Intellectual Property and Your Senior Design Project

    If, while conducting a project, you use Vanderbilt resources (including funds, facilities, laboratories, or personnel), any intellectual property generated will be governed by the University’s “Policy on Technology and Literary and Artistic Works”.  This Policy may be found in the Vanderbilt Faculty Manual, pages 71-77, and may be accessed via the on-line Student Handbook, Chapter 5, at: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/student_handbook/Policies_and_Regulations.htm#917306.   ( This statement refers the reader to Part III, section 4 of the Faculty Manual Web site (http://www.vanderbilt.edu/facman*).  The Policy, in brief, states that intellectual property, such as an invention or process improvement, generated in this course shall be assigned to and owned by Vanderbilt University if it is created “with the use of University facilities or funds administered by the University.”  In return, students are entitled to a portion of the royalties generated as provided in the Policy.

Students must inform their faculty sponsor and the Vanderbilt Office of Technology Transfer and Enterprise Development (OTTED) if there are any other agreements which involve the intellectual property to be created.  OTTED will, in turn, determine whether to pursue patent or intellectual property rights protection and if so determined, will obtain that protection.  Income received as a result of exploiting this intellectual property will be shared with the inventor(s)/creator(s) in accordance with the Policy.  If the University waives or elects not to pursue its intellectual property rights,” and assuming there are no other contractual rights with respect to the intellectual property, the inventors/creators will be offered the rights to the intellectual property.

Consistent with University Policy, if a project is supported by a non-Vanderbilt sponsor, such as a corporation, it is the student’s responsibility to become informed of the intellectual property policy of the sponsor and how it may impact the project.  Advice regarding such agreements is available on request from the Vanderbilt Office of Technology Transfer and Enterprise Development (3-2430) or the Office of the General Counsel (2-8613).  It is further the student’s responsibility to inquire about and notify the instructor of any matters (such as confidentiality or other intellectual property issues) that would preclude such things as a web site posting or other public disclosure of progress reports.  An agreement, continued for this school year, may be found here.  This policy gives sponsors return for their giving projects to this course.

BME, EE, CompE and ME engineering senior design project participants are required to discuss intellectual property issues as they formulate their project proposal in consultation with the corporate representative for the specific project.  Project proposals that fail to identify and describe intellectual property issues will be considered unsuitable to satisfy course requirements.  It is strongly recommended that you discuss intellectual property issues of your project with your Professor well before submission of your project proposal.

            One important aspect in development of intellectual property is the “trail of evidence” created by contemporaneous laboratory notebooks which are required to be maintained by all project members.  Final project reports that fail to include laboratory notebooks will be returned to the authors without assignment of grades.

By my signature below, I acknowledge that I am aware of Vanderbilt’s intellectual property Policy and that I have received a copy of the document I am signing.

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Updated August 16, 2004