Technology Transfer @ CUNY

CUNY protects its intellectual property in different ways, mostly using the laws patents, copyrights, and trademarks. The effort of specifying an innovation during the patenting process (by filing a patent application) creates a concrete means for then transferring that innovation to a commercial entity. But in other cases, the mere creation of a work product, like a software program, textbook or other creative work, is immediately protected under copyright law even without any government filing, and this also then can be transferred to a commercial partner. This transfer to a commercial partner is done under license agreement, the terms of which refer to the specified IP. This license agreement then is the contractual basis by which CUNY is compensated for use of the licensed CUNY IP.

CUNY Intellectual Property Policy

The CUNY Intellectual Property Policy governs intellectual property issues for the entire CUNY Community. It establishes rights and procedures and answers important questions, like "who owns what" and "who shares in royalty income"?

The CUNY IP Policy applies to CUNY faculty, staff, and students engaged in faculty-directed research, who create intellectual property (1) while making substantial use of CUNY resources, (2) as a direct result of CUNY duties, (3) pursuant to the terms of an agreement to which CUNY is a party, or (4) in the course of or related to activities on grants or contracts administered by the RF.

The General Rule is that copyrightable works are owned by their creator(s) and patentable works are owned by CUNY. In some cases, patentable works like computer programs and computer code that may also be copyrightable will be owned by CUNY, either (i) only to the extent that they are patentable or (ii) under certain exceptions and clarifications of the General Rule genrally relating to sponsored work, work created within the scope of employment, work commissioned by CUNY, and CUNY media.

Courses designed to be delivered over the internet, by computer or through similar technologies may involve both copyrightable works and other intellectual property. CUNY claims no ownership rights in either the intellectual content of such courses, or the tools and technologies used to present them, unless the work is the result of sponsored research or is commissioned by CUNY, in which case the terms of a negotiated agreement will apply.

The IP Policy grants Creators 50% of net proceeds from CUNY-owned IP, thereby making the Creator and CUNY equal partners in the overall royalty stream from CUNY-owned IP. In addition, 25% of CUNY's share is distributed to the Creator's College, with 50% of such amount going to the Creator's academic or research units(s) for the support of research and scholarly activity.

• New Technology Disclosure (NTD) Form
  
  
• Material Transfer Agreement Request Form
  
  
• Confidentiality Agreement Request Form
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CUNY CAT-Industry Collaborative Research Grant Program

Useful Links

United States Patent and Trademarks Office - www.uspto.gov

Association of University Technology Managers - www.autm.org

European Patent Office - www.espacenet.org