Legal

Background

Some MDS-CL Capstone projects may require agreements to be put in place to protect confidential background information and to define how new project intellectual property, if any is developed, will be handled. We ask Capstone partners to disclose if their project falls under this category in their project proposal so that students are aware of this requirement if they choose to work on the project. For all MDS-CL Capstone projects that have such requirements, the projects will be bound by the terms of the agreements outlined below.

Agreements for non-UBC capstone partners

Mutual non-disclosure agreement (NDA)

The purpose of this agreement is to protect the background intellectual property that each party brings to the collaboration. Although this agreement will be between the partner and UBC, the students and the instructors will sign the agreements to confirm that they have read and understood the agreement and the obligations it entails.

• Template Reciprocal Nondisclosure Agreement

IP assignment agreement

The purpose of the IP assignment agreement is to clarify who owns any intellectual property that may be developed during the capstone project. This agreement is between the students and the project partner.

• Template IP Assignment Agreement

Further information on UBC’s policies for handling intellectual property can be found in UBC Policy LR11 - Inventions and Discoveries.

Agreements for UBC-affiliated capstone partners

For projects which are sponsored by UBC faculty or by companies (startups) that are closely related to or incubated by UBC, any new inventions will be handled by the UBC’s University-Industry Liaison Office - the UILO. The UILO is the UBC body that handles intellectual property and UBC-industry relationships for the university. If a UBC professor or graduate student wishes to file a patent, start a company, or engage in a paid research partnership with an external company, they would deal with the UILO. Intellectual property for UBC-affiliated projects is handled by the UILO, rather than the above agreements, because these sponsors are UBC employees and the projects will be completed using university resources.

Further information on UBC’s policies for handling intellectual property can be found in UBC Policy LR11 - Inventions and Discoveries.

Attributions

Much of the text on this page was derived from the UBC ENPH 459 & 479 Guide to mutual nondisclosure agreement and IP agreement for confidential projects.