University students have a right to their IP

Imagine entering your local bakery and being asked to fill out a form before being allowed to buy freshly baked bread. The baker has kept the form very simple – name, address, signature and a single box to check: “I agree to assign all my intellectual property rights (IPR) to the bakery.” Folks who believe that they’ll never invent something might easily agree with this demand, but I’m glad I was never forced to sign such a thing. Nor would I’ve signed it. Me being a customer obviously doesn’t entitle the baker to my IPR, no matter how delicious his products are.

This ‘crazy bakery’ is my alma mater, Eindhoven University of Technology. I discovered this when my son enrolled in a bachelor’s program in the summer of 2014. As a proud father, happy to see my eldest son go to the same university where I’d received my education, we enjoyed filling out his enrollment form together.