normal Support for a Community Member. For all community members, College-
supplied computing, e-mail and phone resources are considered normal support. For
faculty, normal support also includes salary, laboratory or studio space, funding for
sabbatical leaves, start-up grants, competitive grants distributed through the Academic
Research Committee, as well as other widely advertised grant opportunities from the
College, professional development funds, and other funds available through competitive
processes. For staff, salary and laboratory or studio space are considered normal
support. For students, normal support entails the use of College-owned resources either
freely available to students (for example, computer labs and workstations on campus) or
available on loan (laptops, cameras, video recording devices, etc.) or through courses
(art supplies, for example).

E.7.6 Extraordinary Support for a Community Member. A community member who

receives support beyond the normal support afforded to the community member is
receiving extraordinary support.

E.7.7 Work for Hire. Under the 1976 Copyright Law, “a work prepared by an employee
within the scope of … [their] employment” is considered “work for hire,” in which case the
copyright becomes the property of the employer. Within the context of academia,
however, most institutions do not consider scholarly work (except for patents) done by
faculty and students to be the property of the institution, except in cases where the
institution has a functional interest, identity interest, and/or has given substantive
resources for the creation of the work.

E.7.8 Federal Grants and Bayh-Dole Act of 1980. The Bayh-Dole act permits a college or
university to elect to pursue ownership of IP developed with the support of federal
research grants in preference to the government. In particular, Lafayette College can
determine IP rights and responsibilities, within the framework of federal guidelines.

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