Scientific Research & Innovation

1. Introduction:

The present Policy relates to the ownership, protection and commercial exploitation of technology produced by Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT) faculty, staff, students and others participating in AASTMT research programs .

For the purpose of this IP policy, AASTMT Community will be defined as the Persons who are bound by this policy. This includes, but not limited to, Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport&rsquos (or its centers&rsquo and branches&rsquo) faculty, staff, administrators, students and other associates who may participate in AASTMT research, or utilize AASTMT funds, facilities or resources.

2. Acronyms:

AASTMT        :  Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport

Academy         : Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport

IP                    : Intellectual Property

Policy              : This Intellectual Property Policy

TICO              : Technology, Innovation and Commercialization Office

IP Rights         : Intellectual Property Rights

3. Definitions:

Intellectual Property: means inventions, technologies, developments, improvements, materials, compounds, processes and all other research results and tangible research properties, including software and other copyrighted works.

Intellectual Property Rights (IP Rights) : means ownership and associated rights relating to Intellectual Property, including patents, rights in utility model, plant breeders rights, rights in designs, trademarks, topography rights, know-how, trade secrets and all other intellectual or industrial property rights as well as copyrights, either registered or unregistered and including applications or rights to apply for them and together with all extensions and renewals of them, and in each and every case all rights or forms of protection having equivalent or similar effect anywhere in the world.

Inventor: means the Researcher who contributed to the creation of the Intellectual Property.

Commercialization: means any form of exploitation of Intellectual Property, including assignment, licensing, internal exploitation within the Academy and commercialization via a spin-off enterprise.

Technology, Innovation and Commercialization Office: means the office which has been established in the AASTMT in July 2013 with the support of the Academy for Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT) of the Ministry of Scientific Research in Egypt. It consists of three integrated offices as follows:

3.1.1.      Grants and International Cooperation Office (GICO-AASTMT)  

3.1.2.      Technology Innovation Support Center (TISC-AASTMT)

3.1.3.      Technology Transfer Office (TTO-AASTMT)

 Copyrighted works: means literary, scientific and art works, including academic publications, scholarly books, articles, lectures, musical compositions, films, presentations and other materials or works other than software, which qualify for protection under the copyright law.

Academy resources: means any form of funds, facilities or resources, including equipment, consumables and human resources provided by the Academy either in a direct or indirect way.

Research Agreement: may refer to Research Service Agreement, Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, Material Transfer Agreement, Confidentiality Agreement, Consultancy Agreement and any other type of agreement concerning research pursued by Researchers and/or Intellectual Property created at the Academy.

 Researcher means:

3.2.1.   persons employed by the Academy, including student employees and technical  staff

3.2.2.  students, including graduate and postgraduate students of the Academy

3.2.3.  any persons, including visiting scientists

who use the Academy resources and who perform any research task at the Academy or otherwise participate in any research project administered by the Academy, including those funded by external sponsors.

 Spin-off: means a company established for the purpose of exploiting Intellectual Property originating from the Academy.

Visiting Researcher: means individuals having an association with the Academy without being either employees or students. &ldquoVisiting Researchers&rdquo includes academic visitors, individuals with honorary appointments in the Academy and emeritus staff.

Invention: Includes any discovery, invention, process, method, composition of matter, know-how, design, model, machine, computer software and hardware, technological development, biological material, strain, plant, chemical, variety, culture of any organism, and records or research. It also includes any portion, modification, translation, or extension of these items.

AASTMT Community: Persons who are bound by this policy. This includes, but not limited to, Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport&rsquos (or its centers&rsquo and branches&rsquo) faculty, staff, administrators, students and other associates who may participate in AASTMT research, or utilize [AASTMT] funds, facilities or resources.

Creator: a person who invents, devises, designs, develops, breeds, works out, discovers, conceives, performs, produces, translates or expresses

Creates: invents, devises, designs, develops, breeds, works out, discovers, conceives, performs, produces, translates or expresses

4.  Policy Effective Date:

This Policy shall come into effect on 1^st of May 2014.

5.  Policy Scope:

This Policy shall apply to all IP created on or after 1^st of May 2014 and all the IP Rights associated with them.

This Intellectual property Policy applies to all members of the AASTMT Community, and shall be a condition for: (1) employment, (2) admittance by students, and (3) admittance by all others, which includes but not limited to visiting appointments, post doctoral fellows, consultants, and research associates who may participate in research at AASTMT or make a significant use of AASTMT resources.

 6.  Objectives & Goals:

This policy aims to:

6.1)   Ensure the protection and management of IP rights in a timely and efficient manner.                                    

6.2) Provide legal certainty in research activities relationships with third parties

6.3)   Recognize and encourage potential inventors through the sharing of the financial benefits resulting from the development and commercialization of IP.

6.4)   To distribute the economic benefits arising from the commercialization of Intellectual Property in a fair and equitable manner recognizing the contributions of the Inventors, the Academy as well as any other relevant stakeholders

6.5)   Enhancement of the reputation of the Academy as a distinguished academic research institution and as a member of society as well as the reputation of the Researchers.

6.6)   Recognize the Academy&rsquos share in the financial return to enable further Academy research and development.

6.7) Provides the guidance needed for effective protection, management and commercialization of the Academy IP.

6.8)   Encourage transfer of technology to benefit the public and contribute to the economic development of the country.

 7. Important Legal issues:

7.1. At the time of employment, the person or the department (e.g. HR department) responsible for the employment contract shall ensure that the contract will include provision placing the researcher under the scope of the IP policy.

7.2.    Students of the Academy shall be required to sign an agreement to be bound by this Policy before commencing any research activity.

7.3.    Postgraduate students shall be required to sign an agreement to be bound by this Policy at the time of registration.

7.4.    The person designated by the Academy to enter into an agreement on behalf of the Academy shall ensure that all Researchers not employed by the Academy shall sign an agreement to be bound by this Policy and an agreement in respect of ownership of IP generated by them in the course of their activities that arise from their association with the Academy before starting any research activity.

7.5.    Researchers employed by the Academy, but working in another institution as academic visitors are not permitted to sign any document which might affect the Academy&rsquos IP Rights without the written approval of the Academy.

7.6.    Rights and obligations under this Policy shall survive any termination of enrollment or employment at the Academy.

7.7.    Researchers shall not have the right to enter into a Research Agreement with third parties on behalf of the Academy unless they are authorized to do so.

 8. Ownership of Intellectual Property:

In General, the Academy claims all exclusive rights to all IP arising or generated from work undertaken by AASTMT Community in the course of their employment by the Academy, or which is related to their field or area of academic activity, or which is specifically assigned to them, in their contract of employment, or developed under a contract between themselves and the Academy or between the Academy and a third party(ies) or with the significant use of Academy Resources.

Academy research contracts shall protect the right of the faculty, students and other employees to publish the results of their work, but may allow brief delays for the filing of patent applications or other moves to protect IP. 

• For the Employees of the Academy:

8.1.1.   All rights in Intellectual Property created by an employee of the Academy in the course of their employment by the Academy, or which is related to their field or area of academic activity, or which is specifically assigned to them, in their contract of employment, or developed under a contract between themselves and the Academy or between the Academy and a third party(ies) shall generally belong automatically to the Academy.

8.1.2.   All rights in Intellectual Property created by an employee of the Academy with the significant use of Academy Resources will belong automatically to the Academy.

8.1.3.   Intellectual Property created in the course of, or pursuant to a sponsored research or other type of agreement with a third party, shall initially belong to the Academy and then ownership shall be determined according to the terms of the agreements.

8.1.4.   All rights in Intellectual Property created by a student employee of the Academy in the course of their employment by the Academy, or which is related to their field or area of academic activity, or which is specifically assigned to them, in their contract of employment, or developed under a contract between themselves and the Academy or between the Academy and a third party(ies) shall generally belong automatically to the Academy.

8.1.5.   All rights in Intellectual Property created by a student employee of the Academy with the significant use of Academy Resources will belong automatically to the Academy. 

8.1.6.   For Employees pursuing research activities at other institutions, Rights related to Intellectual Property that is created during an academic visit by the employee of the Academy to another Academy (or institution) shall be governed by an agreement between the Academy and the other Academy (or institution).

• For the Non-employees :

8.2.1.   Visiting Researchers will be treated as if they were Academy employees for the purposes of this Policy.

8.2.2.  Students:

Students who are not employed by the Academy shall own all Intellectual Property and associated IP Rights they create in the normal course of their studies. However, the following exceptions shall apply:

• If a student is offered a studentship which is sponsored by a third party under a separate agreement that states that the third party has a claim on Intellectual Property arising from the studentship, the student must agree that the Intellectual Property shall initially belong to the Academy and ownership will then be determined in accordance with the terms of the agreement with the third party.
• For Intellectual Property created by students in the course of, or pursuant to, a sponsored research or other agreement with a third party, the Intellectual Property  shall initially belong to the Academy and ownership will then be determined in accordance with the terms of the agreement with the third party.
• All rights in Intellectual Property created by a student of the Academy with the significant use of Academy Resources will belong automatically to the Academy.
• The Academy shall claim ownership of all Intellectual Property created in the course of postgraduate students&rsquo research activity, unless stated otherwise in this policy.
• Students shall be given the option to assign IP Rights to the Academy, in that case students shall be granted the same rights as any employee Inventor as set out in this Policy.

• Ownership of Copyrighted works :

8.3.1.   All rights in Copyrighted Works will belong to their creators regardless of the use of Academy Resources.

8.3.2.   Copyrighted Works specifically commissioned by the Academy or developed in the performance of a sponsored research or other third party agreement shall constitute an exception where the provisions of such agreements shall be taken into account.

• Other Pertinent Issues:

8.4.1.   The Academy may assign its IP rights at any time to third parties upon the recommendation of the TICO and after the approval of president of the Academy.

 8.4.2.  If the Academy cannot, or decides not to, or didn't express interest in seeking patent protection, the institution will on request assign to the inventors the rights in the invention, subject only to sponsorship restrictions. In this case, the Academy would notify the inventor in writing of the assignment of rights and the Academy institution shall retain the right to a non-exclusive, nontransferable, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide license on the invention for research and educational purposes. The Academy may also claim a share from the income of any subsequent exploitation of the Intellectual Property to the extent equaling the verified expenditures of the Academy incurred in connection with the protection and commercialization of such IP.

8.4.3.   The requests of the Inventors(s) or any other third party for the transfer of IP rights from the Academy to them should be made to the TICO or president of the Academy.

9. Disclosure and Administration of Intellectual Property:

9.1.      The Academy shall educate its Researchers on how to identify research results with potential commercialization value.

9.2.      The Academy shall encourage its Researchers to identify research results with potential commercialization value.

9.3.      The Technology, Innovation and Commercialization Office (TICO) shall be responsible for the protection and commercialization of the Academy&rsquos Intellectual Property.

9.4.      Inventors are required to disclose all potentially exploitable Intellectual Property as soon as they become aware of them. The disclosure must be made in writing by completing the Intellectual Property Disclosure Form available from the TICO.

9.5.      If a researcher is in any doubt concerning the potential commercial value of the Intellectual Property, then the researcher should submit a disclosure to the TICO for consideration prior to making public disclosure of the Intellectual Property.

9.6.      Researchers are required to make reasonable efforts to identify Intellectual Property early in the development process and to take into consideration the consequence of premature disclosure as it may compromise the protection of Intellectual Property.

9.7.      After full disclosure of all relevant information and details to the TICO, the TICO  shall record the Intellectual Property in its register.

9.8.      After the date of disclosure, the TICO shall immediately start evaluating the Intellectual Property.

Based on the results of this evaluation, a recommendation on whether to protect and exploit the IP shall be forwarded to Director of Scientific Research and Innovation. Such a recommendation shall be forwarded within [30 days] from the date of disclosure and the final decision shall be taken within [90 days] from the date of disclosure. The Inventor(s) shall be informed of the decision within [14 days] from the date of decision in writing.

9.9.      If the Academy decides to protect and exploit the disclosed Intellectual Property, The TICO shall carry out a complete evaluation of the IP taking into consideration the possible methods of the protection of the IP and its business opportunities.

9.10.    The Inventor(s) shall closely cooperate with the TICO, the patent attorney or any other professional experts involved by the Academy.

9.11. The TICO shall start within reasonable time the process for acquiring legal protection.

9.12. The Inventor(s) shall avoid any public disclosure of research results prior to filing the applications as premature disclosure may highly jeopardize the proper protection of the related IP Rights.

9.13. Commercialization and related decisions, such as assignment/licensing agreement or establishment of a spin-off enterprise, shall be taken on a case-by-case basis by TICO and shall be approved by Director of Scientific Research and Innovation.

9.14.    The Academy shall pay IP protection and commercialization expenses.

9.15.    For the purposes of IP evaluation and commercialization, a full description of the IP shall be disclosed to third parties (if needed) under a confidentiality agreement.

10. Conflict of interest and confidentiality:

10.1. Each Researcher shall ensure that their agreements with third parties do not conflict with their obligations to the Academy or this Policy. This shall apply in particular to private consultancy and other research service agreements concluded with third parties.

10.2. Researchers shall keep the Academy&rsquos business secret in confidence. In terms of this Policy, inter alia, every information, fact, solution or data related to the research carried out at the Academy, whose public disclosure, or its acquisition or exploitation by unauthorized persons could damage or endanger the Academy&rsquos lawful financial, economic or market interests shall qualify as business secret.

10.3. If the researchers are in doubt regarding conflict of interest or confidentiality issues, they are advised to consult with the TICO.

10.4. Researchers shall report all potential and existing conflict of interest to TICO in a timely manner.

11. IP Recording:

11.1. The TICO shall maintain records of the Academy&rsquos IP in an appropriate form and in sufficient detail.

11.2. The TICO shall maintain accounting records on each IP. 

12. Distribution of revenues:

12.1. The Policy intends to encourage researchers through the distribution of revenue generated from the IP commercialization.

12.2. The term &lsquoNet income&rsquo shall mean all license fees, royalties and any other monies received by the Academy, arising from the commercialization of Intellectual Property less all the expenses incurred in connection with the protection and commercialization of the Intellectual Property at the Academy.

12.3. The share of revenues from Net income shall be as follows:

12.4. If there is more than one Inventor, the Inventor&rsquos share shall be divided between the Inventors in a proportion which reflects their respective contributions (as provided in the signed Invention Disclosure Form).

12.5. In certain cases, the Academy shall reserve its right to negotiate special terms of revenue distribution, particularly when the income is generated through sale of the shares.

12.6. In case of the establishment of a spin-off enterprise, an individual agreement between the Academy and the Inventor(s) shall be applicable regarding the equity sharing and the conditions of the agreement shall be negotiated on a case-by-case basis.

12.7. In case of trademarks and other indicators, the Inventor(s), taking into consideration the proportion of their contribution, may benefit from the revenue as set forth in an individual agreement. Director of Scientific Research and Innovation shall decide on such issues on a case-by case basis.

13. Payment Terms:

13.1. Payments to the inventor shall be made subject to all applicable laws in EGYPT and to third party agreements.

13.2. Payments to the inventor shall be done [once annually at the end of the fiscal year].

13.3. These payments are not considered part of the individual&rsquos salary.

13.4. The Compliance with all tax laws and any liability under such laws shall be the sole responsibility of persons receiving payments.

13.5. If the payee voluntary departed for other employment outside the Academy, the Net Revenue distribution shall be ceased to the departing individual after payment of revenue generated in the fiscal year of departure and the following year. The revenue of the departing payee shall go to the Academy.

13.6. In the case of retirement of the payee, payments shall continue according to the schedule set forth in this Policy.

13.7. Payments of a retired payee shall be stopped in the following fiscal year after accepting full-time employment outside the Academy, then the revenue of the departing payee shall go to the Academy.

13.8. In the event of the death of a payee, such payments shall continue to the payee estate, to the extent permitted under the laws of the country.  

14. Breach of the rules of this Policy:

Breach of the rules of this Intellectual Policy shall be dealt with under the normal procedures of the Academy in accordance with the relevant provisions of law.

15. Dispute and appeals:

15.1.    Disputes in the first instance shall be dealt with by Director of Scientific Research and Innovation and a decision shall be taken within [30 days] from the submission of the concern.

15.2.    Over and beyond the above, with respect to any legal dispute arising in connection with the rules of this Policy, the relevant provisions of law shall be applicable