Article 1

These guidelines shall be called “The Policies on Intellectual Property of the Tarlac State University ”.

 

 

Article 2

Coverage

 

Section 1. This policy shall apply to all faculty, researchers, research staff, administrative staff, visiting professors and students participating in any program, project, contract or research activity in the university.

 

Section 2. These guidelines shall cover all researches, research contracts, tangible research outputs or properties with or without patent or copyright protection, whether for commercial and non-commercial purposes, undertaken using any university resource and including all technology transfer arrangements, done or carried out upon the approval and effectivity of these guidelines.

 

Section 3. These guidelines shall cover all types of intellectual property rights enumerated under the Intellectual Property Code as follows: copyright and related rights, trademarks and service marks, geographic indications, industrial designs, patents, layout designs or topographies of integrated circuits and protection of undisclosed information (Sec. 41-IPC).

 

Section 4. The intellectual property rights to all works created and inventions conceived or developed by all non-academic and non-research staff during office hours or with university resources, regardless of amount shall be owned by the university except as otherwise may be provided herein.

 

Section 5. These guidelines do not comprehensively cover guidelines for fair use of intellectual property rights owned by the university, university personnel or third parties. For this purpose applicable provisions of the RA No. 8293, WTO agreements, and other existing related statutes, shall be suppletory.

Article 3

General Principles

 

Section 1. The university subscribes to a policy of recognizing the traditional academic practice of treating faculty members as copyright owners of works they create independently or in collaboration with others and at their own initiative for traditional academic purposes which includes teaching, research and extension work.

 

Section 2. The university encourages the faculty’s full freedom in research, and in the presentation and publication of their results, subject to the adequate performance of their other academic duties.

 

Section 3. The university acknowledges that its efforts to generate income should be weighed against its principal responsibility to provide a favorable environment to explore knowledge for the benefit of the public in general.

 

Section 4. The university accepts that in some cases, the recognition of intellectual property rights of inventors and authors are effective ways to ensure accountability and accessibility of knowledge and technologies.

 

 

Article 4

Rules of Construction

 

Nothing in these rules shall be construed--

 

Section 1. To prevent university administration from implementing rules relating to the enforcement of academic standards, such as against plagiarism and dishonesty.

 

Section 2. To alter existing university policies affecting conflict of interest, including guidelines for outside teaching activities or practice of profession.

 

Section 3. To limit the university’s ability to negotiate and to meet obligations for deliverables under any contract, grant or other arrangements with third parties, including sponsored-research agreements, collaboration agreements, license agreements and the like, if these terms are more beneficial to meet the purposes and principles of these guidelines.

 

Section 4. To interfere with the discretion of textbook committees, editorial boards and the like to present and publish works.

 

 

Article 5

Copyright

 

Section 1. All literary, artistic and derivative works created and conceived or developed under Sec. 4 Art. 2 hereof, and collectively referred to in these guidelines as "works" as defined in Sections 172 and 173 of the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (RA 8293), including course materials for e-learning and distance education, regardless of format in which it was created or produced, shall be covered by these rules on copyright.

 

Section 2. The ownership of copyright is determined in these cases:

 

a) Copyright of all works shall remain with the creator, except as may be otherwise provided in these rules (Article 2, Section 4).

 

b) The university shall have exclusive ownership over institutional works, such as:

 

i) Works that are supported by a specific allocation of university funds or other resources other than the usual salary and resources made available to every faculty, student or staff;

 

ii) Works created at the direction and control of the university through its officials or designates for the purpose of a specific project or purpose;

 

iii) Works whose authorship cannot be attributed to one or a discreet number of authors, despite the application of processes prescribed under these rules;

 

iv) Works whose authorship cannot be attributed to one or a discreet number of authors because it is the result of simultaneous or sequential contributions by multiple authors;

 

v) Even if the creation of the object is not part of the employees regular duties if the employee uses the time, facilities, and materials of the employer;

 

vi) Works created through substantial use of university resources, such as libraries, research facilities, buildings, utilities, equipment, tools and apparatus, including services of its employees working within the scope of their activities, not for university purposes, but for the personal gain or advantage of the faculty, research staff, administrative staff or student involved.  There is a presumption of substantial use of university resources if the work has in any way been done during official time or within the premises of the university and is related to unauthorized outside teaching or the practice of profession without requisite permission.

c) Dissertations, theses and other intellectual properties developed by students shall be jointly owned by the creators and the university.

 

Section 3. In cases of institutional works, creators shall disclose the existence of the creation and assign copyright over the work to the university in accordance with these rules and the implementing rules that may be promulgated by the Office of the President.

 

Section 4. The copyright ownership of the university may be waived on these cases:

 

a) In case of institutional works and works in joint ownership with the university, the university through its designated officials, may waive copyright in favor of the creator if all the following conditions are met:

 

i) The waiver would enhance the transfer of technology or improve the access of the works by the public in general;

 

ii) The waiver does not violate any existing contractual obligations to third parties; and

 

iii) The participation of the university in the work is acknowledged by the creator in all presentations and publications of the work, whether local or international.

 

b) If the university is unable or has not decided to present, publish or exhibit the works within one year from its disclosure, its copyright is automatically waived in favor of the creator.  The one-year period may also be waived by the university at the request of the creator if the work is to be published in a reputable local or international journal relevant to the academic discipline to which the work belongs.  The contribution of the university shall be duly acknowledged in all publications or exhibitions of the work.

 

Section 5. In the absence of any contractual stipulation to the contrary, if the work is the result of collaborative efforts between the university, an outside entity and the creator/s, the copyright shall be jointly owned by the university, the creators and the outside entity.

 

Section 6. The authorship is determined in case of contributed efforts in these modes:

 

a) In the case of works resulting from the contribution of efforts coming from different persons, authorship, whether sole or collaborative, shall be determined as follows:

 

i)  By stipulation in the research contract;

 

ii) By application of the rules for joint, primary and sole authorship as determined by a publication for which the work was intended;

 

iii) Through alternative modes of dispute processing including mediation and arbitration to be facilitated by the Vice President for Administration, if the work originated from the efforts of faculty, research staff, administrative staff and students.

 

b) Only in the event of failure of any of these modes of dispute resolution may a conflict pertaining to the authorship or copyright of a work be referred for legal action.

 

Article 

Patents

Section 1. All inventions which are related to a product, process, or an improvement of any of the foregoing, that is new, involves an inventive step, is industrially applicable and potentially patentable, including utility models and industrial designs referred to in these guidelines as inventions, shall be covered by these rules on patent.

 

Section 2. Except as otherwise provided in these rules, rights to patents shall belong to the inventors (as provided in Section 3 hereof).

 

Section 3. The university shall own all patents to commissioned inventions, such as:

 

a) Inventions that are supported by a specific allocation of university funds or use of other university resources;

 

b) Inventions produced at the direction and control of the university in pursuit of a specific project or purpose regardless of the source of funding;

 

c) Works whose inventorship could not be attributed to one or a discreet number of inventors, despite the application of processes provided in these rules; and

 

d) Those that may be stipulated by contracts as commissioned inventions.

 

Section 4. Creators of commissioned inventions should disclose and assign the patents to these works to the university in accordance with these rules and the implementing guidelines which may be promulgated by the President of the University.

 

Section 5. Inventions funded by outside entities shall be treated as follows:

 

a) In the event that the funding for the research and creation of the invention is sourced by the university, wholly or partially, from outside entities, the university shall negotiate with the funding entities with respect to the ownership of the invention, patent rights and royalties sharing subject to confirmation by the Board of Regents.

 

b) In default of a negotiated agreement, all patents to inventions, the research funds of which were sourced from or by the university shall be owned by the university.

 

Section 6. Regardless of the source of funding, patents to the following inventions shall be assigned to the university:

 

a) Those conceived or first applied to practice by faculty, employees or students in the university in the course of the performance of their duties;

 

b) Those created through substantial use of university resources, such as libraries, research facilities, buildings, utilities, equipment, tools and apparati, including services of its employees working within the scope of their employment.

 

 

 

 

 

Section 7. The university waives its rights to patent in these cases:

 

a) In the absence of existing contractual obligations to third parties, the university may release patent rights to inventors if all the following conditions are met:

 

i) The university elects not to file a patent application and the inventor is prepared to do so.  It shall be presumed that the university decides not to file a patent application if no application is filed within one year after the disclosure of the invention or from the time the university is reasonably presumed to have known its existence;

 

ii) The waiver would facilitate the transfer of technology or its access to the general public; and

 

iii) The equity of the situation clearly indicates that such release should be given.

 

b) No waiver shall be given unless there is a written commitment that no further development of the invention shall be made involving the financial support or resources of the university, nor shall any waiver be made in violation of any contractual obligation of the university.

 

Section 8. If the works is the result of collaborative efforts of the university, an outside entity and the creator/s, the patent shall be owned jointly by the university, the creator/s and the outside entity.

 

Section 9. Inventions as a result of collaborative efforts are treated in these cases:

 

a) The identification of inventorship, whether sole, primary or joint, shall be determined as follows:

i) By contractual stipulation;

ii) By application of the rules and standards of a publication primarily intended by the collaborative effort; and

 

iii) By alternative modes of dispute resolution including mediation and arbitration to be facilitated by the Vice President for Administration.

 

b) Only in the event of failure of any of these modes of dispute resolution, may a conflict pertaining to the inventorship or patent rights to an invention referred for legal action.

 

 

Article 7

Other Intellectual Property Rights

 

Section 1. Trade and service marks are distinctive words or graphic symbols identifying the sources, products, producers, or distributors of goods or services.  The university shall own trade or service marks relating to goods or services distributed by the university.  These include names and symbols used by the university in conjunction with its degree programs or university activities and events.

 

Section 2. Proprietary information includes information arising from work within the university.  These also include processes which may fall under the concept of “trade secrets”.

 

a) Proprietary information such as proposed terms of research agreements including their financial agreements shall be covered by applicable provisions of existing laws and statutes relating to the constitutional duty of a state university to public disclosure.

 

b) Research information and processes used for academic purposes shall be presumptively considered part of the public domain and shall not be considered as “trade secrets”, except when any of the following conditions is present:

 

i) The protection is necessary in order to pursue an academic research project to its completion;

 

ii) The information being protected is necessary in order to protect intellectual property rights of the university to an invention;

 

iii) Upon the determination of the President, circumstances are such that well-defined interests of the general public will better be protected by temporarily claiming legal protection of research processes as “trade secrets” shall belong to the university.

 

b) Tangible Research Property (TRP) or research results which are in tangible form (i.e., integrated circuit chips, computer software, biological organisms, engineering prototypes) which can not be the subject of any other kind of intellectual property protection are presumptively owned by the university. 

 

 

Article 8

WAIVERS AND AUTHORITIES, ROYALTIES, AND CONTRACTS

 

Section 1. Except in cases of failure to publish or failure to file an application for a patent, all waivers of ownership of intellectual property rights shall be confirmed by the Board of Regents upon recommendation by the President of the University. The President shall periodically report to the Board of Regents, intellectual property rights owned by the university which are impliedly waived immediately upon their discovery.

 

Section 2. In the absence of contractual stipulations to the contrary, royalties derived from patents, copyrights and other intellectual property of the university shall be shared as follows:

 

a) One-fourth of the net income shall be given to the university.

 

b) One-fourth of the net income shall be given to the constituent college to which the author or inventor belongs.  This is without prejudice to such policies or arrangements that the constituent college may have with respect to sharing its allocation of the net income with the department/s or unit/s from which the author or inventor originated.

 

c) One-half of the net income shall be given to the author/s or inventor/s.  Joint authors or inventors shall share equally from this portion.  Collaborating authors or inventors shall share in accordance with the determination of their participation in the authorship or invention as prescribed under these rules.

 

Section 3. Net income shall mean gross income less applicable taxes.  All other expenses such as administrative costs, filing fees, costs relating to the production, distribution, advertising, maintenance and similar expenses of the work or invention shall be for the account of the university and shall be taken from its share in the royalty income. 

 

Section 4. In the disposition of any royalty income accruing to the university from copyrights or patents, first consideration shall be given to support research activities.

 

Section 5. Pursuant to its public function, the university shall not enter into exclusive licensing arrangements.  Nor shall the university enter into any kind of contractual arrangements that would deter the public in general from having reasonable access to the works or inventions. 

 

Section 6. All contracts for research, regardless of source of funding, should provide for the means for determination of authorship in accordance with these rules.

 

Section 7. No allocation of research funds from the university shall be made in cases of works to be produced by collaborative efforts until and unless the provisions for ownership of intellectual property rights and ownership of resulting tangible materials, including processes for settling disputes on authorship or inventorships, shall be clearly provided in a contract.

 

 

Article 9

OFFICE FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

 

Section 1. To implement these rules, the Office for Intellectual property (OIP) shall be set up when it is deemed necessary by the Board of Regents (BOR) under the Office of the President, when deemed necessary, to spearhead the intellectual property development and protection, and technology licensing activities of the university.

 

Section 2. The OIP shall be composed of a Director and appropriate staff to be determined by the Administrative Council of the university.

 

Section 3. The OIP shall have the following functions:

 

a)  Supervise the disclosure of works created and inventions conceived or first reduced to practice by all university personnel;

 

b) Facilitate the execution of agreements, affidavits, applications, complaints and other documents relating to works and inventions necessary to facilitate the university’s intellectual property rights;

 

c) Register copyrights and patents with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) on behalf of the university.

 

d) Evaluate the commercial potential of the works and/or inventions and negotiate contracts for its production, distribution and marketing;

 

e) Monitor the progress of royalty payments;

 

f) Review and settle disagreements that may arise from royalty distribution or sharing in accordance with the provisions of these guidelines;

 

g) Negotiate with university personnel with respect to the development of independently-owned technologies after a determination of their commercial potential for purposes of registration, licensing or joint-venture arrangements;

 

h) Review and recommend, upon consultation with the appropriate units, appropriate intellectual property policies for the university; and

 

 i) Undertake activities in coordination with the colleges, such as workshops and symposia to familiarize university personnel with these guidelines as well as to continually solicit feedback on its directions and implementation.

 

Section 4.  The of the Office for Intellectual Property may request assistance from any department or unit of the university that can provide expert advice on any trade or discipline that will be the subject of any patent application, litigation, evaluation of the commercial value of the work or invention or any aspect of the work or technology licensing.

 

Article 10

Penalties

 

Aside from penalties which may arise from the violation of any other law or university policies or guidelines, any person found to have violated any of the provisions of these guidelines shall be meted out any of the following penalties depending upon the nature and gravity of the violation.

 

Section 1. Ineligibility for research grants from the university or any of its affiliated foundations for a period not to exceed three years;

 

Section 2. Automatic removal of research load credits and ineligibility to receive these benefits for a period not to exceed three years;

 

Section 3. Removal from any administrative position and disqualification for any administrative position for a period not exceeding three years;

 

Section 4. Ineligibility for outside teaching activities or the privilege to practice profession, for a period not exceeding three years.

                                                           

 

Article 11

Repealing Clause

 

Section 1. All other university policies inconsistent with these guidelines are repealed accordingly.

 

 

Article 12

Effectivity

 

Section 1 . These policies shall take effect upon approval of the BOR and 30 days after completion of:

 

a) An extensive information and education campaign to be led by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Extension coordinating with the various colleges/offices of the university; and

 

b) Publication (a) In the web site of the university (b) In the Office of Public Affairs and Information OPAI Bulletin (c) In the student publication.