legal, intellectual-propertyIf I were to start a business for a US graduate school project, could the university claim any monetary, intellectual or regulatory control over the business after I graduate?
If there was active moderation and contribution from a professor or advisor as a regular part of the course, does the university’s involvement extend beyond the pass/fail of the project. Or if it was developed as part of the program (using university resources such as computers and instructor feedback), is it similar to as if I developed the project while working at a company with company resources?
In most cases no.
As a rule of thumb, the more involved the university gets, the better their chances to get some rights. However, if you don’t sign anything over and nobody from the university does a great deal of work on your project, they shouldn’t own it either. But any tangible support, particularly material support, they provide does give them at least a possibility for a claim.
However, why don’t you make sure and just ask them? There is an inventions office or something similar, they will probably answer your questions. And as the answer greatly depends on your university’s policies, that’s where you should look. (Example: http://www.passhe.edu/inside/asa/resources/technologytransfer/students/Pages/StudentInventionsOverview.aspx )
TL;DR: you’re not legally safe unless they explicitly tell you so, so go ask.
To generalise a little, go back a few years and most academic institutions would have drawn a clear line of separation: if it’s commercial, it’s nothing to do with us.
These days, many institutions are heading in the opposite direction: like an employee, what you do while you’re with us, we own or share. Sometimes that’s effected by means of explicit agreements (so check what you’ve signed!), sometimes it’s about policy (which may take more unearthing, as well as raising questions of legal standing and enforceability).
So I would go and find the entrepreneurs and ask them what their experience has been when their projects have become visible. And then I’d consider finding one or two friendly academics to be advisory board members, so that if the question ever comes up, it’ll be the faculty talking amongst themselves, not ganging up on students!
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