A lot of intellectual property is created during the course of research. The University is publicly funded, which means that it is subject to the Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act 51 of 2008 (the IPR Act).

The IPR Act provides that the University owns Intellectual Property that is developed using public funds. This means that the University usually owns all inventions, confidential or proprietary information and know-how that researchers at the University create (subject to some exceptions). However, the University has assigned all copyright in the following to the researcher:

• thesis, dissertation or a work of art submitted for examination, to the student author or Creator of the work of art, but the University retains a royalty-free right to publish a thesis or dissertation in any form;
• scholarly and literary publications (e.g. academic articles and textbooks);
• paintings, sculptures, drawings, graphics and photographs produced as an art form;
•  computer software developed as part of a research project;
• recordings of musical performances and musical compositions; and
• film.

The University’s Intellectual Property Policy and the Intellectual Property Compliance Regulation  provides further detail on the ownership of Intellectual Property. It is also discussed in the Research@UP Manual.

Researchers are required to complete and submit an Invention Disclosure Form to the UP Technology Transfer Office who is responsible to ensure that inventions are protected.