Speakers: Rick Johnson (Research Liason, Office of the Dean, College of Liberal Arts),
                Michael Mobley (Ph.D., Industrial Liason, Office of the Vice Provost for Research)
Title: "Intellectual Property and Mathematics at ASU"

Abstract:
While many mathematicians express the desire that their work be for the benefit of mankind, in many cases, the most efficient avenue by which innovation comes to benefit mankind is through the process of establishment of intellectual property rights followed by entrepenurism. A promenent recent example of this process is the development of public key encryption by MIT mathematicians Rivest, Shamir and Adelman, who for twenty years owned a patent on their "RSA algorithm", upon which the much of the new economy of online business transactions depends. Mathematicians working in industry face the reality of intellectual property on a daily basis. Moreover, Universities throughout the nation have begun to take advantage of financial rewards of their research by patenting and licensing the inventions created by their researchers. This presentation will discuss the concept of intellectual property, how it can be protected, what resources are available to ASU faculty and students to help develop intellectual property, and what are the rewards offered by ASU to researchers and departments for this development.

Summary of Presentation:
Columbia University is the top American university in funds raised through licenses on patents. Since the new president of ASU is formerly from Columbia and was heavily involved in raising funds from licenses, ASU will see a push in this direction, as predicted by Mr. Johnson and Mr. Mobley. A patent obtained through ASU gives licensing rights to ASU and funds raised are slit 1/3 to the university, 1/3 to the inventor, and 1/3 to the inventor's unit. There are grants available through ASU to support development of a patented technology into something marketable. Graduate students and faculty are encouraged to submit applications to the univesity for patents or to contact Mr. Mobley or Mr. Johnson for more information.