Trademarking

[Rich Kressly]

Dan,

She may or may not. The rights may be the team's. Search for specific laws here. In many instances if this work was performed for a work group, the group generally owns those rights. However, since this is not a paid employee with an employment contract it's a little fuzzier from a legal point of view. Again, I wouldn't make big issues unless you have a problem. Remember FIRST is a vehicle to strengthen society.

I will say this as a life lesson for all students who continually seem to ask "what's the big deal" though. In the private sector almost all employers will expressly state that, as a condition of employment, any copyright, trademark, or patent obtained as a result of work for the company is the property of the company. My father had his name on two US patents as a mechanical engineer. The rights, however, were owned by his employer. A close friend of mine has been a copyrighter and now the head of production for a top 100 web company. His employers actually own his ideas to an extent (and for a period of time after leaving them if he so chooses). As a condition of employment if he were to strike out on the internet on his own for extra money and he were found out by his employer he could be dismissed and even sued for violating his employment contract.