The policy also addresses the distribution of income if the invention is patented and put to commercial use. The ramifications of the policy are great. As a scientist or scholar at UALR, you are expected to develop excellent habits of documentation and record keeping. This becomes crucial if patentable ideas or materials are involved. Good documentation of the chronology of your work, including signed lab books and documentation of the presence of knowledgeable, objective witnesses to important experiments can be critical to obtaining ownership of the invention.
Privacy is also critical.
The entire body of information you create in reference to your project, including lab notes and working papers, must be kept private pending the outcome of examination by the Committee. It is important to understand the difference between patent and copyright. Patent involves ownership of the ideas, to which UALR is entitled under its policies. Copyright covers the method of expression of the ideas, not the ideas themselves. You automatically hold copyright in your own name, and are permitted and encouraged to register it.