Intellectual Property

What is Intellectual Property?

'Intellectual Property' (IP) means and includes all forms of intellectual or industrial property rights including:

1. inventions, technology and discoveries and rights arising therefrom including the right to apply for letters patent, patents, petty patents, utility models and plant variety rights;
2. copyrights in works and subject matter other than works including copyright and other rights to or arising from computer programs and circuit or semi-conductor designs;
3. designs for the shape, pattern or ornamentation of goods or articles including designs which are or may be registered as industrial designs;
4. trade marks, business names and goodwill arising from names or other Intellectual Property or products; and
5. Confidential Information.

Key elements of the management of IP

The following key elements are acknowledged as contributing to an effective approach to the management of IP:

1. IP awareness;
2. Identification;
3. Measures to secure ownership of IP;
4. Protection of IP;
5. Commercialisation;
6. Continuous monitoring and enforcement; and
7. Providing incentives.

FRDC's Intellectual Property Policy

The FRDC policy is to make project results publicly available. Hence, there is a compelling reason no protection or confidentiality will apply to results of FRDC funded projects. If the parties agree to protect any intellectual property arising from the project, they will agree on a strategy to do so. This may also result in the exchange of a separate intellectual property management agreement.

Where the applicant believes there is IP that needs to be protected, the following should occur:

• Describe the background IP, who owns it and their equity;
• Describe the valuable IP to be developed;
• Detail the equity in the new IP;
• Describe the proposed IP commercialisation strategy and how it will be protected;
• Detail and value any direct or related IP owned by the applicant, the FRDC (or its predecessors) and/or any other organisations at the commencement of the project (ãBackground Intellectual Propertyä); and
• Detail the methods of calculating the value of such intellectual property.

FRDC retains sole or joint copyright on publications produced as a result of funded research. However FRDC encourages wide communication of research and development results provided the Corporation is clearly acknowledged.