How does intellectual property law intersect with foundation grantmaking?
Intellectual property law seems to be about holding on to rights copyrights, trademarks and the like while the point of foundation grantmaking is giving things away, not just money, but outcomes. Clarida: Intellectual property law governs the ownership and use of creative works that people develop. Foundation research grants may be used to create works of authorship protected by copyright law, like books or websites or databases; or inventions protected by patent law, like new drugs or medical devices. Software developed under a grant might be protected under either copyright or patent law, or both, depending on whether the protection sought is primarily for the functional aspects or the textual and graphic content. Foundations that are considering making grants that will produce intellectual property need to think about their objectives for those creations. How widely should they be distributed? What continuing control, if any, does the foundation wish to maintain over a work? If the
