Intellectual Property

The University of Colorado Boulder views sponsored project agreements as an opportunity for a new partnership aimed at supporting the university’s mission and the sponsor’s commercialization efforts.

CU Boulder follows United States patent and copyright laws to determine inventorship and authorship for intellectual property (IP) created during the sponsored project. In regard to IP ownership:

• CU Boulder owns the IP created solely by its employees.
• The sponsor owns the IP created solely by its employees.
• CU Boulder and the sponsor jointly own the IP that is jointly created.

In most cases, CU Boulder is able to offer the sponsor an option to acquire an exclusive license to IP, whether the IP was developed solely by university employees or developed jointly by both parties' employees. The sponsored project agreement may include a nonexclusive license to the lab’s background IP and foreground IP depending on:

• The scope of the project
• The aims of the project
• The circumstances around IP developed in the specific CU Boulder lab prior to the start of the project

While these are some of the standard terms of a sponsored project agreement at the university, CU Boulder understands that the best agreement for both sides will be unique to each project. CU Boulder is committed to working with our industry partners to find the optimal IP arrangements that are competitive and fit the sponsor’s strategic plans.