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Intellectual property rights - IPR

A revised policy for the protection and management of «Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and Physical Material and Results generated at NTNU» is in effect from 1 January 2021.  

NTNU has a social responsibility to ensure that results from NTNU’s activities are widely used in society, business and industry and that they contribute to sustainable development, while the university must ensure protection of the individual’s academic freedom and the openness of the university’s research and teaching.  

Norsk versjon - Immaterielle rettigheter - IPR  

Topic page about commercialization or project managementPages labelled with ipr

Purpose of IPR policy

The purpose of the IPR policy is to ensure that results created at NTNU through the use of NTNU’s resources or public funds are used in society, including commercialization, new research and teaching. The IPR policy is intended to create predictability among employees, students and partners about the university’s management of IPR. The IPR policy is accompanied by the «Guidelines for the Protection and Management of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)», which provide more details for practical use.  

Main principle

The IPR policy furthers the principle that:  

  • NTNU is primarily to own all results that have been created through the use of the university’s/society’s resources to open the way for broad application of the results 
  • Students themselves own the results they create  

There are several exceptions to the basic rule, which are discussed in more detail in the IPR policy. Regarding ownership of results, NTNU will not claim ownership rights to works such as traditional scholarly works, textbooks, musical works, architectural works, works of art and teaching materials that have a clearly personal character. These are owned by the employee. 

NTNU Technology Transfer

To manage IPR, provide advice and commercialize research results, NTNU has established its own commercialization company, NTNU Technology Transfer AS (TTO). Employees, both full-time and part-time, who have produced a patentable result based on, for example, their own research or a research project or in other ways, are obliged by the Employee Inventions Act to report this to NTNU TTO and to their nearest Head of Department. Other ideas about something that may become a research result of benefit to society, and to which NTNU has ownership rights, must also be reported to NTNU via the TTO. 

To ensure the widest possible application of our research results, collaborative partners in business and the working world are granted rights of use primarily through licensing. Competent management of research results is necessary when the university is to undertake innovation and technology transfer, so that one can choose appropriate models and systems of agreements that can translate knowledge into societal benefits in the best possible way. Free and open access to research data and results is important for NTNU, and in many cases this can contribute to faster development of good solutions. The TTO function is key to the commercialization process. Therefore, please contact NTNU TTO for help with your idea.  

Policy and guidelines

Links for employees

Links for students

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