Committee Membership, 2000-2001

Elected members (final year of term):
Victor Giurgiutiu, Mechanical Engineering, IPC Chair (2001)
Tamir Datta, Physics and Astronomy (2002; IPC Chair-elect)
Stephen McNeill, Mechanical Engineering (2002)
Michael Myrick, Chemistry (2003)
Robert L. Oakman, Computer Science (2003; retires June 30, 2001)
Appointed members:
George Lampl, Associate General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel
Ardis Savory, Director, SPAR (retired Dec 2000)
Tommy Coggins, Interim Director, SPAR (Jan-Jun, 2001)
Anthony Boccanfuso, Director, SPAR (begins Jun 1, 2001)
Intellectual Property Management Office:
Richard F. Cox, Jr., Director
Debbie Whittemore, Administrative Assistant, IP Committee Recorder

Committee Activities
The Intellectual Property Committee (IPC) scheduled meetings monthly from July, 2000 through June, 2001, on the first Thursday of each month to discuss disclosures by faculty, students, and staff of the University of South Carolina, as well as other subjects related to the IPC activity.

Disclosures Processed. During the reported period, the IPC dealt with 34 disclosures from ten departments. The large number of disclosures submitted reflects the concerted effort by the IPC and the IPMO to encourage inventors to present disclosures at an early stage of concept inception. The IPC made recommendations to the Provost about the category of ownership and equity distribution of each disclosure as prescribed by the Faculty Manual. The Provost accepted the recommendation of the IPC in every case. There were no instances in which the recommendations of the IPC with regard to category of ownership or to equity distribution did not fully agree with the requests of the inventors.

Simplification of the Disclosure-Review Process. Given the rapid growth in the number of disclosures, it has become clear that a substantial amount of time was being devoted to personal interviews with inventors. These meetings are time consuming and difficult to coordinate for both committee members and inventors alike. Requiring interviews at monthly IPC meeting also delays disclosure processing which could be potentially harmful to the disclosure since early patent protection is important. To streamline the review process, personal interviews are no longer being required in many cases where University participation (Category 2 or 3) and standard equity (60% USC; 40% inventors) are not in question. To facilitate this determination during pre-screening of disclosures, a new pair of questions was added to the disclosure form asking inventors to identify what they believe to be the proper category and equity to their projects. Successful experiments with voting by email were also performed.

Revised Disclosure Form: In May 2001, the IPMO has issued a revised intellectual property disclosure form that has been circulated to the members of the IPC for comments. The revised form has been posted on the IPMO web site.

New Incentives Plan for Intellectual Property Disclosures: The IPMO has generated a new incentives plan for intellectual property disclosures. This new plan has been discussed in a meeting of the IPC. Subsequently, the IPMO Director (Dick Cox) and a member of the IPC (Michael Myrick) have been charged to present this plan to the Intellectual Property Policy Review Panel and then to Faculty Senate.

IPMO Web-site Enhancements. The IPMO web page has been developed to encourage early disclosures and to streamline the disclosure process. On-line information explains the purpose and procedures, contacts to faculty staff, links to relevant sites and materials including copies of the disclosure form. To reach this page, go to: http://www.sc.edu/ipmo

Collaboration between IPC and IPMO. During the reported period, excellent collaboration was observed between IPC and IPMO. The administrative support of Debbie Whittemore (IPMO staff) and collaboration and leadership of Dick Cox (IPMO Director) are duly acknowledged.

The Committee will continue to act as an advocate for all University employees while addressing intellectual property under the leadership of the next committee chair, Timir Datta.

Respectfully submitted,

Victor Giurgiutiu (jurjutzu), Chair

This page created 29 August 2001 by the Office of the Faculty Senate and Computer Services.
Copyright 1999-2001, The Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina
URL http://www.sc.edu/faculty/senate/01/annual/intellectual.html