Adopted by the University Board on 16 November 2004, last amended on 3 December 2024.
1. Objectives of the IPR Policy at UiO
The University of Oslo (UiO) is committed to facilitating the effective use of knowledge for the benefit of society. This includes promoting research-based innovation and supporting the commercialization of research outcomes.
UiO cannot succeed in isolation, but depends on other, complementary actors. Therefore, through its own organization, UiO will best facilitate an open, effective, and dynamic ecosystem for research, education, and innovation. Innovation is a broad field that must be safeguarded in various ways and with different regulations and instruments. This document deals only with the ownership and management of intellectual property rights. A key goal is to safeguard the rights of both the institution and the employee, and to incentivize our employees in the best possible way
The work at UiO shall be founded on clearly defined internal roles and structured relationships with external actors (including companies in which UiO is a co-owner). This requires clearly delegated authority and responsibility, along with a significant degree of transparency and predictability for our employees.
This document provides a description of the legal framework and of UiO’s overarching framework for securing and managing intellectual property rights (IPR) and physical material that has potential for commercial exploitation.
Based on this, a separate ?Guidelines for the Management of Ownership and Intellectual Property Rights at the University of Oslo? have been developed. This document contains fixed guidelines for the commercialization process and UiO's rights policy, for example, related to the distribution of income from commercialization at UiO
1.1 UiO’s partly owned technology transfer company and Oslo Science Park
The University of Oslo seeks to facilitate a well-functioning ecosystem of research, education and innovation. Internally, responsibility and authority follow the leadership line from the Rector and Director of the University to the dean and on to the head of the unit (e.g. a Department, Centre, Museum, Library or any other unit at UiO).
In addition, UiO has established Inven2, which is a technology transfer office (TTO) organised as a limited company. Inven2 is owned together with Oslo University Hospital (OUS). UiO also owns Oslo Science Park (澳门葡京手机版app下载sparken i Oslo) together with the Oslo municipality and SIVA. Oslo Science Park houses startups and various incubators that contribute to the utilization of knowledge.
2. Legal framework
Several laws, regulations, and agreements set the framework for UiO’s activities and its IPR policy, including:
- Act relating to Universities and University Colleges (Universities and University Colleges Act)( https://lovdata.no/NLE/lov/2024-03-08-9, English translation)
- The Act on the Right to Inventions Made by Employees (Employee Inventions Act) (Lov om retten til oppfinnelser som er gjort av arbeidstakere [arbeidstakeroppfinnelsesloven] - Lovdata – Norwegian original text)
- The Copyright Act (Lov om opphavsrett til ?ndsverk mv. - Lovdata – Norwegian original text)
- Agreement on Acquisition of Rights to Work Results Between UiO and UiO’s Employees (the “Acquisition Agreement”)
- Regulations on the Binding Cooperation of State Universities and Colleges and the Acquisition of Shares - Circular No: F-07-13 (Reglement om statlige universiteter og h?yskolers forpliktende 澳门葡京手机版app下载 og erverv av aksjer - regjeringen.no – Norwegian original text)
- The rules on state support in (EEA Agreement Part IV, Chapter 2)
- Regulations for Sideline Jobs and Owner Interests at UiO (Regulations for sideline jobs and owner interests at UiO - University of Oslo)
3. Who is covered by the IPR Policy?
The IPR Policy applies to all UiO employees (both academic and technical-administrative employees) and is intended to incentivize them to contribute to the utilization of research and knowledge through innovation and entrepreneurship. While the employer may claim rights to employees’ work results under applicable legislation, employees must be granted rights that make it beneficial for them to participate in the further development of ideas based on intellectual property.
In connection with the implementation of the rights policy at UiO, an acquisition agreement was drafted in 2006. The purpose of the Acquisition Agreement is to regulate the transfer of rights to work results that UiO is entitled to under legislation and UiO’s rights policy, and to ensure that employees receive “reasonable compensation” for the transfer of these rights.
Students retain ownership of their own results and are generally not covered by the IPR policy, unless specific agreements have been made. Such agreements must be established if students are to participate in externally funded research projects.
4. What is covered by the IPR Policy?
The IPR Policy concerns the following work results:
- Patentable and non-patentable inventions,
- Other technology that has the potential for commercial exploitation, such as practical solutions, technical principles and know-how, scientific and mercantile information and business concepts,
- Databases and “catalogues” that are protected by section 24 of the Intellectual Property Act with associated documentation, which have the potential for commercial exploitation,
- Computer programs with associated documentation and source code, which have the potential for commercial exploitation,
- Plant varieties that are protected under the Plant Breeders Act of 12 March 1993, no. 32, which have the potential for commercial exploitation,
- Integrated circuit patterns designs protected under the Circuit Patterns Act of 15 June 1990, which have the potential for commercial exploitation,
- Physical items of organic, inorganic or biological material, including substances, organisms and crops, as well as materials resulting from UiO’s investments and which have the potential for commercial exploitation. UiO’s investments include the use of the university’s resources and objects that have been created by activities at UiO.
If the employee is uncertain whether a work result has the potential for commercial exploitation, the question must be submitted to UiO (via Inven2).
Employees at UiO may share such physical objects as described in point g) above with colleagues, in accordance with established custom and the principle of verifiability of research results, provided the following conditions are met:
- UiO will enter into a written Material Transfer Agreement or equivalent before any sharing takes place,
- Physical objects are shared solely for research purposes, not for commercial use,
- The recipient may not disclose the object to third parties without UiO’s prior consent, and
- Sharing must not prevent UiO's researchers from retaining the opportunity to use the material in the future.
Rights to educational materials are regulated separately in an agreement between UiO and the employee concerning the availability of teaching materials online, as part of the employment agreement (see: agreement-accessibility-teaching-material.pdf on uio.no).
Publication of texts through a publisher is not considered commercial exploitation under these provisions.
5. Ownership of work results created by employees
5.1 Acquisition of rights to work results
UiO has the right to acquire all rights (ownership rights) of work results created by employees during their employment. This right is intended to support the use of knowledge for the benefit of society, which often involves incentivising the individual employee. When UiO exercises this right, the employee is entitled to compensation as outlined in section 10 below.
UiO’s rights include the ability to exploit the work using relevant current or future technologies, and across all applicable current and future media. These rights are acquired through a formal declaration from UiO (via Inven2) made in due time.
5.2 Employees with two or more employers
Many employees at UiO have employment relationships with several employers. In such cases, conflicts of rights may arise between the Acquisition Agreement and the obligations the employee has towards the other employer. In such cases, it is important that such rights issues are made known to UiO and regulated in a separate agreement, in the manner allowed by the Acquisition Agreement.
In all cases where the employee at UiO has an employment relationship with another employer, this must be reported as an external work in accordance with UiO’s guidelines for sideline jobs (external work) and owner interests. Private consulting agreements and assignments must be registered in the same way in UiO’s self-service solution at DF? (Norwegian Agency for Public and Financial Management).
6. Particularly regarding cooperation with independent businesses
All research collaboration between UiO and independent businesses must be based on written agreements and comply with the requirements of the Ministry of Education and Research’s regulations on the Binding Cooperation of State Universities and Colleges and the Acquisition of Shares (Circular No: F-07-13), as well as the prohibition in the Universities and University Colleges Act against permanent confidentiality of research results.
UiO must not directly or indirectly subsidise activity through collaborating businesses.
6.1 Work results created in collaboration research
Ownership of rights and exploitation of work results created in collaboration research will be subject to negotiations between UiO and the party(ies) and will be further regulated in the collaboration agreement. The general rule is that UiO shall own its own employees’ share of work results they have contributed to creating, and this will normally also follow from the terms and conditions set by external funders of collaboration research.
6.2 Work results created in commissioned research
Unless otherwise agreed for the individual project, the commissioning party will normally own the rights to all work results created in commissioned research. The employee is obliged to assist UiO in fulfilling its obligations to third parties.
UiO is responsible, directly or through a unit, for providing the employee with written information about relevant provisions in the agreements entered into.
7. Inven2 AS
Inven2 AS (Inven2) is the University of Oslo’s technology transfer office (“TTO”) and shall contribute to UiO fulfilling its societal mission of ensuring that results from UiO’s activities benefit society. The company shall assess results reported as a DOFI by UiO employees, cf. Section 8 below, and has the exclusive right to manage any protection of rights.
UiO’s model for commercialization is, as a general rule, licensing. Inven2’s tasks and authorizations in the commercialization process are further described in the “Guidelines for the Management of Ownership of Intellectual Property Rights at the University of Oslo,” and are regulated in detail in a service agreement with UiO.
8. Obligation to report for employees
8.1 What the notification must include
The employee shall, without undue delay, notify the head of the unit at UiO (with a copy to Inven2) when they have produced, alone or in collaboration with others, a work result covered by Section 4 above. The notification (Disclosure of Invention/DOFI) must be submitted using a specific form available at www.inven2.com and must include all the information requested therein. If necessary to assess whether a work result has potential for commercial exploitation, UiO may request additional information.
8.2 Right to publish and academic freedom
A patent can normally only be obtained for inventions, solutions, methods, or processes that are new compared to prior knowledge (the novelty requirement), which presents a potential conflict between intellectual property protection and academic freedom.
As a general rule, manuscripts should not be submitted for publication before a patent application has been filed, unless this is approved in advance by UiO via Inven2. After a patent application has been filed, the employee is free to disclose the invention, for example through lectures or academic publications, as described in the patent application and in consultation with Inven2.
However, under Section 6 of the Employee Inventions Act and the Acquisition Agreement, UiO employees also have the right to choose publication over patenting, even if this means that a patent cannot be obtained later, provided this does not conflict with third-party rights. In such cases, the employee must explicitly state in the notification that they intend to publish regardless.
In line with the principles of academic freedom and open science, UiO employees shall also have the opportunity to choose publication or open access to their work results in areas outside the scope of the Employee Inventions Act, for example by using open-source licenses for code or by providing free access to databases developed using UiO resources.
Further provisions on the disclosure of work results are provided in the guidelines.
8.3 Failure to notify
If the employee neglects their duty to report a work result to UiO (via Inven2), and instead exploits the work result themselves or through others, UiO shall be entitled to 2/3 of the net income directly or indirectly generated through the commercial exploitation of the work result
9. Declaration of acquisition
If UiO is to acquire rights to work results, I accordance with 5.1. above, written notification of takeover must be given by UiO (via Inven2) to the employee within 2 months from the date the notification was received. If UiO (via Inven2) has requested further information necessary to assess commercial exploitation potential, the deadline shall be calculated from the time such information was provided.
Formal decisions regarding the takeover of work results are made by the head of the unit at UiO.
10. Remuneration
If UiO acquires ownership of work results, the employee is entitled to reasonable remuneration as determined in accordance with the Acquisition Agreement, Appendix 1, “Guidelines for the distribution of net income from research-based innovation at the University of Oslo”.
11. Conclusion of project and reversion of rights
If Inven2, after acquiring rights, assesses that there is no commercial basis for continuing a project, the management rights and any other rights will be transferred to the employee's unit. After the transfer, the unit is free to exploit the work results or to transfer the rights to the employee, who may then exploit the work results themselves or through others, to the extent this does not conflict with third-party obligations or the employee’s other obligations to UiO as employer.
The formal decision to revert work results is made by the head of unit at UiO.
12. The IPR Committee
UiO shall have an IPR Committee that shall assess cases and provide advisory statements in disputes between inventors and UiO. The parties involved may be assisted by their union or other advisors.
The committee shall be composed in a way that ensures impartiality and cannot be instructed by the university leadership in the execution of its professional duties.
Members are appointed by the Director of the University.
13. Open science
Strategies for open science aim to make scientific research (including research results, research materials, and software) accessible to all levels of society without payment or other burdensome conditions. The goal is to make research more transparent and verifiable, while also giving other researchers and societal actors increased opportunities to build upon results already achieved.
Making employees’ work results available for use without compensation may reduce the potential for commercial exploitation of the results. On the other hand, such availability may open up opportunities for other types of innovation in both the public and private sectors.
If a conflict arises between the possibilities for commercial exploitation of a work result and making it available in line with the principles of open science, the employee shall have the opportunity to choose the direction and procedure themselves in accordance with section 8.2 above.
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Related guidelines
Guidelines for the management of ownership and intellectual property rights (IPR)
Guidelines for ownership and management of intellectual property rights (IPR) at UiO which clarifies rules, the commercialization process, public disclosure of work results, income distribution, and project conclusion.