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 would like to provide external organisations with consultancy or other commercial services, there's no need to set up a company. Simply use Imperial's preferred routes Imperial Consultants and Imperial Projects.

If you intend to work on a private basis to provide consultancy services such as advice, bespoke training, or testing and analysis - then speak to Imperial Consultants.

The team will work with you and the client to scope the project and negotiate your fee, plus they’ll ensure you (and your IP) are protected with a secure contract and indemnity insurance. What’s more, they handle all the purchasing and billing, saving you time and hassle too - and you can use the Imperial Consultants logo on any output for the client, providing the credibility that your affiliation with Imperial College London brings.

Imperial Consultants charge a small fee for this service, which is added to the client’s invoice. Plus you can choose to take your fees personally, or have them transferred to your F account, to fund your research or other activities.

Alternatively, if your team or facility are looking to offer larger scale projects, as part of your Imperial role, such as repeat testing, regular reporting, or complex projects like capacity building – then Imperial Projects can help.

As well as providing the same support as Imperial Consultants, the team can also provide project and financial management and reporting for you – leaving your team to get on with ‘the science’. Plus, you can use the Imperial Projects logo on any output for the client.

A small fee is also charged for this service, and added to the client’s invoice, whilst the fees earnt are transferred to your department.

Read more about the extensive benefits that working with Imperial Consultants and Imperial Projects brings - and the extra responsibilities and restrictions you need to consider if you choose to work with a client directly.

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.