Stanford Requirements for Patent and Copyright Agreements

All faculty, staff, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are required to sign a Patent and Copyright Agreement (the SU-18 form, signed electronically in Axess) as a condition of either employment or enrollment at Stanford University. In addition, non-employees who participate or intend to participate in research projects at Stanford must also sign a Patent and Copyright Agreement. A variation of the standard Stanford agreement has been created for individuals with prior obligations regarding the disclosure and assignment of intellectual property. See Patent and Copyright Agreement for Personnel at Stanford who have a Prior Existing and Conflicting Intellectual Property Agreement with Another Employer (SU-18A). Faculty members are responsible for knowing who is working in research facilities under their control, and for assuring that ALL of those individuals have signed an appropriate intellectual property agreement with Stanford University. Failure to have such agreements in place compromises our ability to comply with the terms and conditions of sponsored projects and to meet federal and sponsor requirements related to the handling of inventions. In addition, the use of Stanford facilities for commercial or other non-Stanford proprietary purposes could jeopardize the university's nonprofit status and violate the provisions of our Openness in Research policy. In the implementation of this policy, questions have come up about different categories of faculty, staff and students. The table below addresses some of these questions. Any questions about the interpretation of this policy, or of the guidelines presented here, should be directed to the Assistant Dean of Research. This table is also available as a pdf file.

	Sign SU-18 (Axess)	Sign SU-18A (paper*)	Waive agreement	Comments
FACULTY
REGULAR FACULTY APPOINTMENT, except "Other Teaching Titles" (Faculty Handbook, Chapter 9)	X			Default requirement for all Stanford faculty
For OTHER TEACHING TITLES, i.e., Acting, Visiting, Consulting, By Courtesy    and Voluntary Clinical appointments, use the following guidelines:
If receiving Stanford salary (whether employed elsewhere or not)	X			The SU-18 is applicable to the work for which this individual is being paid by Stanford.
If employed elsewhere, NOT paid a Stanford salary, and involved in Stanford sponsored projects, research activities** or software development		X		An agreement is required for anyone involved in Stanford research activities or software development. Any resulting IP can be shared between Stanford and the other employer.
If employed elsewhere, NOT paid a Stanford salary, and NOT involved in Stanford sponsored projects, research activities** or software development			X

*	SU-18A not available electronically. Currently filed on paper and sent to OTL
**	Research includes inquiry, experiment or investigation to increase the scholarly understanding of the involved discipline

	Sign SU-18 (Axess)	Waive agreement	Comments
STAFF
REGULAR STANFORD STAFF, except those below	X		Default requirement for Stanford employees.
Temporary (less than six months) or casual/part-time clerical employee   - NOT involved with research   - NOT hired to write software		X	The SU-18 can be waived for temporary or part-time office employees, as long as their job does not include writing software
SU Hospital employees paid on SU research grants/contracts and clinical trials	X**		Should be collected by PI or program administrator and filed with OTL

**	May not be available to sign in Axess. If no PeopleSoft record, Hospital employee signs a paper agreement. Send the agreement to OTL and retain a copy in the department or project file.

	Sign SU-18 (Axess)	Waive agreement	Comments
STUDENTS
STANFORD GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCS (all degrees/ programs, except those below)	X		Default requirement for all graduate students and postdocs
Honors Co-op students attending offsite from their company location via distance learning networks		X	No agreement needed UNTIL they arrive to participate in research on campus. Then an SU-18 is filed.
Honors Co-op students doing on-campus research	X		Same as on-campus graduate students
Non-matriculated grad students (Visiting Researchers)	X
Undergraduate students with URP funding, or paid on SU sponsored projects	X		Undergrads not required to sign an SU-18, except in these circumstances
Undergraduate students in hourly paid, non-academic jobs (dining halls, libraries, offices, lab help)		X	Waived for undergraduate employees in non-research, non-software development jobs