Forms & Documents

Invention Disclosure Form

The disclosure form is the first legal record of the invention, and therefore should be completed as thoroughly as possible. The disclosure form and background materials should be submitted to our office as soon as the technology is reduced to practice, or no less than thirty days prior to an anticipated public disclosure (e.g., poster, presentation).

Download Invention Disclosure Form (PDF File)
Download Invention Disclosure Form (Word File)

Confidentiality Agreement (CDA)

A CDA is an agreement between the university and an outside entity (company, person) that is used to facilitate discussions of information that is wished to remain out of the public. For companies, sharing of their business needs and development problems can lead towards developing solutions with university personnel, but would also want such needs and problems to not be known to their competitors. For universities, maintaining confidentiality can preserve rights (domestic and foreign) to inventions.

Exclusive License Agreement

An agreement between a licensee and the university in which the company obtains sole rights to use the intellectual property. This type of agreement is sometimes limited to a defined period of time.

Option Agreement

A limited license agreement between a company and the university in which the company receives the option to negotiate a license to the intellectual property after a specified evaluation period.

IP Policy

This policy governs the intellectual property of Rensselaer faculty, staff and student.

Download IP Policy