The IPAC is appointed by the President as required by TBR policy on Intellectual Property at http://www.tbr.state.tn.us/policies/default.aspx?id=1458

The committee is composed of “faculty, staff, and other persons experienced in intellectual property matters.”

The IPAC is charged with evaluating inventor or author disclosure forms to determine the ownership, patentability and/or commercial potential of the invention or work. The IPAC will then provide the President with its recommendations.

In order to do this, the committee may:

• Interview the inventor or author or other persons
• Help the inventor refine his/her idea to make it patentable or copyrightable
• Consider the acts of the inventor in particular that may bar patentability
• Consider the commercial potential from a business standpoint
• Consult private legal counsel (with approval by State Attorney General) or the Office of the General Counsel
• Recommend to President (or designee) whether to proceed with patent protection, copyright registration or commercialization on behalf of the university
• Inform inventor or author of President’s (or designee’s) decision

The IPAC will also review and consider recommending changes in MTSU Intellectual Property policy annually.

The 2006-2009 IPAC members are:
Charles Perry, ETIS and Russell Chair of Manufacturing Excellence
Stephanie Taylor, Recording Industry
John Mullane, Management and Marketing
William Robertson, Physics and Astronomy
Andrienne Friedli, Office of Research

The committee reports to:

Dr. Michael Allen, Vice Provost for Research, designee for President McPhee