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Intellectual Property Information

Ontario Tech University is an inventor-owned institution. All academic personnel own the IP they create in the course of their teaching, research and other scholarly activities. The fact that all academic personnel have ownership rights has implications. For the most part, inventions and other IP created in the course of research will be jointly owned by the faculty member and his or her students and postdocs.

The IP created by non-academic personnel employed by the university is owned by Ontario Tech U. The implications of this are that individuals such as technicians and contract employees do not own the IP. Ideally, this is clearly specified in the employment contract.

Since IP consists of tangible forms of creations of the mind, ideas are not IP. Examples of IP include, but are not limited to:

  • drawings
  • industrial designs
  • inventions
  • written works 

Like all forms of property, national laws and acts of federal governments dictate the ownership and rights associated with IP.

  • They allow for a business monopoly.
  • They are a right granted by a local government.
  • They may be co-owned, and co-owners each have equal rights.
  • The right granted requires the owner to protect it.
  • They may be sold (like physical property), given away, licensed or ignored.
  • They must be defended to be of value. If another party infringes (or uses inappropriately) someone's IP, the onus is on the owner to protect their rights.
  • They may be stopped by court order, or awarded damages based on lost revenues, because of infringement.