After receiving an invention disclosure, we at Helsinki Innovation Services set out to investigate whether the research underlying the invention constitutes open or contractual research. The rights to an invention made through open research belong to the researcher, while those of an invention made through contractual research belong to the University. In the case of contractual research, we also explore what contractual commitments are potentially involved in the ownership of the research results and how interesting the invention is from a commercial standpoint.
If the rights to the invention belong to the University and it decides to retain those rights, the University must inform the inventor of this within six months of receiving an approved invention disclosure.
In retaining the rights to the invention, the University bears the responsibility for commercialising the invention and pays the costs of protecting it. From the researcher’s perspective, this is an ideal situation because he or she can participate in the further development of the invention and in related research without shouldering the costs.