Georgetown University

Georgetown has given inventors 50% of most patent license income since at least 1957. As of Dec. 1997, the Office of Technology Commercialization began deducting a 15% overhead fee. As of 2006, the share for income over $5M was reduced.

Summary

Institution	Start	End	Flat	$0-10k	$10-50k	$50-100k	$100-300k	$300-500k	$0.5-1M	>$1M	Fee	Lab	More
Georgetown University	1990	1997	Yes	0.50	0.50	0.50	0.50	0.50	0.50	0.50	0.00	No	No
Georgetown University	1998	2017	Yes	0.50	0.50	0.50	0.50	0.50	0.50	0.50	0.15	No	No

Policy Excerpts

Current Policy

Current Policy (Revised May 4, 2006)

Deductions from Gross Receipts: All direct expenses related to prosecuting and maintaining a patent, including fees for outside legal counsel, shall be reimbursed to the OTC from receipts related to the invention. In addition, 15% of gross receipts from each invention shall be allocated to the budget of the OTC. When the overall revenues from such receipts are sufficient to support the activities of the OTC, the percentage amount of the allocation may be reduced so that only the actual costs of the OTC's operations are deducted from gross receipts.

2. Net Receipts: Net Receipts,which shall be defined as gross receipts less the deductions in the preceding subsection a," shall be distributed as follows:

a. One-half of Net Receipts (50%) shall be distributed to the Inventor(s) of the intellectual property. With respect to all intellectual property reported to the University pursuant to Section D of this Policy on or after May 4, 2006, the Inventor(s)’ share shall be reduced to thirty per cent (30%) of Net Receipts once the Inventor(s) have received $5M in cumulative Net Receipts. Thereafter, thirty percent (30%) of Net Receipts shall be distributed to the Inventor(s) . An Inventor’s entitlement to payment under this paragraph is not dependent upon his/her continued employment at the university. In the case of the death of the Inventor, payment will be made to the Inventor’s estate. If the payment is to be made over time, the payments will be made over the life of the patent. At the option of the Inventor, the Inventor's share may be returned to the Inventor’s laboratory rather than to the Inventor personally. When there are two or more Inventors of a property, the Inventors’ share of Net Receipts shall be allocated equally among the Inventors, unless a prior written agreement executed by all Inventors, the Executive Vice President for Health Sciences, and the Vice President for Technology Licensing provides a different allocation.

b. 10% of Net Receipts shall be distributed to the President of the University (or his/her designee) for support of research and development throughout the institution;

c. 30% of Net Receipts (40% of Net Receipts following the reduction of the Inventors’ share from 50% to 30%) shall be distributed to the Executive Vice President of the Inventor’s campus area (Main Campus, Medical Center, or Law Center). If the Inventor holds appointments on more than one campus, the campus share shall be divided among the EVPs proportional to the percentage of support provided. These funds are to be used for support of research and development on this campus or in interdisciplinary programs involving two or more campuses.

d. 10% of Net Receipts (20% of Net Receipts following the reduction of the inventors share from 50% to 30%) shall be divided among the Departments, Centers, Institutes, Programs, Sectors, and Schools (hereinafter in this paragraph collectively “the Department(s)”) in which the Inventor holds an academic appointment or staff position and from which the Inventor received his or her support, with the royalties to each proportional to the support it provided. Support shall be defined as financial support including without limitation, indirect costs and overhead recovered through grants and funded research (RX accounts), departmental funds (GX, GP or GD accounts), and lab space. In the event an Inventor reports an invention within a year after changing Department(s), there is a presumption that the royalty shall be split equally between the Department in which the Inventor formerly held and subsequently holds academic appointment(s). A Department’s entitlement to payment under this paragraph is not dependent upon the Inventor’s continued employment by the University. Disputes arising under this section shall be resolved by the EVP for Health Sciences with advice from the CIP.

e. In any case involving multiple Inventors, the proportionate allocation of Net Receipts to the Inventors’ respective campuses and Departments shall parallel their proportionate distribution to the Inventors.

2006 Revisions

Memo: Proposed Revisions to the Intellectual Property Policy (3/28/2006)

Redline: 2006 Proposed Intellectual Property Policy (3/28/2006)

Faculty Senate documents show that the only change to the inventors' royalty share in the 2006 revision was for inventions with net license income over $5 million.

1997 Policy

1999 Georgetown Faculty Handbook

The 1999 Georgetown Faculty Handbook has the same royalty structure for inventions with income under $5 million as the current policy (see p. 69). The policy also includes the 15% overhead fee. The handbook states that this policy is "Current as of 12/97."

Before 1997

Georgetown Faculty Handbook (1990)

Georgetown Faculty Handbook (1981)

Georgetown Faculty Handbook (1957-1958)

Faculty Handbooks dating back to 1957 state that for inventions that are licensed, the inventor "shall be paid one half of the net income resulting to the University." They do not mention any overhead fee.

Other Links

• Georgetown University Office of Technology Commercialization