Trademarks figure prominently in college and university brand formation efforts. Trademarks are intangible rights that allow institutions to define and protect aspects of their identities important to them as they engage in markets. This multiple-method study, grounded in legal and policy research, provides a first look at how institutions are…

Because of their special mission, colleges and universities have unique patent concerns that warrant detailed exploration, particularly regarding ownership of patent rights on inventions developed on campus under federal contracts and grants. Rights and concerns of the inventor, the university, and financial sponsors are outlined. (Author/LBH)

Legal questions involving conveyance of university-developed technology to the marketplace are becoming an increasing problem. This article discusses issues of intellectual property, including: university policies of ownership; faculty copyrights; university partnerships with the federal government; hidden costs of aggressive protection; and…

As a result of actual and anticipated growth in the level of entrepreneurial activities within the University of Maryland System (UMS), and corresponding growth in licensing and royalty revenues, a threshold policy was recommended in the Joint Chairmen's Report of 1996. Such a policy would establish a maximum threshold beyond which a portion of…

A discussion of legal aspects of college faculty efforts to profit from their research activities considers whether judicially acknowledged distinctions between faculty's academic and personal pursuits will apply in such cases of commercialization. Implications for increased regulation of core institutional and faculty activities are examined.…

This report, prepared by the Office of Technological Assessment (OTA) in response to a request from the House Committee on the Judiciary, examines the rapid and complex technological changes and trends in computer software technologies and their possible effects on the nation's intellectual property system. The three policy issues identified are:…