Does your university have bureaukleptosis of the IP? Sounds like an ugly malady, to be sure, and it is. At its root, it is an abrogation of the university’s role as trustee of IP in favor of an ownership claim on its own behalf. Here are some questions that help to sort out whether it’s bureaukleptosis. There are 11, just for completeness.
1 ) Does the IP policy use “to the extent legally allowed” language to claim IP?
2 ) Does the IP policy require assignment of IP on request?
3 ) Does a question about not assigning IP trigger a conflict of interest concern?
4 ) Does any IP worth anything ever get released to inventors?
5 ) Does the policy have a good way to receive non-required IP?
6 ) Do you have a large, unlicensed patent portfolio?
7 ) Do senior administrators say, “We own all of it, we just don’t always enforce that”?
8 ) Does university counsel generally take the side of the administration in IP issues with research personnel?
9 ) Do research inventors have a choice of where to place new IP?
10 ) Does the burden fall on inventors to show why the IP is not the university’s?
11 ) Does the university send out an assignment document automatically when you report an invention?
Positive answers to any of these questions suggests bureaukleptosis. Positive answers to at least six of these means a full blown case.