Who owns the IPR in products produced by students for external clients?
Students are generally not considered as employees of the University and thus, unless there is an agreement to the contrary, the student will own his/her own IPR. Who owns the student IPR where products are produced for external clients will depend on whether the student has entered into any agreements with the external clients by virtue of which the student has assigned or licenced the IPR to the external client. This may take the form of specific terms and conditions within funding agreements and are likely if the student is funded to carry out research by a commercial company etc. However note that the student needs to be a party to this agreement as it is the student who is transferring the IPR. If the student is not a party to the agreement then there needs to be an agreement between the student and the Institution by virtue of which the student assigns or licences the IPR to the Institution. The Institution can then assign or licence the IPR to the external client.
