18. Oktober 2023, 14:30

Dr. Dirk Feuchter, KIT Licence Manager

Birgit Schulze, KIT Innovation Manager

Dr. Dirk Feuchter holds a degree in computer science and works in IP management at KIT, specializing in the field of software. In his daily work, he supports the units LAW and EVM in KIT-contracts with software-IP relation as well as KIT-Research Software Engineers (RSEs) and their PIs, who want to license out their KIT software against payment (proprietarily) to industrial partners or spin-offs. In addition, he is interested in FOSS business models and involved in KIT’s Open Source working group as well as KIT’s RSE-community.
Birgit Schulze holds a degree in physics and has been employed as an innovation manager in technology transfer since 2021. Previously, she worked for many years in the product management of a technology company.

About the seminar:

The transfer of scientific knowledge out of research institutions into business and society is important to achieve real benefits and sustainable impact. The transfer of technologies creates innovation by developing new products, processes or services that improve people's lives or create new business opportunities.
The transfer and licensing of software, in particular, pose special challenges for the players involved. Of course, the first question to be asked is the nature, goal and characteristics of a software project, and consequently also its suitability for exploitation.
Equally relevant are the fundamental legal aspects, such as the clarification of authorship and exploitation rights. This concerns conventional proprietary, as well as strongly increasing open source licensing of software. Both options are connected with chances and risks with regard to transfer and exploitation. In industry, for example, it is becoming increasingly important to keep an eye on such topics as “Secure Software Development” and "License Compliant Delivery". The latter can be assisted by the creation of a "Software Bill of Materials" ("SBOM") already during the development process.
Key questions to be discussed are: How relevant is the idea of transfer and exploitation already in the design of a software project? What considerations help in the selection of a suitable license model? Which constraints should ideally be considered already during the development phase? What are your experiences, e.g. with SBOMs?
In this dialog-oriented exchange, scientific employees and their experiences should be heard, informed about transfer options and sensitized for the topic. In the discussion you should be inspired regarding the handling of your individual software developments.

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