A graduate research assistant works on a sponsored project that financially supports 50 percent of her time while she pursues a Ph.D. degree. Her advisor, the principal investigator (PI), developed the original idea and has predicted some correlations. An undergraduate research assistant is involved in a crucial part of the data acquisition.
The research turns out to be scientifically successful, resulting in a new process that promises commercial revenue through licensing. The graduate student finishes her Ph.D. degree and obtains a copyright for her thesis in which the relevant correlations are reported. The University decides to file a patent application. The graduate student objects, however, because she wants to file a patent application herself, and has found a company to commercially exploit the idea. The graduate student argues that she conceived the idea while working on her own time and that she holds the copyright for an important part of the idea.
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