Your Research Data Management Team
Senior Research Data Management Librarian
Data Rights and Ownership
Trade secrets, patents, copyrights, and special or "sui generis" database rights (in Europe and South Korea) are forms of intellectual property that could impact data sharing.
Trade secrets, usually owned by the employer, may be protected by confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements.
Patent applications are usually filed under the name of the inventor(s) but patent rights may be assigned to another party, such as an employer. Patent protection may impact data sharing in cases where data sharing could prevent a right to a patent by disclosing an invention or by providing information that could make the invention obvious. It is also possible that a patent could claim steps involved with sharing or reusing for the data. Also be aware that data supporting your patent should be retained for the life of the patent, usually 20 years from the filing date. In the case of a patent dispute, the data may be needed to prove the validity of the patent.
Copyrights are initially owned by the creator or a team of creators and may be transferred. While facts are not copyrightable in the US, an original arrangement of facts could be protected by copyright. In addition, software or code used with the data may also have copyright protection.
Special or "sui generis" database rights usually belong to data aggregators or repositories as opposed to individuals or teams. These rights apply to databases created or maintained within the borders of European Union member sates and South Korea.
Research data ownership can be ambiguous because research requires many resources coming from various stakeholders. For this reason, be aware of funder or journal data sharing policies and UVA data ownership policies. Funder and journal data policies usually require sharing of data and other research products supporting a publication although sensitive data is an exception.
If you have specific concerns about meeting data sharing obligations, contact your funder or journal. An example of such a situation could be that you need to meet funder data sharing requirements, but you intend to patent a process involving your research data, which could affect the timing of your data submission or limit data access.
(The Noun Project image above is by Arthur Shlain under a CC BY 3.0 Attribution license.)
An intellectual property primer focused on data, a software copyright guide, and University ownership policies concerning copyrightable material, research records, and patenting are indicated below.
- Sharing Research Data and Intellectual Property Law: A PrimerThis article provides clear explanations of trade secrets, patents, copyrights, and special or “sui generis” database rights and answers questions about data rights ownership and using data rights to encourages reuse.
- Copyright Guide for Scientific SoftwareThis, a joint project of the Harvard Cyberlaw Clinic and the Center for Astrophysics, in association with the Software Preservation Network, aims to provide answers to common questions about how scientific software and copyright interact.
- RES-001: Ownership Rights in Copyrightable MaterialPer the Reason for Policy, “the work-for-hire rule in the Copyright Act gives the University ownership of the copyrights to works produced by its employees within the scope of their employment. However, in the case of scholarly and academic works produced by academic and research faculty, the University cedes copyright ownership to the author(s), except where significant University resources (including sponsor-provided resources) were used in creation of the work.”
- RES-002: Ownership, Retention, Safeguarding, Management, and Transfer of Research RecordsPer the Policy Statement on Ownership and Retention, “Research records are the property of the University of Virginia if significant University resources, including sponsor-provided resources, are used to produce them…”
- RES-006: Patenting Discoveries or Inventions at the UniversityPer the Policy Statement, “any person who may be engaged in University research shall be required to execute a patent agreement with the University in which the rights and obligations of both parties are defined.”
How Long Should You Retain Your Data?
A common question among researchers is "How long should I retain my data after the completion of a study?" There is no definitive answer to this question, though a typical response is "as long as possible." More specific answers are laid out in regulations and policies at the federal, institutional, and disciplinary levels. Research sponsors and funders may also have data retention requirements.
Please note that some of these policies and regulations apply not only to research data but to the broader category of research records, including financial records and other supporting documents.
| Type of data or record | Minimum retention period | Source of policy or regulation |
| UVA research datasets | Retain until reference/research value ends | UVA Policies RES-002 and IRM-017, plus associated retention schedules. Select Research under the Schedule Category and click Apply to retrieve Research: Data Sets. |
| Federally funded research data and records | Three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report or quarterly or annual financial report | 2 C.F.R. Part 200 |
| Health information data and records | Six years for data and records containing health information protected under HIPAA | 45 C.F.R. Part 164 |
| IRB records | Three years after completion of the research | 45 C.F.R. Part 46 AKA the Common Rule |
| NIH-funded research data and records | Three years from the submission date of the federal financial report | NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 8.4.2 |
| NSF-funded research data and records | Three years from grant financial closeout as described in PAPPG Chapter VII.E, except as noted in 2 CFR §200.334 | NSF Grant General Conditions (GC-1) |
It is important to be familiar with all the requirements and expectations for data and record retention that apply to your research project. At a minimum, aim to retain data and records for three years after the completion of a project, and employ due diligence to gain awareness of and understand more exacting standards that may apply due to institutional, funder, or other policies.
- The Code of Federal RegulationsThe C.F.R. contains, among other things, the federally-mandated data and record retention requirements mentioned here.
- UVA Policy DirectoryMost UVA policies germane to research data management are categorized under RES or IRM.
- UVA Records & Information ManagementThe UVA records & information management office site has additional information on UVA record retention policies.