Office of the Chancellor Responsibilities

Coordination Function

The following coordination functions are the responsibility of the Office of the Chancellor:

Intellectual Property Coordinator: The president or Chancellor, or his/her designee, at each college and university, or Office of the Chancellor shall appoint an employee to be the Intellectual Property Coordinator (Board Policy 5, Part 5, Subpart A).

The Intellectual Property Coordinator shall:

1. Administer the provisions Policy 3.26.
2. Disseminate the college or university's procedures implementing Policy 3.26, Intellectual Property, and 3.27, Reproduction and Use of Copyrighted Materials.
3. Respond to questions relating to the applicability of Policy 3.26.
4. Provide a copy of the Intellectual Property Policy and any other forms developed to implement such policy to persons upon request (Board Policy 3.26, Part 10).
5. Establish a record-keeping system to monitor the development and use of its intellectual property (Board Policy 3.26, Part 5, Subpart B).
6. Monitor and provide guidance to ensure that MnSCU employees are responsible for adhering to all legal and ethical requirements in accordance with State law (Board Policy 3.26, Part 5, Subpart C).

Preservation of Intellectual Property Rights

The Office of the Chancellor shall assist colleges and universities with their intellectual property in which the college or university is the sole or joint owner (Board Policy 3.26, Part 6).  Assistance may take the form of:

1. Applying for patents
2. Registering copyrights
3. Registering trademarks
4. Taking all other measures that it deems necessary to preserve its rights
5. Paying expenses associated with protection and preservation of its intellectual property rights (Board Policy 3.26, Part 6, Subpart B)

Commercialization of Intellectual Property

The Office of the Chancellor shall assist colleges and universities with the commercialization of their intellectual property (Board Policy 3.26, Part 7).

Resources/Agreements: - The Office of the Chancellor may provide resources or enter into agreements to commercialize the intellectual property as authorized by law (Board Policy 3.26, Part 7, Subpart A).

Notice of Progress: - Upon request, a creator who retains intellectual property rights in a work may be informed of the progress in commercializing the work (Board Policy 3.26, Part 7, Subpart A).

Sharing of Proceeds: - The Office of the Chancellor, colleges and universities will share royalties and other payments generated from commercialization of the work with an employee who retains an intellectual property interest in the work in accordance with applicable collective bargaining agreements, individual agreements, and applicable laws (Board Policy 3.26, Part 7, Subpart B).

Deduction of Expenses: - Prior to any disbursement of proceeds received from commercialization of the work, all associated costs and expenses are deducted and reimbursed to the college, university and State system (Board Policy 3.26, Part 7, Subpart B).

Intellectual Property Account: - A general intellectual property account will be created for the deposit of net proceeds received from the commercialization of intellectual property and the reimbursement of expenses, or for any other purpose authorized by the policy (Board Policy 3.26, Part 7, Subpart C).  Income generated from the licensing of college university trademarks and logos is not subject to this requirement for distribution of funds (Board Policy 3.26, Part 7, Subpart D).

Assignment of Intellectual Property Rights

The Office of the Chancellor may assign all or a portion of its intellectual property rights and may receive an assignment of intellectual property rights (Board Policy 3.26, Part 8).

Condition of Assignment: As a condition of an assignment, the Office of the Chancellor may preserve certain rights (such as a royalty-free, non-exclusive, irrevocable license to use and copy the work), including the right to share in any proceeds received from commercialization of the work (Board Policy 3.26, Part 8, Subpart A).

Creator Assignment: Any person may agree to assign some or all of his/her intellectual property rights to the college, university or system, and may preserve any rights available to the creator (Board Policy 3.26, Part 8, Subpart B).

Assignment in Writing: Any assignment of the intellectual property rights must be in writing (Board Policy 3.26, Part 8, Subpart C).

Dispute Resolution Process

The Office of the Chancellor may develop procedures to resolve disputes relating to Policy 3.26.

Policy Training

Colleges and universities, or Office of the Chancellor shall arrange training on a periodic basis for faculty, staff and/or other persons who are covered by Policy 3.26, Part 10.