Intellectual Property (IP)



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Guidelines for public disclosure

What is Intellectual Property?
The University's Intellectual Property Policy defines the term 'intellectual property' as "any proprietary right which arises under, or is capable of being obtained under, legislation relating to copyright, patents, designs, circuit layouts or plant varieties, or which otherwise exists at law, including trade secrets, know how and other confidential information and unregistered trademarks and tradenames."

Intellectual Property issues and Copyright issues are NOT the same.

Intellectual Property may have, or may be developed in ways which mean it has, commercial value.

However, public disclosure of any aspects of IP or an invention may jeopardise your and the University's rights to develop and commercialise aspects of the idea or invention.

That disclosure may take place in a number of ways such as a web page, a conference paper, or an article submitted for publication.

Clause 2.6 of the IP policy states that staff should not disclose any confidential information acquired during the course of their employment, without the consent of the University.

In practice this means that staff proposing to disclose details of their work should seek advice before submitting for publication any material that is likely to contain results of commercial value.

Who to seek advice from

Name:	Mike Bull (Associate Head - Research)
Phone:	+61 8 8201 2193
Email:	michael.bull@.flinders.edu.au

Name:	Michael Choularton
Phone:	+61 8 8201 3694
Email:	michael.choularton@flinders.edu.au

Other resources
The University maintains a web page about commercialisation, intellectual property and consulting, which includes links to Flinders Technologies and the University's intellectual property guidelines and policy.

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