Student Inventions
All students (including graduate, undergraduate, full-time, part-time and medical residents) are governed by Northwestern University’s Copyright and Patent and Invention Property Policies.
Students need to petition Northwestern to waive its rights.Under some unique circumstances, when inventions are developed as part of a course or internship, Northwestern might release the invention back to the students. Students need to petition Northwestern to waive its rights. After reviewing the petition, Northwestern will decide whether the petition is granted or not and a letter will be sent to confirm the waiver. The decision made is based on many factors including, but not limited to:
- Level and sources of the resources used for the invention
- Previous commitments made for that work to the government, industry, foundations or other individuals
- Previous commitments made to other faculty members or other members of the Northwestern community
- Student funding sources
It is important to note that Northwestern University cannot release inventions before its conception.
Every student, or the faculty member in charge of the program, need to file a Student Petition to Release IP form and submit it to the Innovation and New Ventures Office. The forms need to be signed by the student(s) involved and the Program or Departmental Chair and send to:
Northwestern University
Innovation and New Ventures Office
1800 Sherman Ave, Suite 504
Evanston, IL 60201
invo@northwestern.edu
Fax: 847-491-3625
Phone: 847-467-2097
Attn: Student inventions
Internships
For external internships sponsored by an institution other than Northwestern University, students and/or internship coordinator need to fill out the Internship Petition to Release IP form.
Students or Faculty cannot waive their intellectual property rights without approval from Northwestern University. No internship or industry contract is valid unless approved by the Office of General Counsel. Only authorized Northwestern signatory is allowed to sign on behalf of Northwestern.
