In the policy, unless the context otherwise requires, the following terms, without limitation shall have the meanings assigned to them.
Author means any individual who creates a work that is protectable under the Copyright Act.
Asset means anything you or your institution owns or is entitled to, such as cash, investments or money owned. It includes Intellectual Property.
Assignment means the document executed by UCC which confers legal transfer of the title and interest in intellectual property.
Background IP means any invention and know-how or other Intellectual Property (whether or not patentable) owned by one of the parties or a third party prior to the commencement of a particular Project or devised or discovered by them only in the course of other projects and not arising directly from the Project.
Creator means any person(s) to whom this policy is applicable, who create, conceive, reduce to practice, author or otherwise make a substantive intellectual contribution to the creation of IP and who meets the definition of “inventor” as implied in Ghana’s Patent Act of 2003 or the definition of author as generally applied in Copyright Law.
Commercialisation means any form of exploitation of Intellectual Property, including assignment, licensing, internal exploitation within the University and commercialisation via a spin-off enterprise.
Confidential Information means any IP, information or data of a confidential nature, including all oral and visual information or data, and all information or data recorded in writing or in any other medium or by any other method, and all IP, information and data which UCC is under obligation, whether contractual or otherwise, not to divulge.
Copyright is a right to prevent copying, and is intended to protect the expression of an idea, not an idea itself. In Ghana, copyright arises automatically upon the creation of any work in which copyright subsists, and is not capable of registration. There are different categories of work in which copyright can subsist, such as dramatic, literary or musical works, computer generated works, films, sound recordings and broadcasts. For most categories of copyright work, copyright will last for a period of the lifetime of the author (or the last living author if the work is a work of joint authorship) plus 70 years.
Copyrighted Works means literary, scientific and art works, including academic publications, scholarly books, articles, lectures, musical compositions, plays, films, presentations and other materials or works other than software, which qualify for protection under the copyright law.
Due Diligence aims to establish who the legal owner of the IP is and to also establish who has rights over it. Due diligence helps the Business Manager to identify and resolve any potential obstacles to the exploitation of the IP in question. During the due diligence phase, all necessary documentation is gathered and evidenced.
Equity means shares of stock or securities including, but not limited to, stock Options, warrants or any other rights to purchase stock or securities.
External Sponsorship is any financial or in-kind support provided by a source other than UCC.
Geographical Indicators means indicators which identify a good as originating in the territory of a country, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of a good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin.
Gross Revenues means all incomes received by the UCC under a license agreement but does not include research funds (unless the research funds offset future royalty obligations) and maintenance fees received under the license agreement.
Independent Contractors or Consultants means persons hired by UCC on a limited basis, for a limited purpose as specified in a contract, are considered staff with respect to IP arising from any use of UCC resources.
Industrial Design refers to the right granted to protect the original, ornamental and non- functional features of a product that result from design activity. The right concerns merely the appearance (the ‘design’) of a product, not the product itself.
Innovation means a new or original product or process.
Innovator means scientist, researcher, author or performer. This includes a staff member (researchers and non-researchers), including any other person employed by the UCC, whether full or part- time, company representatives, administrators and any other persons who create or discover applicable intellectual property using UCC resources or who receives funds or other rewards for their services (work- for-hire), work done through research whether or not funded by the Government, or those who voluntarily assign their intellectual property to the UCC.
Integrated Circuit of Layout Designs: The layout design (topography) of integrated circuits is an original three-dimensional rendition of integrated circuits used in microchips and semiconductor chips intended for manufacturing. It has a term of protection of 10 years, which cannot be renewed.
Infringement refers to using IP without the owner’s permission.
Intellectual Property (IP) means all outputs of creative endeavour in any field at the UCC for which proprietary rights may be obtained or enforced pursuant to any law, including the laws of Ghana, and includes, but not limited to: Inventions (whether patentable or not), all forms of copyrighted works, design (whether registered or unregistered), patents, new plant varieties, new breed of animals, traditional knowledge, trademarks, know-how, trade secrets, domain names, information, data, discoveries, mathematical formulae, specifications, diagrams, expertise, techniques, research results, computer software, programming code, algorithms, compositions of matter and devices, techniques, processes, procedures, systems, formulations, databases and compilations of information, laboratory notebooks, business and research methods, the name of the UCC badge and other marks associated with the UCC, Tangible Research Property, and such other property as may be specified by the UCC in writing.
Intellectual Property Rights (IP Rights) means ownership and associated rights relating to Intellectual Property, including patents, rights in utility model, plant and animal 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.
Invention means a creation or new, useful, and non-obvious ideas and/or their reduction to practice that result in, but are not limited to, new products, devices, processes, and/or methods of producing new and/or useful industrial operations and materials, any article useful in trade or any composition of matter that is industrially useful or that has commercial potential, new varieties of plants and breeds of animals, new designs in the production or manufacture of an article, databases, circuit designs, prototype devices, equipment and any improvement upon existing processes or systems.
Invention Disclosure means the written submission to the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) at DRIC on the standard or prescribed invention or innovation disclosure forms available from IPO, of a written description of any Invention that an Innovator claims he or she has made.
Invention Disclosure Forms means the official form for disclosure of IP made available, or provided on submission of a written request to the UCC Intellectual Property Office (IPO).
Inventor means a scientist, researcher, author or performer and includes the UCC’s employees, researchers and non-researchers and shall include any person employed by the UCC, whether full time, contract or part-time, emeritus staff while at the UCC, visiting researchers, adjunct staff and any other persons who create or discover applicable Intellectual Property rights using the UCC resources and facilities or receive funds or other rewards for their services, work done through research, whether or not funded by the Government, or those who voluntarily assign their Intellectual Property to the UCC.
Know-how can be defined as information, which is substantial, valuable and secret. It is not capable of registration and the only way of protecting it is to keep it confidential. It may be disclosed to others in confidence, preferably under an agreement such as a confidentiality agreement which sets out the terms of use of the know-how and which puts the party receiving the know-how under an obligation to keep the information confidential.
Net Revenue means gross revenue less expenses incurred in protecting or promoting or commercialising the innovation or invention.
New Plant Varieties comprise given genotype or combination of genotypes distinguished from any other plant groupings by at least one characteristic. The plant varieties are therefore new, distinct, uniform and stable.
Patent A patent is an exclusive title granted for an invention which is new, non-obvious and offers a solution to a technical problem. A granted patent allows the owner to prevent others from using the product or process which has been patented (including making, selling, importing and exporting in a particular territory). The state grants the patentee a monopoly for a limited period in return for the patentee agreeing to publish the idea or technology. Patents are territorial (e.g. if you file a patent application in Ghana only, any granted patent will be effective only in Ghana).
Patentable Invention refers to an invention that must be novel, non-obvious and useful.
Public Domain refers to the body of works not or no longer protected by IP rights which are available for the public to use without seeking permission or paying royalties.
Publications mean books, textbooks, modules, study manuals, booklets, bulletins, circulars, pamphlets, reports, information releases, exhibits, demonstrations, creative works and other scholarly or popular writings regardless of medium.
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 University.
Researchers include:
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a person employed by the University, including student employees and technical staff
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a student, including undergraduate, postgraduate and postdoctoral fellows of the University
any person, including visiting scientists and emeritus professors who use the University resources and who perform any research task at the University or otherwise participate in any research project administered by the University, including those funded by external sponsors.
Royalty means compensation paid to the owner of the copyright for using that right.
Service Mark is a particular type of trademark targeted at services, that is, intangible activities which are performed by one person for the benefit of a person or persons other than himself/herself, either for pay or otherwise.
Spin-off means a company established for the purpose of exploiting Intellectual Property originating from the University.
Studentship refers to grants awarded by the ministry of education or some state body which distributes research funds. Typically studentship consists of money for the payment of fees and maintenance of the specific grantee.
Tangible Research Property means research results that are in a tangible form and have a physical embodiment such as cell lines, software, devices, and compositions of matter, biological materials, engineering drawings, integrated circuit chips, prototype devices, circuit diagrams, and equipment irrespective of whether or not protectable under any intellectual property regime. Tangible research property may be distributed without securing IP protection by using some form of contractual agreement, such as formal contract, loan agreement, letter agreement, or user license.
Trademarks means any word, phrase, logo, name, symbol, device, sign or any combination thereof, used by a person or which a person has a bona fide intention to use in commerce and uses or applies to register, to identify and distinguish his goods from those of others which includes the container of the products or the packaging.
Trade Secrets A trade secret is any device or confidential data, information or compilations used in research, business, commerce and industry which is not generally known or accessible, and confer competitive advantage on one having the right to use it. The information has commercial value because it is secret or confidential. Trade secret protection requires the owner to take reasonable steps to protect the secret such as limiting access to the secret. Trade secret may last indefinitely, but will be lost when the information becomes generally known. No filing or registration is required for trade secret protection.
Traditional Knowledge refers to the knowledge encompassing a wide variety of areas held by traditional groups or communities or knowledge acquired in a non-systematic or systematic way, which has significance and relevance not only to its holders but also to the rest of humanity.
Utility Model A utility model is an invention that is new and industrially applicable and is usually sought for technically less complex inventions or for inventions that have a short commercial life and normally do not meet the patentability criteria.
UCC means University of Cape Coast and includes all the academic and non-academic entities and wholly owned companies of the UCC.
UCC Resources means funds, supplies, equipment, physical facilities, personnel, and/or other services or property of the UCC. The resources include all tangible resources made available by UCC to inventors, including: office, laboratory and studio space and equipment; computer hardware, software and support; secretarial services; research, teaching and laboratory assistants; supplies and utilities; funding for research and teaching activities, travel and other funding or reimbursements.
UCC Employees means all staff, researchers, scientists, technologists and technicians employed by UCC permanently or temporarily.
UCC Non-employees means non-employees of UCC who use UCC funds, facilities and other resources or participate in UCC- administered research, regardless of their obligations to other companies or organisations.
UCC Student means a bona fide student who is an undergraduate, postgraduate, or postdoctoral fellow, UCC staff on study leave and sponsored by UCC who are studying at UCC.
University Resources means any form of funds, facilities or resources, including equipment, consumables and human resources provided by the University either in a direct or indirect way.
Visiting Researcher means individuals having an association with the University without being either employees or students with the exception of individuals on sabbatical leave. “Visiting Researcher” includes an academic visitor, individual with honorary appointments in the University and emeritus staff.
Work for Hire means a work prepared by a UCC employee within the scope and in the course of his or her employment with the University.