Colleges

College and Community Innovation program policy on intellectual property, research agreements, patents and copyright

NSERC makes no claim to ownership of any intellectual property (IP), copyright, trademarks, inventions, industrial designs, geographical indications, trade secrets and tradition-based creations generated from the research it funds. Colleges and participating institutions are strongly encouraged to develop and sign an agreement with each partner on the ownership and disposition of IP arising from the funded applied research before starting any activities. This agreement must be in accordance with NSERC’s Policy on Intellectual Property and follow the guidelines and considerations outlined in it.

As part of this agreement, the college and participating institutions, organizations, communities or individuals must retain the right to use the new knowledge or technology in future teaching and research, and faculty, researchers, technical staff and students must retain the right to describe the project on their curriculum vitae.

Please consult the Introduction to Intellectual Property Rights and the Protection of Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Expressions in Canada page for additional information on IP in the context of the protection of Indigenous Knowledge, cultural expressions and data resulting from the research, in addition to the First Nations Principles of OCAP® (Ownership, Control, Access and Possession) for First Nations or other principles as determined by Indigenous partners (e.g., National Inuit Strategy on Research).