What are intellectual properties?
Intellectual properties are intangible products of the mind—ideas and their representation. Such things as inventions, publications and other works of scholarship like videotapes, computer programs, or works of art are intellectual properties. Intellectual properties can be protected by means of copyright, trademark, or patent. In becoming an employee of Michigan State University, you agreed to give certain inventions and discoveries to the university. The authority to manage inventions and discoveries is vested in the President of the university, who in turn has delegated it to the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies. The MSU Technologies (MSUT) office administers this function by evaluating, patenting, and then transferring protected inventions into the marketplace. In doing so, MSUT helps fulfill Michigan State University’s land-grant commitment to the extension of applied knowledge. The information below explains the preliminary actions necessary to protect an inventio
