We have to provide your home address and citizenship to the USPTO. We also use your home address to mail royalty checks to you.

Under federal law, MUSC is required to report to the Government inventions created under sponsored research. If MUSC decides not to take title to such an invention (that is, decides not to keep it), then the Government has rights to it. Non-Government sponsors may also have intellectual property clauses and obligations attached to such sponsorship with which the Zucker Institute must comply.

In the U.S., an inventor has one year from the date of public disclosure in which to file a patent application. Once that year has passed, the invention cannot be patented.

The MUSC IP policy gives the university rights to anything that you create within your hired field of expertise. It is blind to the time use to work on the innovation. Compliance with the policy is a condition of employment and student status. View the policies.