Intellectual Property

In Summary

Project partners who work with Sidekick schools own all intellectual property that comes out of a project. Partners allow students and their schools to share the work created in resumes, portfolios, news articles, and other similar non-commercial purposes.

Definitions

"Intellectual Property" means all project deliverables, including all know-how, trade secrets, copyrights, and related "Inventions" (which term includes improvements, inventions, designs, formulas, works of authorship, technology, algorithms, computer programs, ideas, processes, techniques, and data, whether or not patentable), along with the related notes, designs, technical data, ideas, know-how, research, reports, documentation and other information.

A "Project" is foremost a pedagogical instrument intended primarily to achieve learning objectives by connecting students and class content to real-world problems. The "Partner" is the organization who has agreed to collaborate with schools by sponsoring a Project coordinated by Sidekick. The "School" is the individual school or collective of schools engaging with a Project sponsored by the Partner. The School represents the students in all agreements associated with this policy. Sponsoring a Project does not require the Partner to provide Sidekick or the School any compensation. Students are not agents or employees for the School, the Partner, or Sidekick. Neither Sidekick nor the School make any guarantees, express or implied, as to the condition, accuracy, originality, merchantability, or fitness for purpose of any products, processes, or intellectual property developed in a Project.

Preexisting Materials

The Partner retains ownership of all Intellectual Property developed or purchased by the Partner (or on the Partner's behalf) prior to the Project. The Partner also retains ownership of all Intellectual Property similarly developed or purchased without the active participation of the School during the Project.

The School may provide the Partner certain preexisting Intellectual Property relating to the Project. The School retains ownership of this Intellectual Property. The School grants the Partner the irrevocable, perpetual, nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free right and license to (1) use, execute, reproduce, display, perform, distribute internally or externally, sell copies of, and prepare derivative works based upon such Intellectual Property and (2) authorize or sub-license others from time to time to do the same.

Created Materials

The Partner owns all right, title and interest to Intellectual Property created by the School (in whole or in part, either alone or jointly with others) as part of the Project, but the Partner grants the School the School Residual Rights detailed in this policy.

Individuals associated with the School, such as students, may create Intellectual Property for the Project that, under the School's existing policies, is considered "Individual Intellectual Property" on which the School makes no ownership claim. In these circumstances, students or parents or guardians agree to assert no rights to Intellectual Property that could be construed as Individual Intellectual Property, effectively deferring ownership to the Intellectual Property to the Partner, as determined by this policy.

School Residual Rights

The School is free to use generalized skills, know-how, expertise, ideas, concepts, methods, techniques, and other generalized competencies learned during the course of any assignment, including Sidekick-orchestrated Projects, as long as the School applies such competencies (1) without using Created Materials owned by the Partner or disclosing any confidential or proprietary information of the Partner and (2) does not apply such competencies in a way that creates a competitive situation with the Partner.

The School is free to publicly display Created Materials for use in student learning or graduation portfolios, college and career admissions applications, newsletters, and other non-commercial uses, as long as the School (1) displays such Created Materials without disclosing any confidential or proprietary information of the Partner and (2) does not create a competitive situation with the Partner. The Partner will explicitly designate which information in Created Materials should be considered confidential or proprietary by the end of the Project.