Updated Intellectual Property Policy

To the members of the MIT community,

I am writing to share the news that, after much effort and consultation across the Institute, Academic Council has approved the adoption of an updated Intellectual Property Policy (the “policy”). As chair of the Committee on Intellectual Property (CoIP), I tasked a working group to consider updates in order to clarify our policy and bring it in line with modern practices. The working group sought feedback from numerous stakeholders, including the CoIP and the Faculty Policy Committee, before the policy was presented to Academic Council for approval.

The updated policy provides clear guidance on the rights and obligations that MIT and its community members have with respect to intellectual property. It doesn’t change the rights of our community members but rather adapts and modernizes the existing policies to new types of research, as well as documenting longstanding practice. Most importantly, it formalizes a process to address any dispute that may arise about IP ownership. We expect this updated policy will help students, postdocs, faculty, and staff understand their rights with respect to their own work and research, as well as assist administrators in implementing the policy.

In conjunction with the updated policy, the Technology Licensing Office (TLO) has released Frequently Asked Questions pertaining to the policy on its website. Please email TLO at tlo@mit.edu with any questions you may have.

To ensure you have acknowledged the updated policy, you will be receiving an email notification to confirm your awareness of it.

Sincerely,

Maria T. Zuber
Vice President for Research
Chair, Committee on Intellectual Property