TO:� ���������������� Board of Regents
FROM:� ����������� LeRoy H. Schramm
����������������������� Chief Legal Counsel
RE:� ���������������� University System/Employee Collaborative Efforts to Develop Intellectual Property
DATE:� November 15-16, 2001
The 2001 State Legislature, at the request of the University System, enacted Chapter 379 (now codified as 20-25-109 MCA, reproduced at end of memo) sponsored by Representative Haines of Missoula.� The most important part of the Act clarified that it was not a violation of the state conflict of interest statutes for the University System to enter into joint ventures with its own employees to develop intellectual property that the employee had created in conjunction with his/her University employment.� The Act also clarified that University employees could also attain an equity interest in business entities that the University and the employee might create or be part of in order to commercially develop the intellectual property.� However, because these activities were exempted from the state conflict of interest statutes the Legislature required that such arrangements must receive the approval of the Board of Regents.� This new policy implements this Act.
Section I.� Merely states the general purposes of the policy.
Section II.� Defines �intellectual property� identically to that used in Chapter 379.� This is a very broad definition so collaborative activities could go beyond seeking commercial development of what we normally think of as the fruits of university research, i.e. inventions of a technical nature.
Section III.� Specifies that a University System employee can contract with the University or another public body to commercially develop intellectual property created by the employee through a for-profit business entity in which ownership split among the employee, the University System and others.� In addition it allows the employee to be part of the governance of the business entity and also to hold an equity interest in the entity.� The section also covers the possibility that the University may enter into a similar joint venture with a non-employee.� This possibility is covered because, although likely to be rare, the new statute explicitly allowed it.
CHAPTER 379
20-25-109. Authorized university system employee or
individual activities. (1) A Montana
university system employee who, as part of the employee's authorized work for
the university system, conceives, creates, discovers, invents, or develops
intellectual property may:
(a) if approved by the board of regents, own or
be awarded equity interest or participation in the intellectual property; or
(b) if approved by the board of regents, serve as
a member of the board of directors or other governing board of or as a
director, officer, or employee of a business entity that:
(i) has an agreement with the university system
or with any other Montana state agency or political subdivision that relates to
the research, development, licensing, or exploitation of that intellectual
property; or
(ii) shares an ownership interest in the intellectual
property with the university system.
(2) An individual, at the request of and on
behalf of the university system, may serve as a member of the board of
directors or other governing board of a business entity that:
(a) has an agreement with the university system
or with any other Montana state agency or political subdivision that relates to
the research, development, licensing, or exploitation of the individual's
intellectual property; or
(b) shares an ownership interest in the intellectual
property with the university system.
(3) For purposes of this section,
"intellectual property" means inventions, discoveries, and creations
that may be eligible for copyright or patent. The term also includes other
economic development activity of a proprietary nature, including but not
limited to business practices, ideas, processes, or arrangements that may not
be eligible for either patent or copyright but for which the possibility of
profitable commercialization exists.
(4) An employee or individual included under the
provisions of subsection (1) or (2) shall report the name of the business
entity with which the employee or individual is affiliated to the commissioner
of higher education and to the appropriate person within the unit of the
university system at which the person is employed or on behalf of which the
individual is serving.
(5) The provisions of 2-2-104,
2-2-105,
2-2-121,
and 2-2-201
do not apply to this section.
History:
En. Sec. 1, Ch. 379, L. 2001.