This document sets forth Terms of Use applicable to Users of Harvard Innovation Labs facilities, programming, and resources – all of which may be offered remotely or in person.
“User” or “Users” are defined as any person or group of persons, including but not limited to founders, members, teams, ventures, experts, mentors, volunteers, students, and/or alumni, who attend, utilize, or participate in one or more Harvard Innovation Labs programming or resources, including but not limited to use of the Harvard Innovation Labs facilities.
All Users are bound by the following Terms of Use, and by so using, you agree to be legally bound. If any one of these Terms of Use is unacceptable to you, do not use the Harvard Innovation Labs.
Teams or team members can be removed from Harvard Innovation Labs programs and/or the President’s Innovation Challenge at the sole discretion of the Harvard Innovation Labs administration.
Purpose and Usage
- The purpose of the Harvard Innovation Labs is to provide space and support for Harvard students, faculty, staff, alumni, and others engaged in new ventures, nonprofit creation, product or service innovation, small business development, and related educational and research activities. Users should devote their time in the Harvard Innovation Labs in pursuit of these activities in a mutually supportive community. We expect members of our community to behave responsibly and respectfully when using the space, and to use the space and resources only for these intended purposes. We may terminate your use of the Harvard Innovation Labs at any time in our sole discretion.
- The Harvard Innovation Labs is an operating unit of Harvard University. All Harvard policies applicable to you apply to your work in the Harvard Innovation Labs and your use of our facilities.
- Access to Harvard Innovation Labs facilities and eligibility to apply to and use Harvard Innovation Labs programs and resources is determined by the role and status assigned to you by your local Harvard school. Harvard alumni must be engaged in a current Alumni Launch Lab program or written agreement for access.
Facilities
- Space at the i-lab is limited. Teams of entrepreneurs and innovators are invited to use the space for defined periods of time.
- The Harvard Innovation Labs administration will determine which areas of the i-lab you and your team (if applicable) may use, and may change the area or areas of permitted use from time to time in the administration’s sole discretion. No part of the space in the i-lab is reserved for exclusive use or occupancy by you or your team members. The administration may terminate your or any team’s right to use the i-lab at any time in the administration's sole discretion. You or any team member may elect to cease using the i-lab at any time. You will endeavor to provide the i-lab with advance notice of any anticipated change in the team’s use of the i-lab.
- Depending on the i-lab’s needs and the nature of your work in the space, the i-lab may elect to charge you and/or your team a fee as a condition of using the i-lab. If the i-lab elects to charge such a fee, or to increase any such fee previously imposed, the i-lab will notify the team leader either (i) upon approval of the team by i-lab or (ii) at least fourteen (14) days before the subsequently imposed fee or increase becomes effective. If a fee is to be paid from the outset, it will be communicated to the team leader as soon as commercially practicable. If the i-lab subsequently notifies you or your team that a fee will be imposed or that an existing fee will be increased, you and/or your team may elect to cease using the i-lab thereafter if you do not wish to pay the fee. All use fees will be payable, in full, monthly in advance.
- Harvard is not responsible for safeguarding any computers, equipment, documents, or other materials you may bring or leave in the Harvard Innovation Labs. If you choose to bring or leave anything in the Harvard Innovation Labs, you agree that Harvard will not be liable for any damage, theft, or loss that may occur. The i-lab does provide lockers and i-lab-issued locks for items you wish to keep on site. Do not use your own lock.
- Eating and drinking is permitted in the i-lab open workspace and in meeting rooms, but not in the studio spaces. Alcohol is not permitted at the i-lab.
- The i-lab is a focused co-working environment that is designed for adult use. To maintain our culture of respect for everyone using the space, children may enter only under special circumstances. When in the i-lab, children must be accompanied at all times by a parent or guardian.
- While i-lab access is available to non-Harvard affiliates who are members of a venture team, this access does not extend to other Harvard buildings and resources.
- Invited guests of i-lab members may visit for activities directly related to the member’s work at the i-lab. As a host, the member is responsible for the guest's adherence to Harvard Innovation Labs and Harvard University policies. All guests much check in at the security desk upon arrival.
Your Venture and Intellectual Property
Your use of Harvard Innovation Labs facilities, resources, and funding to develop inventions, software, copyrighted works, or unpatented materials will not, in and of itself, give Harvard any rights in those developments. If Harvard is otherwise entitled to rights in such a development under its Intellectual Property Policy – for example, because the development is made under a sponsored research agreement administered by Harvard or with other financial support from Harvard – the fact that you used Harvard Innovation Labs facilities or resources to work on the development will not eliminate or diminish Harvard’s rights.
You – not Harvard – are responsible for your venture or project. Your responsibilities include, among other things:
- Protecting any intellectual property that you or others involved with your project may develop and own. Note, for example, that certain disclosures of information about your ideas or inventions may adversely affect your ability to obtain patent protection in the future;
- Making suitable arrangements and entering into appropriate agreements setting forth the rights and obligations of you and your co-ventures, including any business founders, managers, or inventors;
- Choosing appropriate advisors and service providers to assist your venture, and entering into appropriate agreements with them. These may include lawyers, accountants, software or website developers, product testers, and other consultants; and
- Resolving conflicts involving members of your team or other users of the Harvard Innovation Labs without calling upon Harvard Innovation Labs personnel to intervene or arbitrate disputes.
As you think about how best to establish your business and protect your intellectual property, and what formal agreements to put into place among venture founders, managers, inventors ,and other relevant parties, recognize that there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach or set of documents. You are best served by consulting with legal counsel of your own choosing to help you determine how to address the issues relevant to your venture.
- The Harvard Innovation Labs expects to have entrepreneurs-in-residence, advisors, mentors, and service providers (collectively, “Advisors”) whom you may meet with in person or virtually and whom you may choose to ask for assistance or advice on your work in the Harvard Innovation Labs. These Advisors may include people from within or outside Harvard. Harvard does not warrant that their advice or assistance will be sound or suitable for your particular business or project. You are responsible for evaluating the needs of your venture and deciding whether or not to use these resources. Any use of Advisors you choose to make will be at your own sole risk; Harvard will have no liability for any advice, assistance, or services that any Advisor provides or fails to provide or for the selection or supervision of any Advisor. While we do not permit Advisors to charge for routine assistance they may provide at the request of venture teams while on our premises, if you decide to retain an Advisor for additional services, you will be responsible for working out any fee or other arrangements related to those services – such arrangements are strictly between you and the Advisor. You should recognize that the advice and mentoring provided by Advisors in the i-lab may be influenced by the Advisors’ potential interest in a business relationship with you or your venture.
- The Harvard Innovation Labs is an open, collaborative space. Harvard is not responsible for safeguarding your confidential information and will not be requiring i-lab staff, users, or Advisors to enter into confidentiality agreements or to agree to protect confidential information as a condition of using the Harvard Innovation Labs. You are responsible for protecting all information you wish to maintain, or are obligated to maintain, as confidential (“Your Confidential Information”). If you decide to disclose Your Confidential Information to others, including to Harvard faculty, staff, or students who work on your projects (whether in the i-lab or not), you are responsible for securing any such individual’s agreement to keep that information confidential. Harvard will not be responsible for security breaches involving Your Confidential Information or for the failure of any individual to comply with an agreement not to disclose Your Confidential Information.
Use of Harvard Name and Trademarks
- Users shall not use the Harvard Names (defined below) or “Innovation Labs” for any promotional or commercial purpose, including on websites, social media, promotional materials, or otherwise, except with the prior written approval of Harvard, and in accordance with any applicable standing or additional provided restrictions.
- As used throughout the Terms of Use, Harvard Names means HARVARD, alone or as part of another name, and in any language; and/or any logos, seals, insignia, or other words, names, symbols, images, or devices that identify Harvard or any Harvard school, unit, division, or affiliate or the Innovation Labs.
- Harvard University does not allow the use or display of the Harvard Names by any third-party, including students and alumni, for their own personal or business purposes and reserves the use of the Harvard Names solely for and by the University.
- Users shall not directly nor indirectly suggest any affiliation with Harvard, or receipt of sponsorship or endorsement by Harvard, in any promotional or commercial materials including, but not limited to, websites, social media, blogs, flyers, etc.
- The use of the plain sentence “Incubated at Harvard Innovation Labs” when used descriptively, to refer to the User’s venture in a factually correct manner and within an appropriate context such as an “About Us” section of a website, and without use of bolding, italics, logos, insignia, designs or shields, shall be acceptable under these Terms.
- Users shall not register any Harvard Names in any jurisdiction as a trademark, service mark, domain name, trade name, business or company name, or otherwise.
- Without limiting the foregoing, on the termination or expiration of the User’s relationship with the Harvard Innovation Labs, the User shall cease any use of the Harvard Names that may have been authorized.
Your Relationship with Harvard Innovation Labs
- You agree that Harvard and its officers, governing board members, faculty members, employees, and agents (collectively, the “Harvard Parties”) will have no liability of any kind – whether based on contract, tort, or any other legal theory, and whether or not any such liability is foreseeable – for any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, or expenses whatsoever arising from or related to your or your team’s use of the i-lab or any i-lab resources, including the services or advice of any Advisors (as previously defined) and including any negligence of any Harvard Party in connection with the i-lab. You agree not to assert any claim with respect to the foregoing matters against any Harvard Party, and hereby release the Harvard Parties from all such claims you or your team members now or hereafter may have.
- Harvard and you acknowledge that the parties are independent contractors and shall not be deemed to be partners, joint venturers, employers, employees, or each other’s agents. Neither Harvard Innovation Labs nor you nor any team member has the right to act on behalf of the other, and neither shall purport to do so.
Representing your activities at Harvard Innovation Labs
Student i-lab and Alumni Launch Lab Members
- Under “Experience,” please list the name of your venture as your company or employer.
- You can include a descriptor such as “Venture started at Harvard Innovation Labs,” “Incubated at the Harvard Innovation Labs via the Student i-lab Membership,” or “A member of Harvard Innovation Labs’ Launch Lab X GEO accelerator,” or “A member of Harvard Innovation Labs’ Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab.”
Volunteer Experts, Mentors, and Advisors
List your activities at Harvard Innovation Labs as a volunteer activity. Please include your start and end dates if you are no longer active.
Please do not list the Harvard Innovation Labs as your employer, or utilize a Harvard trademark or logo.
Harvard i-lab Subcommunity Members
The subcommunities are informal student i-lab member groups and should be used for internal i-lab purposes for support, networking, and shared learning among founders. There are no formal Harvard name designations registered for use with these groups, as they are not registered Harvard University clubs.
Photo and Video Release
The Harvard Innovation Labs may offer events, workshops, or presentations time to time where photography and/or audio and video recordings may occur. Any photos or recordings (understood to include video or audio recordings) may be posted, streamed, broadcast, sold or otherwise publicly disseminated, including for promotional purposes. By attending such a session, you consent to the use and dissemination of any such recording, without further obligation or liability to you. You release Harvard Innovation Labs, its officers, employees, agents, students, and faculty and each and all persons involved from any liability connected with the taking, recording, digitizing, or publication and use of interviews, photographs, computer images, video and/or sound recordings. You also waive any right to inspect or approve any photo, video, or audio recording taken by Harvard Innovation Labs or the person or entity designated to do so by Harvard Innovation Labs.
Content Created by Harvard Innovation Labs
For any Harvard Innovation Labs workshops, presentations, or programming you understand and agree to the following:
- That the streamed content and associated handouts, presentations, and/or materials that you are accessing (the “Content”) is available only to a limited Audience. "Audience" shall mean members of Harvard Innovation Labs’ innovation and entrepreneurship programs and Harvard-affiliated community members.
- That you will not seek to record, download, or otherwise obtain a copy of the Content.
- That you will not share your access credentials with anyone who is not authorized to access this Content, nor will you otherwise enable any unauthorized person to access the Content.
- That you are viewing the Content on a single computer solely for personal, informational, and noncommercial purposes.
- You agree that you will not use, download, upload, copy, print, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, post, transmit, rent, lease, modify, loan, sell, distribute, or create derivative works based (whether in whole or in part) on the Content or any information from this Content, in whole or in part, without the express prior written authorization of Harvard Innovation Labs.
- You agree not to access the Content for any fraudulent or unlawful purpose.
- You agree you will not remove any copyright, trademark or other proprietary rights notice from the Content or other materials from the website.
These Terms of Use were updated in December 2024.
