Intellectual Property (IP) management is the strategic and systematic handling of intellectual property assets within an organization. Intellectual property includes creations of the mind, such as inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, symbols, names, and images used in commerce. Effective IP management aims to protect these assets, maximize their value, and ensure they contribute to an organization's competitiveness and innovation.

What the MSCA contracts say about MA State University Faculty and Intellectual Property

• 2020-2023 Day Bargaining Agreement
  • Article 1 / Section F / Subsection 1 / Letter g
  • Article 3 / Section 12
• 2021-2023 DGCE Collective Bargaining Agreement
  • Article V / Section F

Managing Your Own Personal Intellectual Property - General Tips

(These tips refer mostly to those involved in business ventures, but can be helpful for people with a smaller amount of IP as well)

• Be aware of intellectual property and how it can be used
  • Use it
    • Use it to create and sell goods and services
  • License it
    • Lease some IP rights for a fee, to someone else
    • Openly-license your IP (copyright) so you can control how it will be used by those who find it on the internet
  • 'Assign' it
    • Permanently transfer (sell) all the IP rights to someone else, so they can exploit it
• Know how to protect your intellectual property so that it cannot be used without your permission
  • Register copyrights, trademarks, and patents
    • You own the copyright the moment you create something, even if you did not register it. However, it will be easier to prove ownership, especially in a legal dispute, if you officially register your work.
    • Keep someone else from encroaching upon or being too similar to your business's 'identity'
  • Register business, product, or domain names
    • Keep someone else from taking your preferred name(s), including for websites, to avoid unnecessary confusion in future
  • Create confidentiality, non-disclosure, or licensing contracts for employees, sub-contractors, and partners
    • If you have a business venture and want to avoid public and competitor knowledge about your IP
  • Implement (cyber) security measures
    • You don't want others hacking into your computers, or to be able to access your IP's home in the Cloud
  • Avoid joint ownership
    • Even if developed collaboratively, might be much less complicated to buy out your original partner(s), since:
      • All IP co-owners can do what they want without consultation with each other
      • Legal situations require all co-owners present
      • Profits/Benefits must be shared; more complications
  • For tips on protecting your online IP from use by AI bots, see the AI & IP section of this guide.

• Know how to enforce your intellectual property rights if they are violated
  • Time for an IP/Copyright lawyer!
  • Ask around for recommendations
• A website which may also help you find an Intellectual Property & Copyright Lawyer in MA
  • Website with lawyers directory, from Thompson-Reuters

3 Ways to Commercialize Your Intellectual Property (IP) Rights. (2020, February 12). McInnes Cooper. https://www.mcinnescooper.com/publications/3-ways-to-commercialize-your-intellectual-property-ip-rights/

A license is an agreement through which a licensee leases the rights to a legally protected piece of intellectual property from a licensor — the entity which owns or represents the property — for use in conjunction with a product or service.

This may not be the best analogy, but in effect, you sort of 'rent' (for money) one or more of your copyrights temporarily to someone else. An example would be the Disney company licensing to a toy company (temporarily) the right to make and sell a Micky Mouse plushie.  You know Micky Mouse-themed toys are popular and will sell well, so Disney can definitely charge a pretty penny for such a (relatively valuable) license.

• Licensing

  • From Credo Reference / Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law

• What is Licensing?

  • From Licensing International

• Licensing Overview

  • From the U.S. Copyright Office

• Licensing Agreement

  • From Corporate Finance Institute

• About CC (Open) Licenses (for Copyrighted Works)

  • From Creative Commons

• OSI Approved (Open) Licenses (for Software)

  • From the Open Source Initiative