Before You Launch
After the customer discovery process, the next step is to protect any intellectual property needed for your startup. This section will discuss intellectual property, disclosures, and the considerations required for university startups. In addition to familiarizing yourself with the Customer Discovery process, it is important to protect any intellectual property belonging to you or your startup.
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Non-university startups that have intellectual property can also find essential information about IP and applicable resources in this section.
Intellectual Property and Your Startup
Intellectual Property encompasses creations of the mind, including patents, plant variety protection (PVP) certificates, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.
Intellectual Property may include, but is not limited to:
Biological Materials
Books
Germplasm
Software
Chemicals
Photographs/Videos
Machines
Methods
University of Nebraska IP Policy
For many university startups, intellectual property is the business’s first and key asset and will give startups a potential competitive advantage. The following subsections briefly discuss intellectual property in the form of inventions and patents, as well as copyright. For a more in-depth review, please refer to the
NUtech Ventures Handbook for Inventors and Innovators.
Organizations almost always own the intellectual property developed by their employees. The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska owns University of Nebraska inventions and innovations/creations (please see UNL BOR policies). If an innovator engages in “substantial use of university resources” in conceiving the innovation, then they have an obligation to disclose and assign that innovation to the university. That means, if the innovation is conceived as part of their employment, or if it is conceived outside of the scope of employment but the innovator uses university equipment or lab space, the university has an ownership stake.
Inventions
An invention can be anything man-made that is new, useful, and not obvious. Inventions may include, but are not limited to, processes, methods, machines, articles of manufacture, devices, chemicals, and compositions of matter. Inventions can be protected by patents.
Patents
U.S. law recognizes the value of innovation to the economy and provides the owner of a patent with a time-limited monopoly of 20 years. This monopoly is intended to prevent others from exploiting the invention, as defined by the patent claims, without permission. In exchange for this exclusive right, the published patent document must fully describe the invention so that others can reproduce and learn from it. In that way, the patent monopoly provides the incentive to share advances with the public and contribute to growth in the field.
Inventorship
Inventorship is defined by U.S. patent law. An inventor is one who, alone or together with others, conceived of the ultimate working invention. A patent application must be filed in the names of the true inventors. The criterion for inventorship is different from academic authorship. Inventorship is a legal definition that has been refined through statutes and case law. Inventorship flows from invention conception, is tied to the claims in a patent application, and is determined at the time the patent application is filed. As the claims in a patent application change, so may inventorship. If a person only works at the direction of others to perform experiments and doesn’t conceive of some part of the invention, that person is not considered an inventor.
Copyright
Copyright is the form of intellectual property that protects the expression of a creative idea that is fixed in a tangible form. It is an acknowledgment of who created the work. Copyright constitutes a bundle of legal rights, which include the right to copy, display, perform, distribute, and make changes to the original copyrighted work. These altered versions of original works are known as derivative works. Copyright provides the owner with the right to determine how the work is copied and distributed to others, such as through traditional or online publication, open access, sale, lease, or lending. It also gives the copyright holder the right to charge royalties for a work’s use.
Automatic Application of Copyright
Unlike patentable inventions, copyrighted works are automatically protected under U.S. copyright laws without having to undergo a formal registration process. However, it is still important to affix an appropriate copyright notice to notify others that they are not free to utilize the work without permission. Works owned by the University should bear the following copyright notice: © 20XX The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska. All rights reserved.
There is also a formal registration process to document copyright in the Library of Congress. Author-owned copyrights last for the life of the author(s) plus 70 years after the last surviving author’s death. Employer-owned copyrights last for 120 years from the work’s creation or 95 years from the first publication of the work, whichever is shorter.
How NUtech Can Help You
NUtech Ventures serves the UNL innovation ecosystem by identifying, evaluating, protecting, marketing, and licensing the university’s intellectual property. Submitting a disclosure form is the first step in assessing market potential and options for intellectual property protection. For any questions about the process or for help filling out the disclosure form, please contact one of our technology managers.
Invention Disclosure
Researchers are encouraged to disclose early and often. An invention disclosure form is confidential and used for internal assessment; it is not a patent application.
Non-university startups do not need to disclose their IP with the University of Nebraska.
Not sure if you should disclose?
You must disclose all innovations that are university property.
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You may fall into this category if:
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You’re a graduate or doctoral student
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You’re a UNL Faculty member
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You received payment from the university to develop this innovation
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You used significant university resources in creating your innovation
Hover over each box below to learn more about when to disclose your IP.
NUtech will help you protect your intellectual property, so it is essential you do not publicly share details about your innovation until after it has been disclosed and protected to ensure your IP remains secret and you avoid exposure to theft.
Do you want to disclose your innovation?
Get in contact with NUtech, or click this link.
Please select the disclosure form that best fits your research. To log in, use your UNL login credentials.
What to Include in Your Disclosure
A written description of what makes your innovation unique and how exactly it works, what applications it might have, and how it is different from existing innovations in the field.
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Category of innovation and a detailed summary describing it.
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Information about funding sources and public disclosures to determine if we have the ability to protect the invention.
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Information about all the inventors/creators/authors, including each person’s contribution.
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Clarify if it is a compound, process, machine, manufacture or composition, a new use for, or an improvement of, a known item, software, mobile application, process, or other.
Benefit or use of the innovation, including:
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The problem it solves
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Advantages it has over existing solutions (cost, convenience, safety, performance, etc.)
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Any pending public disclosures, including:
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Any publications, presentations, or manuscripts where the invention is described.
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A list of other research collaborators and funding sources including:
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Collaboration with other scientists within the university and outside of the university.
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A list of all research projects funded by an agency, foundation, or another source specific to the invention.
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Materials obtained under a material transfer agreement.
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Faculty interest in a startup opportunity.
After a disclosure is received, NUtech Ventures will screen the technology within 60 days for potential prior art and commercial markets. If the technology meets both these criteria, a decision is made to seek IP.
To complete the disclosure process, visit www.nutechventures.org/disclosures/.
UNL researchers can use an online platform to disclose. Alternatively, documents are available to download and email.
Disclosure FAQs
When should I disclose to NUtech?
What is a public disclosure and why do I need to be careful about it?
What type of disclosure should I submit for my research?
Can I submit my disclosure in another format?
What funding should I list on my disclosure form?