Unless otherwise specified, the following terms shall have the meaning provided in these policies:

2.1 “Author” means the natural person who originates, gives existence to or expresses an ideaand transforms it into some tangible form under copyright law.

2.3 “Copyrightable Work” means any literary or artistic work, whether original or derivative, which has been expressed or done in some tangible form as enumerated under Sections 172 and 173 of the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines.

2.4 “IP Policies” means the Policies on Intellectual Property of Caraga Institute of Technology and its amendments.

2.5 “Intellectual Property” means any property defined as such by the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (RA 8293) such as, but not limited to, patents, patentable inventions, utility models, industrial designs, layout designs of integrated circuits, marks, copyright, computer software, technical know-how, trade secrets and plant varieties.

2.6 “Inventor” means a person who creates or discovers a new method, form, device, process or composition of matter which is patentable under the law.

2.7 “Invention” means a novel creation, discovery, idea or device that may be patented under the law.

2.8 “Patent” is a statutory monopoly which protects the owner against unlicensed use of the patented product or process or any improvement thereof.

2.9 “Regularly-assigned duties” means the work, duty or responsibility of the school employee as enumerated in the job description or employee/faculty manual, or the regular duties assigned by a superior as part of his/her regular workload. Works submitted to the school as a requirement for continued employment or promotion shall be considered as work done according to the regularly assigned duties of the school employee. In cases of copyright, however, the ownership of works submitted by a university employee as a requirement for promotion, longevity pay or research incentive pay under the faculty manual shall not be considered as work done according to the regularly-assigned duties of the school employee and shall, therefore, be owned by the author. This is subject to the provision on copyright under section 6.1 of these policies.

2.10 “Students” shall have the same meaning as defined in the CIT Student’s Handbook.

2.11 “Substantial Use of the facilities and/or resources of the School” means either that:

School funds were used to specifically support the development of the intellectual property;

The work could not have been developed or created without using the facilities or resources of the school; or There is use of resources of the school that are not ordinarily available to most school employees and students such as, but not limited to, laboratories and technical computer software. However, the use of office, library, computers and servers of the school shall not constitute substantial use of school facilities and resources.

2.12 “Trademark” or “Mark” means a distinctive word, design, symbol, logo or any combination of word and design that identifies and distinguishes the goods or services of one from that of another.

3.1 These policies apply to school employees, students and such other persons who participate in research and other scholarly projects at the school. The policies cover all kinds of intellectual properties under the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (RA 8293) and related laws.

4.1 All persons subject to these policies are required to promptly disclose all inventions and other scholarly works in which the school has or may have an ownership interest under Sections 5.2 and 6.2 of these policies, or for which disclosure is required by contract or law. Disclosure shall be made in writing by submitting a Disclosure Form to the Associate the Vice-President of Academic for Research and Learning (AVCREL) and copy furnished the Director of the Intellectual Property Office of School.

4.2 All contracted works by school employees from third parties must have the express written approval of the school. Where the work was developed through an agreement between the school and a third party, the ownership of the intellectual property shall be subject to the terms of the contract.

5.1 Owned by Inventor
Rights to patents shall belong to the inventor except in the instances stated in section 5.2 of these policies.

Notwithstanding ownership of the inventor of his works, the school or any member of the school community is allowed, without infringing any intellectual property right, free access to and use of their works to pursue or develop them for academic purposes.

5.2 Owned by the School
Rights to Patent shall belong to the school if any one of the following circumstances exists:
a. The invention was developed as part of the regularly-assigned duties of the inventor;
b. The invention was developed using funds provided or administered by or through the University;
c. The invention was developed making substantial use of the facilities or resources of the school;
d. Commissioned work by the school or “Work for Hire”;
e. The ownership of the invention was assigned by the inventor to school; and
f. In case of students, the invention or work was developed when he/she received financial support from the school in the form of tuition waiver, scholarship, stipend or allowance regardless of the amount.
g. Works whose inventors cannot be determined.

5.3 Externally Funded or Sponsored
If the patentable invention arose or was related to an undertaking covered by distinct agreement of the inventor and a third-party using funds not administered by or through the school or where the school has no claim of ownership under Section 5.2, the terms of the agreement will prevail over these policies. In the absence of any contrary provision in the agreement, these policies shall apply to externally funded or sponsored research.

5.4 Student Works
In the case of student works produced and submitted as class assignments or as course requirements, these works are owned by the students, unless it falls under the instances stated in section 5.2, except paragraph (a). The school may claim rights over the patent over works contributed by school employees in the course of their mentoring assignment as part of their regularly-assigned duties. In cases not falling under section 5.2, the faculty member/s and the student/s concerned may enter into an agreement prior to the mentoring engagement specifying, among others, the ownership of the intellectual property and the sharing of royalties. In case there is no agreement, the ownership of the patent shall belong to the student. Notwithstanding ownership by students of their works, the school or any member of the academic community is allowed, without infringing any intellectual property right, free access to and use of the student works to pursue or develop them for academic purposes.

5.5 Reversion of Ownership
In the event that the school decides not to file a patent application or claim ownership of the patent under paragraph 5.2 within one hundred (100) days from receipt of the patent disclosure form of the invention, ownership of the invention or the work shall automatically revert to the inventor subject to the agreement, if any, entered into by the school with a funding or sponsoring agency prior to the research.

5.6 Assignment of Royalty
In cases where the patent rights belong to the school under section 5.2, it may, at its own discretion, assign royalty shares to the inventor. The royalty sharing shall be based on the implementing rules and regulations of these IP Policies to be hereinafter adopted, unless there is an agreement to contrary.

5.7 Assignment of Patent
5.7.1 In cases covered by section 5.2, the inventor shall execute a deed of assignment of patent together with the disclosure form required under paragraph 2.1 of these policies in favor of the school.
5.7.2 In cases where the inventor assigns the patent rights to the school, the school shall take care of the filing of the patent and the payment of the filing and maintenance fees.

5.8 Outside Consultants and Independent Contractors
5.8.1 The school shall own the patent of any work produced by non-school employees who are contracted to perform certain work for the school as consultants or independent contractors, unless specified otherwise in a written agreement between the parties
5.8.2 The school shall own the patent of any work produced by school employees under the instances mentioned in section 5.2 of these policies who are acting as consultants or independent contractors of third parties, unless there is an agreement to the contrary between the school and the third party.
(students attend three out of four total terms), or the trimester system (three terms).

6.1 Owned by Author
Rights to copyright shall belong to the author for as long as the work was not funded or in any manner financially supported by the school, whether or not it is part of the regular duties of the author, subject to exceptions stated in section 6.2 of these policies.

In case of multiple authors, ownership shall be determined by stipulation of the parties. In case there is no stipulation, the AVCREL shall assist the parties in determining the authors’ respective ownership in the work. In case the authors cannot agree, they shall have equal shares in the ownership of the intellectual property.

Notwithstanding ownership of the author of his works, the school or any member of the academic community is allowed, without infringing any intellectual property right, free access to and use of their works to pursue or develop them for academic purposes.

6.2 Owned by the School
Rights to Copyright shall belong to the school if any one of the following circumstances exist:
a. the work was done using funds provided or administered by or through the school;
b. the work was done making substantial use of the facilities or resources of the school;
c. commissioned work by the University or “Work for Hire”;
d. teaching or training materials or modules created as part of the regularly-assigned duties of the school employee;
e. the ownership of the copyright was assigned by the author to the school;
f. In case of students, the work was developed or created when he/she received financial support from the school in the form of tuition waiver, scholarship, stipend or allowance regardless of the amount; and
g. Works whose authorship cannot be determined

6.3 Externally Funded or Sponsored Work
If the work arose or was related to an undertaking covered by distinct agreement of the author and a third-party using funds not administered by or through the school or where the school has no claim of ownership under Section 6.2, the terms of the agreement will prevail over these policies. In the absence of any contrary provision in the agreement, these policies shall apply to externally funded or sponsored research.

6.4 Students Work
In the case of student works produced and submitted as class assignments or as course requirements, these works are owned by the students, unless it falls under the instances stated in section 6.2, except paragraph (a). The school may claim copyright over works contributed by school employees in the course of their mentoring assignment as part of their regularly-assigned duties. In cases not falling under section 6.2, the faculty member/s and the student/s concerned may enter into an agreement prior to the mentoring engagement specifying, among others, the ownership of the intellectual property and the sharing of royalties. In case there is no agreement, the ownership of the patent shall belong to the student. Notwithstanding ownership by students of their works, the school or any member of the academic community is allowed, without infringing any intellectual property right, free access to and use of the student works to pursue or develop them for academic purposes.

6.5 Reversion of Ownership
In the event that the school decides not to claim ownership over the work under paragraph 6.2 within one hundred (100) days from receipt of the copyright disclosure form of the work, ownership of the copyright shall automatically revert to the author subject to the agreement, if any, entered into by the school with a funding or sponsoring agency prior to the research.

6.6 Assignment of Royalty
In cases where the copyright belongs to the school under section 6.2, it may, at its own discretion, assign royalty shares to the inventor. The royalty sharing shall be based on the implementing rules and regulations of these IP Policies to be hereinafter adopted, unless there is an agreement to contrary.

6.7 Assignment of Copyright
6.7.1 In cases covered by section 6.2, the author shall execute a deed of assignment of copyright together with the disclosure form required under paragraph 2.1 of these policies in favor of the school.
6.7.2 The schoolshall be responsible for submitting copies of the work to the National Library and Supreme Court Library or to the appropriate government agency.

6.8 Outside Consultants and Independent Contractors
6.8.1 The school shall own the copyright of any works produced by non-school employees who are contracted to perform work for the school as consultants or ind
6.8.2 The school shall own the copyright of any work produced by school employees under the instances mentioned in section 6.2 of these policies who are acting as consultants or independent contractors of third parties, unless there is an agreement to the contrary between the school and the third party.

The school exclusively owns the trademarks, service marks, emblems, logos, symbols and other marks that it uses and distributes in relation to its goods or services. The rules on the use, exploitation and distribution of these marks, logos and symbols are contained in specific school policy and guidelines on the use of trademarks now existing or to be adopted in the future. It also has the sole authority to engage in or approve the development, design and sale of merchandise with the registered marks of the school.

All persons covered by these policies are not allowed to divulge any information arising from research, patentable device or technology, trade secrets or other related information which are necessary for the protection the intellectual property rights of the University. In case of doubt as to the nature of the school information, the party concerned should secure a clearance from the AVCREL before divulging any information.

The school recognizes the exclusive rights of inventors, authors and artists over their intellectual property creations. For this reason, it shall protect the rights of the owners of intellectual property over all forms of infringement such as:

a. Photocopying of printed materials or copying of computer software without the permission of the author/s or creator/s, subject to the rules on fair use of copyrighted work and the other exceptions thereto as stated in the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (RA 8293);
b. Use, distribution, transfer, rental, sale or production of counterfeit, unlicensed or pirated intellectual property contained in optical media as defined under the Optical Media Act of 2003 (RA 9239);
c. Violation of the confidentiality rule under Section 8 of these policies;
d. Deliberate failure to comply with the prior disclosure requirement under Section 4 of these policies;
e. Unauthorized use, distribution, transfer, rental, sale or production of university-owned intellectual property;
f. Plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty;
g. All other acts analogous to the foregoing.

Any person found to have violated any of the provisions of these policies shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the faculty, student, staff, administrative or applicable employment manual/handbook. All items in Section 10 shall be considered as major offenses.

The School President, in his own initiative or through the recommendation of the School Committee on Intellectual Property (SCIP), shall have the sole discretion to waive or vary any or all of the provisions of these policies on a case-to-case basis if a strict application of these policies shall not result in fairness and equity in a particular case. A waiver or variance of the intellectual property policies made in one case shall not serve as a precedent to any future or subsequent case.