Other courses

Apart from the internships, graduation (MSc) and collaboration courses there are courses where no company is involved at all.  Alternatively, a company employee may be involved in the course only to serve as an expert regarding a certain topic.

Company involved as an expert or no company involved
During some courses, for example in a guest lecture, a professional will provide you with expert information, practical experiences, professional feedback etcetera.

In those courses or courses where no company is involved you are– or in group work your group is- the owner of the IP of the course results. The professional or the company the professional works for is not allowed to use or exploit the results without permission of the owner(s). 

Course with possibility to pitch the result to a company           
In some courses you might work on a topic a company may be interested in. However, no formal company collaboration with TU Delft has been agreed. Check whether or not the course is marked as a collaboration course in the TU Delft study guide! For example, working on a design concept for a book store you may work with information available in the public domain from several existing book stores. In that case, you are – or in group work your group is- the owner of the IP of the course results.

 

TU Delft sometimes creates an opportunity to pitch your result to a potentially interested company. If not, you can organize a pitch yourself after the course is finished. The company attending the pitch is not allowed to use the course results without permission of the owner(s) of the IP. In case a company shows their interest, you can make your own follow-up arrangements.

Note that TU Delft will not be involved in making follow-up arrangements. However, you can use the following tips:

• Let the company come up with a proposal for a financial compensation or the opportunity for a reimbursed internship/graduation project/part time job at the company. You may even be involved in further development of the result. At the very least your name should be mentioned in a publication of the result.
• Bear in mind that the company needs to develop the course result further before the company will be able to use or exploit it, so an offer for a financial compensation is not likely to be very high.
• In case a result will be patented by a company the company is obliged to state your name as a (co)inventor on the patent application and offer you a financial compensation. 
• Make sure to mention to the company that even after making arrangements TU Delft has the right to use your result for research and/or educational purposes, in publications and for PR purposes AND the company is not allowed to use the name or logo of TU Delft in a publication.
• In group work, make sure every group member knows about and agrees to the proposed arrangements with the company or waives their shared rights.
• Make sure to record the arrangements made in writing (at least in an email) before you start doing extra work.

 

NB: independently from who has the ownership of the IP(R), the TU Delft always has the right to use course results for research and/or educational purposes, in publications and for PR purposes.

If you have questions about IP created in IDE education please send an e-mail to: Michelle Nahumury.