At the request of what then was the Department of Agronomy, the Faculty Committee on Patents and Copyrights recommended, and the OSU Vice President for Research approved, on November 26, 1991, a variation from The Ohio State University Patents and Copyrights Policy for agronomy seed-breeder royalty distribution. Due to departmental and college restructuring and other concerns, it is necessary to restate and clarify the Policy Variation. This Revised Policy Variation supersedes the previous Policy Variation and affects all royalties received by the OSU-OTL after the date of this Revised Policy Variation.
The OSU-OTL shall continue to distribute royalties in the following manner:
For all seeds for which Plant Variety Protection or plant patent protection has been obtained and for branded varieties, cultivars, genetic stocks, and germplasm for which Plant Variety Protection has not been obtained: fifteen percent (15%) to the project leader (defined later) according to the distribution scheme reported in the OSU Plant Variety Protection Disclosure Form (see Appendix 3) and eighty-five percent (85%) to the research program within the department of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences that generated the royalties. Any unreimbursed expenses associated with filing for Plant Variety Protection or plant patent protection will be recovered by OSU-OTL from royalties prior to distribution.
This Policy applies to varieties, cultivars, genetic stocks, parental lines, and germplasm, and the project leader of record, regardless of the department or college in which the project leader resides. The Policy does not apply to inventions covered under pending or issued patents.
The term "project leader" shall mean the OSU employee designated as the first listed investigator on the CSREES project of the program from which the variety is derived at the time of release. Distribution of the 15 percent share will be determined by that project leader listed on the OSU Plant Variety Protection Disclosure Form. Each project leader shall have discretion to determine whether and to what extent the 15 percent share shall be allocated among those who contributed to development of the seed. Only those who made an inventive or intellectual contribution during the breeding process, which ultimately resulted in the final variety, shall be eligible for an allocation of the 15 percent share.