Conflict of Interest
An employee shall not accept or solicit any gift, favor, service, or other benefit that could reasonably be construed to influence the employee's discharge of assigned duties and responsibilities.
An employee shall not have a personal financial interest, a business interest, or any other obligation that in any way creates a substantial conflict with the proper discharge of assigned duties and responsibilities or that creates a conflict with the best interest of the College.
An employee who believes he or she has or may have conflict of interest shall disclose the interest to the College President or designee, who shall take whatever action is necessary, if any, to ensure that the College's best interests are protected.
Intellectual Property Rights
The intellectual property policy of Amarillo Junior College District (“Amarillo College”) seeks to protect and promote the traditional freedom of Amarillo College, its employees and students in matters involving intellectual property and trade secrets; seeks to balance fairly and reasonably the equitable rights of authors, inventors, sponsors, and Amarillo College; and attempts to ensure that any intellectual property in which Amarillo College has an equity interest is utilized in a manner consistent with the public interest.
Rules for Intellectual Property
- Purpose. To balance the interests of those contributors to the substantial creation of intellectual property at and by Amarillo College, the Board of Regents establishes these rules on intellectual property with the purpose to (a) provide certainty in technology-based relationships with third parties and any research; (b) create an optimal environment for development and commercialization opportunities with private industry; and (c) encourage the timely and efficient protection and management of intellectual property.
- Individuals Subject to this Policy. This intellectual property policy applies to:
all Amarillo College employees including, but not limited to, full and part time faculty and staff and visiting faculty members together with any researchers;
anyone using Amarillo College facilities under the supervision of Amarillo College personnel;
Amarillo College students working at non-Amarillo College facilities as part of an Amarillo College project.
- Intellectual Property Subject to this Policy. This policy covers all types of
intellectual property. The following examples are not exhaustive: the policy
applies to other types not listed here, regardless of whether they may be
protected by patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret or other law.
Inventions
Discoveries
Trade secrets
Trade and service marks
Writings
Art works
Musical compositions and performances
Software
Literary works
Architecture
- Use of Facilities and Resources. Neither the facilities nor the resources of
Amarillo College may be used (a) to create, develop, or commercialize
intellectual property outside the course and scope of employment of the
individual or (b) to further develop or commercialize intellectual properties
that have been released to an inventor.
- Works for Hire and College Projects. The Board of Regents shall have sole
ownership of all intellectual property created by (1) an employee, student, or
other individual commissioned, required, or hired specifically to produce
such intellectual property by Amarillo College, and (b) an employee or
student as part of an Amarillo College project.
- Role of Creator. Any person subject to this policy who creates intellectual
property (other than a work for hire under Section 5 above or on
government or other sponsored projects where the grant agreements
provide otherwise), may give reasonable input on commercialization of
inventions; provided however, that the president of Amarillo College, or his
or her designee(s), in his or her sole discretion, will make final decisions,
including determinations under Section 5 above, whether and how to
develop and commercialize an invention.
- Use of Facilities and Resources. Neither the facilities nor the resources of
Amarillo College may be used (a) to create, develop, or commercialize
intellectual property outside the course and scope of employment of the
individual or (b) to further develop or commercialize intellectual properties
that have been released to an inventor.
- Intellectual Property Owned by the Creator. Intellectual property shall be
owned entirely by the creator if such material is conceived and developed
outside the course and scope of the creator’s employment and created on
his/her own time independent of time and facilities belonging to Amarillo
College and proper and timely disclosure has been given as described
herein.
- Intellectual Property Owned by Amarillo College. Intellectual property
developed within the course and scope of an individual’s employment or
resulting from activities performed on Amarillo College time, i.e., the use of
facilities, time, or resources of Amarillo College including, but not limited
to, release time, grant money, developmental leave, or other material or
financial assistance by Amarillo College, is owned by the Board of Regents
and Amarillo College shall pay for the cost of filing a patent and/or
copyright subject to its right of reimbursement as set out herein. To
effectively implement this rule and provide certainty to individuals under
this policy the Board of Regents has adopted the Rules of Disclosure set
forth in Sec. 10.
- Rules of Disclosure. Before development of intellectual property occurs or
intellectual property subject to ownership by the Board of Regents is
disclosed to any party outside of Amarillo College, to the public generally
or for commercial purposes and before publishing same the Creator shall
submit a disclosure of intent to publish or invent in writing to the
appropriate President’s Cabinet member for the area in which the
development occurs for determination of Amarillo College’s interest.
a. Content of Disclosure. The disclosure shall be a reasonably complete and detailed disclosure of intent to publish or invent and shall stipulate any anticipated use of College funds, facilities, and equipment or time so that a written agreement as herein described may be prepared and executed. The Disclosure shall be distributed to the President’s Cabinet for review.
b. Disclosure not timely made. If the Disclosure required by the terms Sec. 10(a) is not timely made it is presumed the publishing or invention was developed on Amarillo College time with utilization of College funds, facilities and equipment and is a “College supported Work” as defined herein.
c. Response. The responsible President’s Cabinet member shall respond in writing as to the intentions of the College as to claiming ownership within ten working days of receipt disclosure statements be of the disclosure. The College requires that disclosure statements be updated regularly.
- Written Agreement. Upon proper and timely disclosure as stated above, a
written agreement shall be entered into between the creator and Amarillo
College that stipulates the management of the work, sharing of royalties,
and the conditions under which Amarillo College may relinquish ownership
of the copyright or patent.
1. Cost Recovery by Amarillo College. Amarillo College shall recover any and all of its costs through the sale, licensing, leasing, or use of such copyrightable or patentable material before any division of royalties will be made as designated in the written agreement.
2. Perpetual License to Amarillo College. The agreement shall further provide that Amarillo College will have a perpetual license to use the work without further compensation.
- Trade secrets. As stated above trade secrets are intellectual property
subject to this policy. Trade secrets are proprietary information and are
generally defined as any information, whether or not copyrightable or
patentable, not generally known or accessible and that gives competitive
advantage to its owner.
- Equity and Management. An Amarillo College employee who creates a
copyrightable or patentable work with Amarillo College support may have
an equity interest in the work or a business entity involved with the work.
However, this interest must be promptly disclosed to the appropriate
President’s Cabinet member for the area and agreement concerning same
must be stipulated in the written agreement specified in Sec 11. An
Amarillo College employee is prohibited from holding an executive position
in the business entity.
Amarillo College Copyright Policy and General Statement
It is the policy of Amarillo College to follow the United States Copyright Law
of 1976, as amended, (Title 17, United States Code hereinafter, the “Copyright
Act”). Accordingly, all faculty, staff and students of Amarillo College should
follow these policy guidelines:
- Only copyrighted materials are subject to the restrictions in this Policy Statement. Un-copyrighted materials may be copied freely and without restriction. Because a copyright notice is not required for copyright protection of works published on or after March 1, 1989, most works (except those authored by the United States Government) should be presumed to be copyright protected, unless further information from the copyright holder or express notice reveals that the copyright holder intends the work to be in the public domain. Works published prior to March 1, 1989, generally require a copyright notice to be protected.
- Copyrighted software may be copied without the copyright owner’s permission only in accordance with the Copyright Act. Section 117 of the Act permits making an archival back-up copy. Most software, however, is licensed to the user and the terms of the license agreement may give the user permission to make copies of the software in excess of the archival copy permitted by the Copyright Act. Each software license agreement is unique. As a result, the user’s rights to copy licensed software beyond that permitted under the Copyright Act may only be determined by reading the user’s license agreement. Any copying or reproduction of copyrighted software on Amarillo College computing equipment must be in accordance with the Copyright Act and the pertinent software license agreement. Further, faculty, staff and unauthorized copies of software on Amarillo College computers or networks or computers housed in Amarillo College facilities.
- Copyrighted materials may be copied or otherwise used without the copyright owner’s permission where such copying constitutes “fair use” under the Copyright Act.
Amarillo College Policy on Inventions and Discoveries
A “College invention” is each invention or discovery by an Amarillo College employee that is conceived and reduced to practice by utilizing research or development facilities owned, under the supervision of, or made available by Amarillo College, except a facility under lease to an organization or individual not subject to the supervision of Amarillo College. A “College invention” as defined is the property of Amarillo College.
Joint Works
If the research and development work for an Amarillo College invention is supported jointly by Amarillo College and a third party or parties, or solely by a third party or parties, the ownership of the invention is determined by the terms of the written agreement between Amarillo College and a third party.
If the written agreement between Amarillo College and a third party does not
address the subject of ownership, Amarillo College may enter into a written agreement with the third party covering the ownership, licensing, use of the
inventions, and the division of the equities among the parties.
As soon as reasonably possible, but not more than 30 days after written
disclosure, the inventor shall file a report with the appropriate President’s
Cabinet member for the area in which the development is made which shall
include the following information:
- A title that is brief, technically accurate, and descriptive.
- An abstract of the invention.
- A statement of the background of the invention.
- A description of the prior art that shows the novelty, utility, and non-obviousness of the invention being disclosed.
- A detailed description of the invention.
- A list of publications, if any, in which the invention has been disclosed and occasions, such as symposia, on which the invention was disclosed orally to others.
- Each budget number used to defray invention-related research costs.
- The signatures of each inventor and at least two witnesses who understand the invention.
- The date the report is filed with the appropriate President’s Cabinet member.
In addition, the inventor shall periodically report in writing to the appropriate President’s Cabinet the current status of progress, results of research, and development work done with respect to the invention; and, in the case of a College invention, the inventor shall do each thing necessary, including executing legal documents and reviewing patent prosecution papers, to assist Amarillo College in patenting and administering the invention.
Authority for Licensing
Authority for licensing a copyrighted work or patented invention covered by these policies shall reside in the owner of said copyright or patent as defined herein.
Warning
The information presented here is only general information. True legal advice must be provided in the course of an attorney-client relationship specifically with reference to all the facts of a particular situation. Such is not the case here, and this information must not be relied on as a substitute for obtaining legal advice from a licensed attorney. If you are associated with Amarillo College as faculty, staff, or student and have questions about the application of the material in this policy, or federal or state law, to what you are doing or proposing to do with the material with which you are working, please let the College Librarian know.