11.3 Ownership of Student-Created Intellectual Property

Print | PDF

This online version is for convenience; the official version of this policy is housed in the University Secretariat. In case of discrepancy between the online version and the official version held by the Secretariat, the official version shall prevail.

Approved By: Senate

Original Approval Date: December 1, 1994

Date of Most Recent Review/Revision: January 26, 2026

Office of Accountability: Vice-President: Research

Administrative Responsibility: Office of Research Services

1.00 Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to:

1.01 Set out the rights of ownership, including joint ownership, to Intellectual Property (IP) created by Students while attending the University.

2.00 Principle

2.01 All contributions to a scholarly work should receive appropriate recognition and attribution for that contribution. Recognition may be through authorship, co-authorship, inventorship, co-inventorship citation, or an acknowledgement, depending on the type of contribution and the prevailing or professional practices within the scholar’s field.

2.02 The principles guiding IP rights are informed by:

2.02.01 Canadian law including, but not limited to, the Patent Act, the Copyright Act, and the Trademarks Act, and relevant case law;

2.02.02 The conventions of a specific discipline; and

2.02.03 Laurier policies and collective agreements.

2.03 Students may create works in fulfillment of:

2.03.01 the Student’s academic requirements;

2.03.02 an Agreement between the Student and the University; or

2.03.03 both.

Such works do not necessarily result in IP eligible for protection.

3.00 Jurisdiction / Scope

3.01 This policy applies to University Students and former students who created Intellectual Property while a Student at Laurier.

4.00 Definitions

4.01 Intellectual Property (“IP”): Property created through significant intellectual or creative activity, created in a scholarly, professional, or student capacity, that can be owned by a person. This is a broad concept that includes:

4.01.01 Patents, for inventions, defined by the Patent Act as any new and useful art, process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement in any art, process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter;

4.01.02 Copyrights, for original literary, artistic, dramatic and musical works;

4.01.03 Trademarks, for words, symbols, or pictures used to distinguish the goods or services of one person from those of another;

4.01.04 Industrial Designs, for visual features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornamentation of an industrially-produced object;

4.01.05 Industrial Circuit Topographies, for three-dimensional configurations of electronic circuits embodied in integrated circuit products or layout designs; and

4.01.06 Plant Breeders’ rights for eligible plant varieties as further detailed in the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act.

4.01.07 IP that may be created by Students in their role as Students includes, but is not limited to, works such as theses, dissertations, cognate essays, research papers, books, poems, plays, scripts, essays, articles, dictionaries, maps, lyrics, musical scores, sculptures, paintings, photographs, films, videos, tapes, computer software, databases, unique names, digital and analogue audio recordings, and inventions of new kinds of technology.

4.02 Owner: A person or entity that has a legal proprietary interest in the IP, including but not limited to co-owners.

4.03 Student: An individual registered in a course of study as a student at the University, either full-time or part-time, pursuing undergraduate, graduate, or non-degree certificate programs.

4.04 Academic Supervisor: A faculty member who is responsible for supervising the academic and/or research work of a Student. Such supervision may be done under the context of a Research Grant, Research Contract, academic program (degree/non-degree), or course.

4.05 University Employee: A person employed by or under contract with the University, whether full-time or part-time, who may be involved in the creation of IP with a Student. University Employee includes but is not limited to faculty members, adjunct faculty, contract teaching faculty, postdoctoral fellows, research associates, librarians, Professor Emereti, sessional lecturers.

4.06 Agreement: An agreement or contract between the Student and the University outlining the terms for the Student’s employment with the University.

5.0 Policy

Ownership of Student-Created Intellectual Property

5.01 Unless otherwise provided for under this policy, or through an agreement, Students own the rights to IP they create in their role as Students and submit as work to the University in fulfilment of a requirement of an academic program (degree or non-degree).

5.02 No Student enjoys sole ownership of IP created with the significant intellectual or creative input of others. Students who create IP that is eligible for protection with another Student, a group of Students, or University Employee(s) (including the Student’s Academic Supervisor), and submit it as work to the University in fulfilment of a requirement of an academic program (degree or non-degree), jointly own the IP with all other Students and/or University Employees (including Academic Supervisor) who made a significant intellectual or creative contribution to the IP creation.

5.02.01 Ideas in the thesis and other academic work will often arise from interaction with others. In some cases, this interaction will have been solely with the supervisor of the thesis, or other academic work. In other cases, other Students or University Employees will have been involved.

5.02.02 For this reason, it is understood that in the case of written work by a Student, such as thesis, rights under copyright law may only attach to the expression of the ideas, such as through a written document or a diagram. The underlying ideas themselves -- including any advances in theory, patentable ideas, or rights to commercial exploitation of the work -- may or may not be the exclusive property of one Student.

5.03 Students who create IP that is eligible for protection in the course of the Students’ employment by the University (including but not limited to Teaching Assistants, Supplemental Instructors, or Research Assistants) may or may not own the IP. Subject to any Agreement entered into by the Student and the University:

5.03.01 Where a Student’s employment is directly related to their academic program and/or tied to funding received as a Student, subject to 5.02, the Student may own part or all of the IP created by the Student that is eligible for protection.

5.03.02 Where a Student’s employment is not directly related to their academic program, and where the IP created by a Student is not in fulfillment of a requirement of their academic program, the University owns the right to the IP created in the course of Student’s employment.

5.04 Students who make a significant intellectual or creative input to the creation of IP with a University Employee may share ownership of IP and should have any ownership interest in the IP addressed through an agreement.

5.05 Students who create IP that is eligible for protection through the use of significant University resources which exceed the ordinary resources available to a Student, jointly own the IP with the University. Ownership interest in the IP should be addressed in an agreement that will be administered by the University.

5.06 Student shall not claim ownership of IP, in whole or in part, in the following circumstances:

5.06.01 Where any specific written agreement between the Student and the University (meaning also any designated representative of the University) specifically waives any claim to ownership. Any agreement between a Student and their Academic Supervisor must be signed off by the Dean of the academic supervisor.

5.06.02 Where the IP was created or developed pursuant to an agreement between the University and a third party, and that agreement contains provisions regarding the ownership of IP that supersede this policy. For greater certainty, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, where research is carried out pursuant to a Research Contract, and that Research Contract indicates that a third party shall own, in whole or in part, the IP developed pursuant to that Research Contract, the Student's claim to ownership shall be subject to that Research Contract. The Student's Academic Supervisor must ensure that the Student is made aware of any such conditions before work begins.

5.06.03 Any IP resulting from unauthorized use of University facilities or resources.

6.0 Dispute Resolution

6.01 Disputes may occur where multiple individuals collaborated in the creation of the IP, where a Student created IP through the use of significant University resources, or in the implementation of an agreement on ownership of IP, particularly where an Owner wishes to publish or commercialize the IP. Disputes over ownership, in whole or in part, of Student-created IP, should be dealt with promptly, in accordance with the following process:

6.01.01 All parties who contributed to the creation of the work, including faculty members, students, former students, or postdoctoral fellows should meet to discuss the situation and attempt to informally resolve the matter. Support for the informal resolution step is available from the office of the Dean of the academic faculty for undergraduate Students and Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows.

6.01.02 If the parties involved are not able to informally resolve the dispute to the satisfaction of all participants claiming ownership to the IP, the Student claiming IP ownership should submit the concerns, in writing, with documentation relating to the creation of the IP, to the Vice-President, Research.

6.01.03 The Vice-President, Research, or designate in the Office of Research Services will consult with all participants claiming ownership in the IP, and others as appropriate, and will issue a written decision with recommendations on ownership of the IP to resolve the dispute. In the event the parties do not agree to abide by such recommendation, they may, at their own cost, seek independent legal and professional advice to resolve the dispute.

6.01.04 Allegations involving research or academic misconduct or where there is a recommendation that the University take disciplinary action against a University Employee or Student should be addressed under applicable university policies or collective agreements.

Relevant Legislation

The fundamental rules guiding intellectual property (IP) rights are outlined by:

• Canadian law including the Patent Act, the Copyright Act, the Industrial Design Act, the Trade-marks Act, as well as the Integrated Circuit Topography Act and the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act: and relevant case law; and
• The conventions of the specific discipline the IP was created in.

Related Policies, Procedures, and Documents

• • Collective Agreements between the University and the Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty Association;
  • 11.2 Contract Research
  • 11.9 Policy on Postdoctoral Fellowships

Please consult the university policies and contact the Office of Research for further details.