Intellectual Property

The Clemson University Office of Technology Transfer identifies, protects, manages and commercializes University intellectual property, which includes University-made inventions, University-developed software, multimedia teaching tools and educational materials.

The most common forms of intellectual property protection are patents, trademarks and copyrights.

A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by the government that give an inventor rights in his or her discovery. The OTT files U.S. and international patent applications and works with patent attorneys and the inventor to write the patent application, file it in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and follow it through the patenting process.

A trademark is a word, symbol, name or other device that is used to identify a product and distinguish it from similar or competing products. The University may consider registering a trademark to further increase value and protection of a product during commercialization.

A copyright is a legal grant by the government that covers original works of authorship and must be fixed in a tangible medium of expression (e.g., printed book, sound recording, videotape or script). Any author can have copyright protection even without registration because copyrights exist from the moment of material creation. Literary works, photographs, software, distance learning material, music and lyrics are protected by copyrights.