DIT Announces Radical New IP Policy

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

16 April 2008

The Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) on Tuesday announced a radical new initiative aimed at encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship.

The Institute revealed that it has introduced a new policy on Intellectual Property which gives students and staff ownership of their own creative work and research findings. Currently most academic institutions in Ireland and internationally retain ownership of intellectual property developed by their staff or students.

Speaking at the launch of the new policy, President of DIT, Professor Brian Norton explained that:

“At DIT we are leading the way with our new IP policy. It is unique in Ireland and most of Europe. We believe that by guaranteeing the creator ownership of his or her own IP we will encourage innovation among staff and students. This adds to the attraction of DIT as a place for leading researchers, authors and inventors to work and enhances our reputation for excellence and industry relevance.”

Hothouse is the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre at DIT which helps inventors and authors protect and commercialise their own IP.

According to Tom Flanagan, Head of Hothouse:

“This new IP policy is a great incentive to innovators in DIT. Last year Hothouse processed 22 invention disclosures, selected 12 for patent filing and won 4 commercial licences. This level of commercialisation is comparable with other major universities that would have significantly larger research budgets and this initiative is likely to further increase the number of successful projects in DIT.”

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