February 12, 2008 ~ Thunder Bay, ON ~  Lakehead University is pleased to announce that its first Intellectual Property (IP) Policy is now in place.  The Policy will work to clarify Lakehead researchers' rights and responsibilities related to Intellectual Property resulting from their research activities.

The Policy was developed to guide and apprise students, staff, faculty, and the University community of the forms that Intellectual Property can assume, considerations which arise when deciding whether to protect original ideas, and issues related to Intellectual Property development by research teams.  

"The IP Policy sets ground rules and clarifies existing laws related to Intellectual Property," says Barb Eccles, Manager of Technology Transfer at Lakehead's Innovation Management Office.  "It establishes a strong and clear foundation that will encourage collaboration and communication among creators of Intellectual Property.  It also facilitates the transfer of new ideas and products to the public sector when it makes sense to do so."

Among other areas, Lakehead's new IP Policy covers areas such as inventorship, ownership (both copyright and non-copyright), distributed learning materials, graduate student work, commercialization, profit sharing, and dispute resolution. 

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) encourages all Universities to make Intellectual Property a priority so the rights and responsibilities of graduate students, faculty, and researchers are clearly articulated.  When devising Lakehead's policy, Eccles and her colleagues reviewed several IP policies of other Canadian universities to ensure Lakehead's would be consistent and competitive. 

For complete details pertaining to Lakehead's new IP Policy, please visit http://policies.lakeheadu.ca/policy.php?pid=194.

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About Lakehead
Lakehead is a comprehensive university with a reputation for innovative programs and cutting-edge research. With a main campus located in Thunder Bay, Ontario and a campus in Orillia, Ontario, Lakehead has over 8,000 students and 2,250 faculty and staff, and is home to the west campus of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. In 2006, Research Infosource Inc. named Lakehead University Canada's Research University of the Year in the undergraduate category. For more information on Lakehead University, visit www.lakeheadu.ca