Applied research projects at Saskatchewan Polytechnic are carried out under the terms of our agreements with clients. The agreements are drawn up by staff within the Saskatchewan Polytechnic Office of Applied Research and Innovation, in collaboration with the principal researcher and the client. Those agreements include detailed descriptions of the work to be done, work schedules, payment details, and the other terms and conditions under which the projects will be undertaken.
Saskatchewan Polytechnic research agreements also contain provisions that can be different from contracts between private businesses. Some specific terms which may be worth defining are:
Confidentiality
Clients of Saskatchewan Polytechnic frequently require that information associated with their projects be kept confidential. Facilities and procedures have been put in place to meet such requests and if necessary specific non-disclosure or confidentiality agreements can be completed.
Indemnification
In routine business agreements, customers often require that their suppliers give them indemnifications against certain business risks and releases of liability. Research is not as simple as providing a service, and as a public institution, Saskatchewan Polytechnic will rarely agree to such terms in its agreements.
Intellectual property
One of the goals of Saskatchewan Polytechnic is to encourage, promote and foster innovation and discovery, in all fields of endeavour in which the Polytechnic is engaged.
Saskatchewan Polytechnic follows the principle that clients who bring ideas or intellectual property to the Polytechnic for further development or enhancement will own the results, and the relationship between the Polytechnic and the client will form part of the research agreement that is entered into. Intellectual property that belongs to the client always remains the property of the client.
Where Saskatchewan Polytechnic employees create novel intellectual property that does not belong to a client, that intellectual property is owned by the Polytechnic under the terms of its policies, and clients have the potential to acquire or license such intellectual property, subject to negotiation with the Polytechnic. Intellectual property that belongs to the Polytechnic is managed through policies and processes that share the benefits with employees.
Liability
Saskatchewan, as a public educational institution, does not enter into agreements which place the institution in a position where it might face unlimited liability. As a result, our research contracts contain wording that limits or disclaims the liability of Saskatchewan Polytechnic.
Use of Saskatchewan Polytechnic's name
Saskatchewan Polytechnic welcomes recognition for its accomplishments, but as a public
educational institution it must avoid having its name used to support inappropriate,
exaggerated or unwarranted statements.
Research agreements with Saskatchewan Polytechnic contain a provision that requires
clients to notify Saskatchewan Polytechnic about public announcements associated with
the research project being worked on or completed, so that Saskatchewan Polytechnic
has an opportunity to approve the wording of the announcement or the use of the Saskatchewan
Polytechnic marks and logos.
As a public body, Saskatchewan Polytechnic can be required to disclose who it deals with. In an effort to comply with the requirements of governments and research granting agencies, Saskatchewan Polytechnic will only release the names of parties and projects, together with total funding amounts. Additional information will only be provided with the consent of the client, or after provision of a legislative or judicial direction to disclose such additional information.