The Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act (Act No. 51, 2008) (“the IRP Act”) has governed the ownership of IP at universities in South Africa since 2010.

Research that is conducted at a minimum of “Full Cost” falls outside of the IPR Act.  The UCT Full Cost Model in reviewed by the National IP Management Office (NIPMO) every two years and a certificate is issued. Full cost is calculated according to the NIPMO-approved model and is inclusive of indirect costs (overheads like utilities, administration, buildings, etc.) and direct costs (consumables, materials, all labour (including General Operating Budget staff)) of a project.

Research that is below Full Cost falls within the ambit of the IPR Act.  By default, the university owns the IP arising from the project.

A funder or collaborator may become a co-owner of IP provided four conditions are met as shown in the table below.  It is also possible to access the IP through licensing.

 

  Full Cost Ownership  
A < UCT
  • The default position in terms of the Act is for UCT to own the IP
  • The IP may be made accessible to the funder by licensing, which may be exclusive
  • Can motivate and seek approval from NIPMO for assignment to funder at end of project
  • Whilst IP may not be jointly owned benefit from commercialisation may be shared
  • If paid > 70%, royalty-free license permitted 
B < Joint

Four conditions need to ALL be met:

  1. Contribution of resources [e.g. money, background IP, people]
  2. Agreement to commercialise the IP
  3. Benefit share with IP creators (provided for in UCT IP Policy)
  4. Joint creation of the IP. If patented, at least one person from funder's team must be named as an inventor.
C = or > Funder
  • When the funder pays full cost or above, they may own the IP
  • It is a negotiation and UCT may charge a margin above full cost, to reward the researcher's expertise