Learning Factory - Sponsors - Intellectual Property
According to Penn State policy RAG-13, undergraduate students own any intellectual property that they may develop as part of a course project; however, they can sign over their intellectual property rights to a sponsor if requested.
Sponsors may request ownership rights of all intellectual property that is developed by the students during the course of the project for an additional donation of $500 to help support our administration expenses. Projects in this category require students to assign their intellectual property rights to the sponsor (click here for IP assignment form). In addition, sponsors who have not yet filed a patent, and wish to avoid public disclosure of their invention, are highly advised to also request the confidentiality agreement for their project. Sponsors should also be aware that the Design Showcase is open to the public, which may have implications on patent filing.
Learning Factory - Sponsors - Confidentiality
In order to protect their competitive positions, sponsors may require each team member to sign a confidentiality agreement as a condition for working on their project, for an additional donation of $500 to help support our administration expenses. The Confidential Information Disclosure Agreement obliges the students to observe due diligence in protecting the confidentiality of company-provided information (data, drawings, design intent, etc). Sponsors who have not yet filed a patent, and wish to avoid public disclosure of an invention, are advised to select this provision.
Due to increased project volume, the terms in this agreement are no longer negotiable, and companies should consider whether this agreement is really needed in order to do a senior design project. Companies should bear in mind that students working on their projects are seniors, the majority of which will graduate after the semester is over. It is not feasible for Penn State to track all of these students for five years after graduation; hence, the form has a two year expiration date, which is also non-negotiable. Please convey this to your legal department if questions arise.
As of Fall 2010, companies that select this option will need to return a signed agreement form prior to the Project Kickoff (click here for Fall and Spring deadlines) in order to participate in the event. Students will then sign the form as soon as the team is created, and then Penn State will sign off and provide copies of the executed agreement to the sponsor.