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Software Disclosure
for Software Developed by Employees of
ETH Zurich
Software Name
Software Developers should use this Software Disclosure form to summarize the key data of their developed software at ETH Zurich for ETH transfer. This information will be treated confidentially and will
be used to clarify the further exploitation of the software.
Not every software that is developed at ETH Zurich needs to be disclosed to ETH transfer, but for every software that shall be licensed to third parties this form should be filled out.
Please complete the form as fully as possible and send it to:
ETH Zurich
ETH transfer, HG E 43-49
Raemistr. 101
8092 Zurich
Detailed instructions on completing the form are given in the Annex. Further information is also posted
on www.transfer.ethz.ch/.
Should you have any questions, please call us on 044 632 23 82 or write an e-mail to
transfer@sl.ethz.ch.
Your invention will automatically be reviewed for the “Spark Award“:
ETH transfer will celebrate the most promising invention of the year based on a
thorough evaluation of the originality, patent strength and commercial potential. The
winner(s) will be presented with the Spark Award as a symbol of the inventive spirit
and the innovative strength of ETH-Zurich’s scientists.
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1. Developer(s)
Please copy this page. It should then be completed in full by each person involved in the invention.
Personal details
Male
Female
Surname
Forename
Title
Affiliation (responsible professor/Institute)
Telephone
Fax
E-mail
Private address:
Street and Number
Post code and City
The software was developed within the scope of:
PhD thesis
Bachelor/Master project
Academic research
Other:
The software was devised within the scope of the employment agreement with ETH Zurich, therefore
ETH Zurich has the commercial exploitation rights
Yes
No
By submitting this software disclosure I declare that I and, if applicable, the other developers mentioned in this Software Disclosure are the only developers of the Software. No other developers are
known to me. No further dependencies are known to me except those outlined in Section 5.
My contribution to the Software is as follows:
All developers have contributed equally
xx% (must add to 100% for all developers together)
Developers of software that is commercialized are normally entitled to a share of one third of the net
income. The individual share will be calculated according to the above contribution,. I am aware that
my share will be paid to my salary account as long as I am employed by ETH Zurich. In order to guarantee payments, any changes of address have to be reported within 30 days, referenced by the ETH
transfer case No., to: ETH transfer, Raemistrasse 101, CH-8092 Zurich
Software may be published as Open Source or Freeware which would most likely impede or substantially limit any direct revenues for me.
I agree to such free publication of the software: Yes
No
I am the contact person for any questions from ETH transfer (only one Developer)
I hereby confirm that I have read the complete Software Disclosure and am in agreement with it.
Place:
Date:
Signature:
Please sign and date this form, then send it, together with documents describing the invention, to:
ETH transfer, ETH Zurich, HG E 48.2, Rämistr. 101, 8092 Zurich; Tel.: +41 (0)1 632 23 82
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2. Details of the Software
a) Software Name
b) Short Description
c) Value Proposition of the Software
Explain why you believe that the software should be commercialized and why it differs from other software that is available on the market.
d) Technical Background
Which programming language(s) was/were used?
Indicate the technical requirements to run the software (hardware, OS, special middleware or software
licenses, such as Matlab etc.)
3. Development and Licensing Status
a) Development status
The software exists as:
Concept, Code
pieces
Beta Test
Research Tool
for Academics
Ready to License Product (off
the shelf, contains
GUI etc.)
Other:
Status of the project in connection with the software:
Project completed
Project will go on at ETH
Project will continue together
with an external partner
b) What is the desired or most likely licensing scenario?
Open Source License
Non-exclusive License or
License to Software Reseller
Academic Use
Exclusive License to Company
Other
c) Do you already have contacts with (a) potential licensee(s)? If yes, who?
d) Could an exclusive license be given, or would this obstruct your research in the future?
e) Do you wish to exploit the software yourself by founding a company?
Please sign and date this form, then send it, together with documents describing the invention, to:
ETH transfer, ETH Zurich, HG E 48.2, Rämistr. 101, 8092 Zurich; Tel.: +41 (0)1 632 23 82
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4. Publications
Publications, especially publications of results that were achieved with the software can be a great
means to advertise the software. However, filing a patent application based on the software is only
possible BEFORE such publication, including oral presentations.
Are parts of the software or its underlying ideas/results published or were they presented at a conference?
Publications in conjunction with software
No
Yes
Planned
No
yes
Date submitted:
Planned date of submission:
Date placed online:
Planned date of online placement:
Date published in print:
Planned date of publication print:
Date oral disclosure:
Date oral disclosure:
Remarks, Referemces:
Do you believe that the underlying ideas of the software should be patented?
Yes
No
5. Dependencies of the Software
Could any rights to the software be held by third parties?
a) Third Party Code and/or Research Collaborations
Please detail persons, companies or organizations external to ETH that were involved in the research
leading to the software, or any third party code that was used or included, for the development, modified or not.
No research collaboration
Person/organization/company
Type of involvement
Extent of involvement
Remarks:
b) Open Source Code
Please detail any Open Source Code or Libraries that were included in the software, modified or not.
No open source code used
Copyright Holder
Name/Extent of Code
License type (GNU, BSD etc.)
Remarks:
Please sign and date this form, then send it, together with documents describing the invention, to:
ETH transfer, ETH Zurich, HG E 48.2, Rämistr. 101, 8092 Zurich; Tel.: +41 (0)1 632 23 82
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c) Financial support
Please specify all sources of funding external to ETH (Swiss National Fund, foundations, companies,
other organizations) that have financially supported the research leading to the Software.
No involvement of funding sources outside the ETH
Organization
Purpose of funding
Extent of funding
Remarks:
General remarks/Comments
Assessed by Professor
Place:
Date:
Signature:
6. Enclosures
The following documents have been appended to the Software disclosure:
Separate description of the Software
Developer’s own papers/publications in the domain of the Software
Please sign and date this form, then send it, together with documents describing the invention, to:
ETH transfer, ETH Zurich, HG E 48.2, Rämistr. 101, 8092 Zurich; Tel.: +41 (0)1 632 23 82
Annex
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Explanations about the Software Disclosure
Usage and exploitation rights of software developed by employees of ETH Zurich in the course of performing their professional duties are the property of ETH Zurich (Employee inventions, Art. 332 Civil Code in
conjunction with Art. 6 para. 2 Swiss Federal Employee Law). Contractual agreements with third parties
within the scope of cooperative research projects are not subject to this condition. If neither the Vice President for Research and Industrial Relations (VPFW) nor the professorships involved are interested in exploitation of the software, the VPFW may transfer the rights to the software to the developer(s) in writing.
The guidelines for the exploitation of research results at ETH Zurich (exploitation guidelines) regulate
the economic exploitation of research results at ETH Zurich, especially of inventions and computer programs, and are mandatory for all employees of ETH Zurich. Other intangible assets such as marks or designs are to be treated analogously.
Completing the form “Software Disclosure for Software developed by employee’s of ETH Zurich”:
This Software Disclosure form specifically asks for all necessary details of the software that shall be
commercialized or exploited. Please try to answer all the questions as fully as possible, even if you have
already found a licensee. Your answers will help ETH transfer in its initial assessment of the software
and possible ways for its exploitation. However, the form cannot replace the subsequent individual discussion.
1. Developer(s)
Developers are those persons who have made any contribution to the software. The individual percentages may reflect if this contribution was significant or not.
Therefore, page 2 of the invention disclosure should be completed separately and signed by each developer, who shall also state his/her contribution to the software and whether he/she is employed by ETH and
he/she shall confirm to have read the complete invention disclosure and agrees to it.
2. Details of the software
ETH transfer shall use the documents that you have submitted to obtain a preliminary overview of the
software.
Please indicate the primary purpose of the software and how it is used. Indicate any special hard- or software environments that are necessary to use the software.
3. Development and Licensing Status
To assess the commercial potential and the best way to license the software, please provide us with your
estimation.
If it is already more or less clear who will license the software, indicate this in this section, as well.
In the case of exclusive licenses, but also in the case of open source licenses or similar, further activities
of your research group with industrial partners may be affected. Therefore, please tell us what your personal future plans are for this software.
3. Commercial exploitation
Not every software that is developed at ETH Zurich needs to be disclosed to ETH transfer, but any software that shall be licensed to third parties.
4. Publications
Publications can be a way to advertise the software and the feedback you receive are good indicators as to
how the software can be successfully exploited. Therefore, please indicate all publications and oral
presentations of the software or of results that were achieved with the software.
If the software solves a technical problem in a non-obvious manner, it may be patentable under certain
circumstances. If this is successful, not only is the source code protected from being copied, but also the
Please sign and date this form, then send it, together with documents describing the invention, to:
ETH transfer, ETH Zurich, HG E 48.2, Rämistr. 101, 8092 Zurich; Tel.: +41 (0)1 632 23 82
Annex
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underlying ideas. If you believe that this should be done, we will discuss it further. It is especially important, in this case, that you fill out this section carefully.
5.
Dependencies of the Software
In order to ensure that commercial exploitation is not impeded by third party rights, you should make clear
if
1. You have included or used code of a third party, whether open source or not, whether due to
research collaborations or not, whether from industry, academia or private individuals. Even, if you
have modified the code before incorporating it.
2. You have used any code or parts of code published under open source licenses. Some open
source licenses, especially GNU public licenses (GPL) or similar, have certain copyleft clauses
that strongly affect the terms under which any derived software may be licensed.
3. You have been inspired by other third party software the source code of which you had access to.
Please sign and date this form, then send it, together with documents describing the invention, to:
ETH transfer, ETH Zurich, HG E 48.2, Rämistr. 101, 8092 Zurich; Tel.: +41 (0)1 632 23 82