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Student Inventors

Are you a UTRGV student enrolled in a degree program and you have conceived a patentable invention idea or a Copyrightable software or any other artistic work? If yes then you much be wondering about some of the following questions 

Who owns my idea?
Who owns my patent?
Who owns my prototype?
Who owns my software?
Who owns my writing, photos, and recordings?

All of the above questions have the same answer: Tuition paying students own all of their work (with 4 exceptions). This comes from the UT System Regents’ Rule 90101 on Intellectual Property, Section 6.

Tuition paying students enrolled in a degree program own their patentable inventions, prototypes, and copyrights for software and artistic works. This includes work created in courses, using university labs and resources, or during extracurricular activities. This is true unless the

• Students are employees of any UT System institution and the work is developed within the scope of employment

• Students jointly create the invention or software with an employee

• Students work on a work-for-hire or directed institutional project

• Work is sponsored or grant-funded

Sharable flyer: What do I own? 

What do I own student invention flyer