Who owns patents and results from joint research with a university?
Joint company and university inventions generally create shared patent rights. Review consent for share transfers and licensing, contract terms and ownership of government-funded research results.
What is the basic rule for ownership of joint research results?
When a company researcher and a university professor make an invention together, the legal principle is that the right to obtain a patent is shared. Each co-owner may exploit a jointly owned patent, but transferring a share or licensing it to another company requires the consent of all other co-owners. Agreeing the allocation of results, rights of exploitation and revenue sharing in a contract before research begins is therefore advisable.
Who owns a patent when an invention is made jointly?
Article 33 of the Patent Act provides that the inventor or the inventor's successor holds the right to obtain a patent, and that two or more people who invent jointly share that right. Inventorship depends on actual contributions to developing and giving concrete form to the invention's core ideas, rather than names in a contract. Funding the research or proposing the project does not automatically confer ownership. Recording who proposed which ideas in research notebooks and meeting records can reduce later disputes over inventorship.
In practice, rights are often transferred to the institution employing the inventor rather than remaining with the individual. Companies succeed to employees' inventions under their employee-invention rules. Under Article 10 of the Invention Promotion Act, rights to employee inventions made by staff at national and public schools may be succeeded to by the university's technology-transfer organization. Joint ownership by the company and university is therefore common. Because universities have their own rules on succession to faculty inventions, request the other university's rules first.
What can a co-owner do independently, and what requires consent?
Article 99 of the Patent Act distinguishes actions a co-owner may take alone from those requiring the consent of other co-owners.
Actions available to a co-owner of a patent
| Proposed action | Consent of all other co-owners | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Exploiting the patented invention directly | Not required, unless the contract provides otherwise | Article 99(3) |
| Transferring one's ownership share | Required | Article 99(2) |
| Creating a pledge over one's share | Required | Article 99(2) |
| Establishing an exclusive license | Required | Article 99(4) |
| Granting a non-exclusive license | Required | Article 99(4) |
This structure can create different interests for companies and universities. A manufacturer can exploit the patent and earn profits without consent, whereas a university that does not manufacture needs to license it to another company to generate revenue, requiring the company's consent each time. The contract can reduce conflict by setting conditions for the company to pay royalties to the university or defining when the university may license third parties. Consider the costs of maintaining the patent as well. If one party refuses to pay annual fees, the entire right may be at risk. Agree who pays and what happens if a party wants to abandon the right.
What changes when research is government-funded?
If government funding is involved, Article 16 of the National Research and Development Innovation Act also needs to be considered. In principle, the institution conducting the project owns the R&D outcomes by succeeding to the researcher's rights. Depending on the type of outcome, the type of participation and the participants' contributions, the researcher may own the results or several institutions may own them jointly. In cases prescribed by law, such as national security or the public interest, the state may own them if this was announced in advance in the project call. First check the ownership provisions in the call and agreement. Where a company participates in a project, ownership determines whether commercialization will require technology fees or a license agreement.
What should a joint research agreement specify?
Joint research with businesses, universities and research institutions is one strand of the Korea Research Institute of Business & Branding's activities. Comparing possible contract terms and writing down what happens when each is left unspecified makes the subjects for negotiation clearer.
Items to specify in a joint research agreement
| Item | What to agree | Consequences of leaving it unspecified |
|---|---|---|
| Allocation of results | Sole or joint ownership and share percentages | Statutory joint ownership may apply, requiring consent for relevant uses |
| Exploitation rights | Whether the company has exclusivity and the business fields covered | The university may seek a license agreement with a competitor |
| Royalties and revenue | Royalty rates, the sales base and payment dates | Disputes over allocation after commercialization |
| Background technology | Lists of technology each participant held before joining | Boundaries between joint outcomes and existing technology become unclear |
| Publication and confidentiality | Review periods before publication and the scope of confidential material | Findings may be disclosed before a patent application |
| Patent costs | Sharing application and maintenance costs | The party paying costs and the party holding rights may not align |
Trying to make every term favor the company may discourage university participation. If exclusive exploitation is sought, balancing what each party receives by adjusting royalties or research funding can speed up negotiation.
How do employees' inventions become company rights?
Under Article 10 of the Invention Promotion Act, a company has a non-exclusive license when an employee obtains a patent for an employee invention. However, for a company that is not an SME, even that license is unavailable unless the company has consulted employees and established advance agreements or employment rules concerning succession to rights or the grant of an exclusive license. If employees will participate in joint research, first review employee-invention rules and compensation standards. The same Act also establishes procedures for employees to notify the company when an invention is completed and for the company to decide and notify whether it will succeed to the rights. Announcing compensation standards in advance can encourage employees to report all their inventions.
What should be examined before commercializing joint research results?
A patent does not automatically generate sales. Separately test the customer problem the technology solves, willingness to pay and the profit structure. For commercialization timing, see incorporating economic forecasts into planning. Also examine whether the patent claims actually protect your product and whether competitors can design around them. With joint ownership, consider the possibility of a competitor entering a license agreement with the university as well. See joint business research and forums for the institute's collaborative approach, business-owner peer groups for the effects of interfirm exchange, and business publications and reports for publications.
Frequently asked questions about university-industry joint research
If the company paid all research costs, does it own the patent outright?
Funding alone does not determine ownership. Inventorship and the contract matter. If sole ownership is intended, specify the allocation of rights and consideration clearly in the agreement.
Can one co-owner secretly let another company use the patent?
Granting a non-exclusive license to a jointly owned patent requires the consent of all other co-owners. Set out the procedure in the contract to help prevent unauthorized licensing.
Could publication by a professor before patent filing cause problems?
Disclosure before filing may make obtaining a patent difficult. Include a review period before publication in the agreement. If an urgent disclosure deadline exists, such as a dissertation schedule, also discuss bringing the patent filing forward.
Can our company use government-funded research results directly in a product?
First check the ownership and technology-fee conditions in the project agreement. For jointly owned results, the rules on jointly owned patents also apply.
References
- National Law Information Center, Patent Act, Articles 33 and 99, effective November 11, 2025. https://www.law.go.kr/법령/특허법
- National Law Information Center, National Research and Development Innovation Act, Article 16, effective September 11, 2026. https://www.law.go.kr/법령/국가연구개발혁신법
- National Law Information Center, Invention Promotion Act, Article 10, effective October 1, 2025. https://www.law.go.kr/법령/발명진흥법