Patents and copyright etc. in collaborations and assignments

Agreements signed with partners and clients shall contain conditions that the University has the right to use the results that emerge from the project in its normal operations. The agreement also needs to include conditions on how background material in the project may be used. If you need to sign an agreement that regulates intellectual property rights, please contact the Legal Affairs Office.

It is also important to remember to set requirements that the University should have the right to use results when procuring services, such as consultants. The Procurement and Purchase Office gives support on how you can set requirements in a procurement.

Umeå University applies the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions' (SUHF) guidelines for how conditions regarding IPR should be designed. Among other things, the University must always ensure the right to continue to use the results in education and academic research. It is always the University who is party to an agreement regarding university matters, not individual employees.

Researcher's certificate

Conditions in agreements relating to intellectual property rights affect the researchers participating in the project as their ability to use the results for further research or commercialisation is affected. The University cannot accept terms on ownership and access rights without the researcher being prepared to accept these terms and conditions. In agreements where the University grants ownership or access right to intellectual property to a collaborator, it is therefore a prerequisite that the researchers or doctoral students who will participate in the project sign a researcher's certificate before the project begins. The researcher's certificate ensures that the researcher has accepted the regulation affecting their intellectual property rights and is prepared to offer such rights to the collaborator. It is the principal investigator's responsibility to ensure that all participating researchers understand the terms and conditions and sign researcher's certificates before they begin any work in the project. New participants must sign the certificate when they join the project.