The policy that applies in this case is the College IP policy and the company should be formed through Imperial’s process for establishing spinouts, known as Founders Choice.

You can learn more about the process of forming a spinout using IP owned by Imperial and the support available to founders on our pages on founding a spinout company and by contacting your faculty’s Industry Partnerships and Commercialisation team.

While IP created through Imperial research is typically owned by the university, in some cases you may own IP related to your research at Imperial and wish to commercialise it. This might include:

• IP that the College has assigned to you as the inventor but you are continuing to develop at Imperial.
• IP that you created before joining the university but are continuing to develop at Imperial.
• IP that you created as part of an activity unrelated to your research but now overlaps with the research you carry out at Imperial.

Companies based on staff-owned IP are nonetheless considered Imperial spinouts if Imperial’s research facilities, enterprising ecosystem or research funding have supported the creation of the IP. The policy that applies in this case is the College IP policy and the company should be formed through Imperial’s process for establishing spinouts, known as Founders Choice. You can learn more about the process of forming a spinout and the support available to founders on our pages on founding a spinout company and by contacting your faculty’s Industry Partnerships and Commercialisation team.

Where possible, Imperial aims to protect IP arising from its research as a preliminary step before commercialising it. In some cases, however, the insights you wish to commercialise may not involve any IP. Imperial considers companies where there is no IP when formed to be spinouts if they are based on research that has been supported by the university's research facilities, enterprising ecosystem, or project funding. The terms that apply in this case are found in the College IP policy and the company should be formed through Imperial’s process for establishing spinouts, known as Founders Choice. You can learn more about the process of forming a spinout and the support available to founders on our pages on forming a spinout company.

If you wish to offer paid consultancy services to external organisations such as businesses, governments and charities, we recommend that you route this through Imperial Consultants, an organisation owned by Imperial that supports you and the university by providing assistance with issues such as due diligence, project scoping, pricing, contracts, tax, indemnity insurance and billing in exchange for a small percentage of your consultancy fee. If you take this route, there is no need to set up a company to deliver consultancy, although the work must be approved by your Head of Department or line manager and you must register it as an external interest.

If you choose to carry out paid consultancy for external clients without going through Imperial Consultants, you will need in addition to obtaining permission from your Head of Department or line manager and registering it as an external interest to submit a waiver for private work form signed by the external client.

See the declaration of interests web page and our comparison between consulting privately and through Imperial Consultants for more guidance.

You may want to set up a company that has no connection to your research and does not use Imperial’s facilities. This would not be considered an Imperial spinout and would count as an external interest. This means you will need to gain permission from your Head of Department or line manager (which should be given unless there is a reason not to), register it as an external interest, and submit a waiver for private work form. See the declaration of interests web page for more guidance.

Imperial does not own IP generated by students in the course of their study or research except in certain special cases. See the IP policy and student IP guidance (PDF) for more information.

The university strongly supports student entrepreneurship and offers students a range of support such as accelerator programmes, advice services, and collaboration spaces, many of which are delivered through the Imperial Enterprise Lab, an entrepreneurship hub for students, staff and recent alumni.

Your students may wish to form a company to commercialise their research or the research of your group, sometimes with Imperial staff members as directors. While the default position is that students own any IP they generate in the course of their study or research, Imperial aims to protect the interests of the university and its staff by applying some exceptions. A student must assign to Imperial IP they generate in the course of their study or research if:

• They are an Imperial employee as well as a student
• The IP builds on IP generated by an Imperial employee
• The IP was jointly developed with an Imperial employee
• The IP is subject to an agreement with an external organisation (such as a funder) whereby the IP vests with Imperial or a third party

Student-led companies that are based on Imperial IP or have Imperial staff as directors are considered Imperial spinouts. The policy that applies in these cases is the College IP policy and the company should be formed through Imperial’s process for establishing spinouts, known as Founders Choice. You can learn more about the process of forming a spinout and the support available to founders on our pages on founding a spinout company and by contacting your faculty’s Industry Partnerships and Commercialisation team.

Your students may wish to form a company to commercialise research by your research group. While the default position is that students own any IP they generate in the course of their study or research, there are some cases where this does not apply. These include cases where a company that funded the research has IP or exploitation rights. See the student intellectual property policy and student IP guidance (PDF) and the terms contained in your sponsorship agreement. If you need further advice on this issue, contact your faculty’s Industry Partnerships and Commercialisation team.

Companies founded by Imperial students and alumni sometimes wish to collaborate on research with the university or access consultancy from Imperial staff.

For research collaborations, a collaboration agreement will determine IP terms between the company and Imperial, as per any industry research collaboration. If any Imperial IP is generated under the collaboration that is required by the startup, this will need to be licensed into the startup. Learn more about how we support your research group to collaborate with industry on our industry research web pages and by contacting your faculty’s Industry Partnerships and Commercialisation team.

If you are a staff member and plan to carry out consultancy for a student-led company, you are strongly advised to have a formal consultancy agreement in place. Imperial Consultants, the university's consultancy organisation, can help you set up an agreement.

If a student entrepreneur or business director becomes an Imperial employee, they need to ensure that the appropriate declarations of interests are made to their department (using the waiver for private work form) and that consultancy agreements are put in place if applicable. Imperial Consultants, the university's consultancy organisation, can help you set up a consultancy agreement.