Intellectual Property Agreement
In order to comply with federal regulations, the University of Tennessee is requiring all faculty, staff, and student employees who work on federally funded projects review and electronically sign an agreement to the Statement of Policy on Patents, Copyrights, and Other Intellectual Property (UT Board Policy BT0024)
Failure to review and sign the policy will result in your being ineligible to work on federally funded projects.
Background
The federal government issued a final rule May 14, 2018 amending the regulations that implement the Bayh-Dole Act, also known as the Government Patent Policy Act of 1980, which was enacted largely to stimulate economic and entrepreneurial activity by promoting the commercialization of inventions stemming from federally funded research.
In addition to requiring written agreements regarding inventions from employees, the new rule, among other changes, clarifies certain definitions, reduces compliance burdens, addresses co-inventions between funding recipients and federal agencies, and simplifies the electronic reporting process.
In order to comply with this new legal requirement, the university is requiring that all current faculty, staff, and student employees review and electronically sign an agreement to the Statement of Policy on Patents, Copyrights, and Other Intellectual Property, UT Board Policy BT0024, by August 31. The policy, which has been in place since 1984, is not changing. This is the only time you will need to electronically sign an acknowledgment of and agreement to the policy.
Visit https://ipa.tennessee.edu/ to review and sign the policy.
New employees will complete the process during onboarding.