Who Owns Your Big Idea? Navigating University IP Policies as a Student Founder

Written by Noah Smith
JD Candidate 2027

Introduction
Being a student-founder is exciting, but before you build your pitch deck to pitch investors, there is an important question to answer: Does your university have a claim to your intellectual property?

Unfortunately, for many student founders, the answer is often more complicated than one might expect. The reason is, across Canada, universities take very different approaches to ownership over IP created on campus. Ultimately, the answer can depend on whether you were paid, what resources you used, and crucially, which institution you attend. Understanding these policy wrinkles early can save you from unexpected surprises down the road and better prepare you for meetings with investors.

The Variable Canadian Landscape
Unlike the United States, where a significant number of universities follow a fairly uniform model under the Bayh-Dole Act[1], Canada has no national policy standard for institutional IP ownership.[2] The result is a collection of policies that vary significantly from school to school. At least one commentator has observed that institutional ownership appears to be the more common approach among Canada's larger research universities.[3] Broadly, Canadian universities tend to fall into one of three camps:

Creator-Owned: Generally, under this model, the inventor (or "creator") retains ownership of the IP they produce, even, in many cases, if it was developed using university resources. The most well-known example is the University of Waterloo, whose Policy 73 states that “ownership of rights in IP created in the course of teaching and research activities belong to the creator(s)” (with some exceptions).[4] Waterloo's reputation as one of Canada's most prolific generators of tech startups has been linked, at least in part, to this policy.[2] Notably, the university only takes an equity stake if the creator voluntarily engages the university's commercialisation office for assistance.[2]

Institution-Owned: At the other end of the spectrum, some universities default to institutional ownership. Under these policies, any IP created using university resources or in the course of university-funded research belongs to the institution, though the inventor may receive a share of licensing or commercialisation revenue. The University of British Columbia, for example, requires that any person connected with the university who proposes to protect or license an invention developed using university facilities or funds must disclose it and assign the rights to the university under UBC Policy LR11.[5] Net commercialisation income is then split 50/50 between the university and the inventors.If the university decides not to pursue protection or licensing, the rights may be reassigned to the inventor.[5]

Hybrid or “Inventor's Choice”: An increasing number of universities take a hybrid approach. For example, the University of Toronto offers an “Inventor's Choice” model, where the creator can retain full ownership and handle commercialisation independently, or assign the IP to the university and share the risk, cost, and reward.6 The University of Alberta takes a similar approach. There, inventors retain their IP by default and may choose whether to assign it to the university for joint commercialisation, with revenue sharing of roughly one-third to the other party in either case.[7]

What About the University of Calgary?
For students at UCalgary, the policy is relatively favourable to student founders. UCalgary's Intellectual Property Policy provides that students generally own the IP they create as part of their work for academic credit or a degree, so long as they have made a substantive or creative contribution to the work.[8,9]

However, there is an important caveat. If you are employed by the university (e.g., as a research assistant paid from a professor's grant) the work you produce in that capacity typically belongs to your employer unless a different arrangement has been agreed upon.[9] Notably, scholarships and awards do not by themselves create an employment relationship for these purposes. Instead, the distinction turns on whether you are doing assigned or commissioned work. This distinction between student work and employee work is one that many student founders overlook. If you are being paid to do research that overlaps with your startup idea, you need to clarify ownership before you start building.

UCalgary also requires that any IP intended for commercialisation be disclosed through Innovate Calgary, the university's technology transfer division.[10,11] This does not mean the university will claim your IP, but it does mean there is a defined process to follow.

Why This May Matter for Founders
You might be wondering whether any of this really matters for a pre-revenue startup built around a class project or a thesis. The short answer is yes, and for the reasons below, the earlier you sort it out, the better.

First, prospective investors often care. Investors conducting due diligence will often want to know that your company has clear title to its core IP. Any ambiguity about whether your university could assert a claim is a red flag that can kill a deal.[2]

Second, co-founder disputes get messy. If you and a classmate are building something together and one of you was a paid research assistant while the other was not, you may have different ownership positions under university policy without even realising it.

Third, an unexpected ownership interest from the university can complicate or even block commercialization. If your university holds (or later asserts) a claim to part of your IP, you may need to negotiate a licence or assignment before you can sell, sublicence, or even pivot your product. That process takes time, costs money, and introduces uncertainty at exactly the stage when a startup can least afford it.

Key Takeaways
Read Your Institution’s IP Policy: Every university's policy has nuances and exceptions. At UCalgary, the key document is the Intellectual Property Policy available through University Legal Services.[8] Do not assume your situation is straightforward.

Clarify the Student vs. Employee Distinction: If you are receiving any form of payment from the university, a professor, or a research grant, determine whether the work you are doing falls under an employment relationship for IP purposes. Keep in mind that scholarships and awards might not create this relationship, but assigned or commissioned work can.

Be Deliberate About Resources You Use: Some policies distinguish between IP created using university resources (e.g., lab equipment and specialised software) and IP created on your own laptop in a coffee shop. It is important to know where your work falls.

Talk to Co-Founders: Each person on your team may have a different IP situation depending on their employment status, their department, and even the specific grant funding their work. Do not assume everyone is in the same boat.

Engage Early: Proactively engaging your university's tech transfer office means getting access to resources, mentorship, and legal support that can help you commercialise more effectively.[10]

Get Legal Support. University IP policies interact with employment law, contract law, securities law, and patent law in ways that can be genuinely complex. Resources like UCalgary’s Business Venture Clinic can help student entrepreneurs navigate these intersections.

Note: The above information does not constitute legal advice. No guarantees are made as to accuracy, completeness, or applicability to individual situations.​

References
1. Bayh-Dole Act, 35 USC §§ 200–212 (1980). For an overview, see "The Bayh–Dole Act and its transformative impact on science innovation and commercialization," PMC (2024), online: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11152831/.
2. University Affairs, "Canada needs a national overhaul of university IP policies," online: https://universityaffairs.ca/opinion/canada-needs-national-overhaul-university-ip-policies/.
3. CanInnovate, "Ownership of Intellectual Property in Canadian Post-Secondary Institutions," online: https://www.caninnovate.ca/p/ownership-of-canadian-academic-ip.
4. University of Waterloo, "Policy 73 – Intellectual Property Rights," online: https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guidelines/policies/policy-73-intellectual-property-rights
5. University of British Columbia, "Inventions Policy (Policy LR11)," online: https://universitycounsel.ubc.ca/files/2022/05/Inventions-Policy_LR11.pdf. See also Innovation UBC, "Ownership of Inventions at UBC," online: https://uilo.ubc.ca/researchers/commercialize-invention/inventions-inventorship-faq/ownership-inventions-ubc.
6. University of Toronto, "Inventions & Commercialization – Protect Intellectual Property," online: https://research.utoronto.ca/inventions-commercialization-entrepreneurship/protect-intellectual-property.
7. University of Alberta, "Intellectual Property," Research + Innovation, online: https://www.ualberta.ca/en/research/services/commercialization/intellectual-property.html
8. University of Calgary, "Intellectual Property Policy," online: https://www.ucalgary.ca/legal-services/intellectual-property-policy.
9. University of Calgary, Faculty of Graduate Studies, "Intellectual Property," online: https://grad.ucalgary.ca/current-students/thesis-based-students/thesis/intellectual-property.
10. Innovate Calgary, "Our Story," online: https://innovatecalgary.com/our-story/.
11. University of Calgary, "Innovate Calgary," online: https://www.ucalgary.ca/research/research-units/innovate-calgary.