Intellectual Property is any product of the human intellect that is unique, novel, and unobvious (and has some value in the marketplace). These products of human intellect include:

Wright State University Policy and Procedures for Intellectual Property were adopted by the Board of Trustees on June 8, 2001.

Inventions are, under federal patent law (U.S.C. Title 35 ), novel and useful ideas relating to processes, machines, manufactures, and compositions of matter. An invention can be made solely or jointly with others as co-inventors. To be recognized legally, a co-inventor must have conceived of an essential element of an invention or contributed substantially to the general concept. (For further information see Ideas)

Copyrightable works are, under federal copyright law (U.S.C. Title 17, as amended by the 1976 Copyright Act ), original works of authorship that have been fixed in any tangible medium of expression from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. These works include:

· Literary works, such as books, journal articles, poems, manuals, memoranda, tests, instructional material, databases, bibliographies;
· Computer software, which in addition to being copyrightable, may also be patentable;
· Musical works including any accompanying words;
· Dramatic works, including any accompanying music;
· Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works, including photographs, diagrams, sketches, and integrated circuit masks;
· Motion pictures and other audiovisual works such as videotapes; and sound recordings.

A trademark includes any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods.

Discoveries are defined by WSU policy as new products or processes that are not patentable inventions or copyrightable works but that may contain or be based on proprietary information. Examples include tangible research property such as biological materials (including cell lines) and chemical substances; prototype devices and equipment; and research data. Discoveries sometimes may be protected as trade secrets.

An intellectual property record , according to §149.43 of the Ohio Revised Code , is a record, other than a financial or administrative record, that is produced or collected by or for faculty or staff of a state institution of higher education in the conduct of or as a result of study or research on an educational, commercial, scientific, artistic, technical, or scholarly issue, regardless of whether the study or research was sponsored by the institution alone or in conjunction with a governmental body or private concern, and that has not been publicly released, published, or patented.