Appalachian State University encourages faculty, staff, and students to participate in scholarly research and creative activities that create knowledge and enhance the education of our students and community. Intellectual property is a general term that describes a wide variety of works created by a musician, artist, author, inventor, or researcher. These works must be original creations manifested in a tangible form that can be legally protected. Intellectual property law includes the rights of patent, trademark, trade secret, and copyright protection. These rights protect the creator of the work, and the University, from infringement and use by third parties. Both Appalachian and the University of North Carolina system have established policies and procedures to balance the interests of the public, the University, and the respective inventor(s), author(s), or artist(s) in intellectual property arising from research and creative activities conducted by employees and students.
Employees and students using university resources or creating intellectual property in the course and scope of their employment have a duty to disclose such intellectual property created or discovered. To complete an intellectual property disclosure form please visit https://researchprotections.appstate.edu/intellectual-property-ip/ip-forms. The process for disclosing the creation of intellectual property at the University for employees and students is detailed in the University’s Intellectual Property Transfer Policy https://policy.appstate.edu/Intellectual_Property_Transfer. For questions or more information, please feel free to reach out to the Office of Research Protections.
Revised: Dec 16, 2019