Research & Enterprise Services (RES)

Intellectual Property Services at RES

What is Intellectual Property?

It is 'the product of your work and effort – your ideas' but only when expressed in a physical form. Ideas that have not been recorded in the appropriate way have very little protection.

Types of Intellectual Property:

Copyright Works
Trademarks
Industrial Designs
Patents
Know-How

Working with Intellectual Property

The Heriot-Watt IP Policy

Working with Intellectual Property

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Passing Off
This is a rule created by the courts the aim of which is to prevent a personpretending that their goods or services as those made/provided by someone else.

Confidentiality
Confidentiality is incredibly important. This is an area of law used to protect people when they want to tell other people about inventions and secrets, and to govern what these people can do with the things that you have told them.

It is very important to have confidentiality arrangements in place if you are talking to companies about your inventive work. If not, they could take what you have told them and use it, and if you don't have specific intellectual property protection in place them there's nothing you can really do to stop them. Also very useful in exploiting your know-how.

Furthermore, confidentiality agreements help keep information out of the public domain. A public disclosure can make work non-patentable, confidential disclosures retain the option of patenting.

Employment
When you are working your employer will automatically own the intellectual property you create, provided that you are employed to create intellectual property. You do have a right to remuneration if your work makes money, but this will be limited to a percentage of the profit.

Examples:
University academic - paid to invent
Doctor - sometimes yes, sometimes no
Hospital cleaner - paid to clean, not to invent
Students - not employees of the place where they study
(If in doubt - look at the employment contract)

Transferring Ownership Outside of Employment
Done by documents – assignations, licenses, material transfer agreements. Be very careful to understand what you may be signing and pelase do not hesitate to seek advice from our legal team..

Particular points to note: What is being transferred to whom, when, and what rights are retained by the transferring party, and what you get in return.

Other Contracts:
Research Funding
Consultancy

Often these documents include clauses that transfer ownership and particular rules on confidentiality. Again be very careful to understand what you are signing.

Rewards
When you create intellectual property, you have created something that can be bought and sold like something we would commonly think of as property, for example a house or a car. Even though it is intangible, it is still property like anything else.

It is always important to make sure that you are rewarded when passing your intellectual property to someone else.

In employment this comes through your wages. There are rules that give additional benefits when your employer makes money out of your invention, but currently the rewards they enforce are small. These are currently being amended.

Outside of the employment, situations vary. It's generally a matter for negotiation. Be sure to remember the value of what you're creating.

The Heriot-Watt IP Policy

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