Intellectual property protection and exploitation

Intellectual Property Rights give legal recognition to the ownership of intellectual property. Some rights are automatic, but others require action in order to gain IP protection.

Licensing is often the most effective way of controlling the transfer of technology from the University to industry. It enables us to maintain ownership, and therefore control, of our IP whilst at the same time generating royalty income from the its use by industry.

An IP License Agreement is a contract under which an owner of IP (the licensor) permits another person (the licensee) to engage in activities that, in the absence of the license agreement, would infringe the licensor's legal rights attaching to the IP.

Find out more

• University IP policy (.pdf, Essex users only)
• Intellectual IP Commercialisation Policy (.pdf, Essex users only)