Research & Innovation Expo (RIE)

Research & Innovation Expo (RIE)

Intellectual Property (IP) & Authorship Policy

1. Purpose

The Research & Innovation Expo (RIE) is committed to fostering student-led innovation, research, and creativity. This policy clarifies the ownership, authorship, and usage rights of intellectual property (IP) associated with projects submitted to and presented at RIE.

2. Ownership of Intellectual Property

  • All intellectual property rights, including but not limited to ideas, research data, designs, prototypes, software, inventions, papers, posters, and presentations, remain solely with the student author(s) who created the work.
  • Where applicable, mentors, advisors, or faculty collaborators who have made a substantive intellectual contribution shall be recognized as co-authors or co-inventors, in accordance with institutional, academic, or legal standards.
  • Submission of a project to RIE does not transfer, assign, or license ownership of any intellectual property to RIE, its organizers, sponsors, partners, judges, or host institutions.

3. Mentorship and Collaborative Contributions

  • Authorship and inventorship should be determined ethically and transparently by the student team and their mentor(s) prior to submission.
  • RIE does not adjudicate disputes related to authorship or inventorship. Any such disputes must be resolved by the project team in accordance with their school, institution, or governing body’s policies.

4. License Granted to RIE

By submitting a project to RIE, students and mentors grant RIE a non-exclusive, royalty-free, revocable license to: – Display project titles, abstracts, posters, and non-confidential summaries during the event – Use project names, images, and brief descriptions for promotional, educational, reporting, and archival purposes related to RIE

This license does not permit RIE to commercialize, modify, patent, or otherwise exploit the intellectual property.

5. Acknowledgement Requirement

  • Any future publication, presentation, commercialization, or public dissemination of work that was developed for or presented at RIE should include an acknowledgement such as: > “This work was presented at the Research & Innovation Expo (RIE).”
  • Use of the RIE name or logo beyond this acknowledgement requires prior written permission from RIE organizers.

6. Confidential and Patentable Work

  • Students are responsible for determining whether their work contains confidential, proprietary, or patentable material.
  • RIE strongly encourages participants to consult with their mentors, institutions, or legal advisors before public disclosure, especially if patent protection is being considered.
  • RIE is not responsible for loss of patent rights due to public disclosure by participants.

7. No Claim of Endorsement

Participation in RIE does not imply endorsement, validation, or certification of the project’s claims, results, or commercial viability by RIE, its partners, judges, or host institutions.

8. Acceptance of Policy

Submission of a project to RIE constitutes acceptance of this Intellectual Property & Authorship Policy by all student authors and mentors.

RIE celebrates student ownership, ethical authorship, and responsible innovation while providing a platform to showcase original ideas to the broader STEM community.