Intellectual Property Assignment Agreements for Ph.D. students - What is normal? As an incoming Ph.D. student I was asked to sign an intellectual property assignment agreement in addition to an employment contract as a condition for receiving a tuition reduction and a stipend.  The wording was rather vague, and contained 'legalese'. I have no experience with this. So, I do not know anything about it, and I do not know if the "agreement" I signed contains anything abnormal, because of the way it was written.

Is this normal practice?

If so, what is contained in a standard intellectual property agreement?
Very roughly, at the US universities I have worked for, the IP policies have been along these general lines:


When you write a paper or book as part of your research, you get to keep the copyright and any royalties.  But the university gets permission to use the work internally, keep a copy in the library, etc.
If, as part of your research, you invent something that's patentable, contact the university's IP office.  They will help you with the patent process.  You and the university will hold the patent together, or some similar arrangement. They have to agree on any licensing agreements, etc (where you sell some company the rights to use your patent), and they get a large share (perhaps half or so) of whatever royalties or fees are earned.


(I'm a pure mathematician, and we never invent anything patentable, so I always skim the patent part and may have got it wrong :-)