Official Rules

The organizers of the Student Innovator of the Year (SIOY) recognize that no set of rules can apply to every circumstance and therefore reserve the right to determine eligibility or to disqualify any participant/team it determines to be in violation of the mission and spirit of the competition. Any exceptions to these rules should be submitted to the Weidman Center Manager: WCManager@byu.edu.

SIOY is a competition for students of Brigham Young University- Provo (BYU). To compete in SIOY, all teams must include at least one BYU student as a major contributor and stakeholder. Qualifying BYU undergraduate students must be enrolled in at least 6 credit hours each during Fall and Winter semester of the competition academic year. Qualifying BYU graduate students must be enrolled in the minimum number of graduate credits per semester as defined by their department to maintain continuing graduate student status during Fall and Winter semester of the competition academic year. BYU students may contribute ideas or work on an unlimited number of teams. BYU students are encouraged to submit ideas and participate as appropriate without either disregarding their academic performance or limiting their viability in the competition. Non- students may be part of a team. The following clarifying restrictions apply:

• Prior SIOY Activity
  BYU student teams who have competed and finished as a finalist in a previous year’s competition at BYU may not compete with the same project in a subsequent year. Honorably mentioned or otherwise are allowed to compete in a subsequent year.

• Online Courses
  In order for undergraduate students to qualify with six (6) credit hours, those who have enrolled in “online” courses may count only the online hours that relate directly to fulfilling graduation requirements for their degree. Enrollment in courses that are not directly related to their final degree will not be counted toward the minimum enrollment requirements.

• Other BYU Campuses
  Qualifying students from BYU Idaho and BYU Hawaii are encouraged to submit a project, however, the student team must include at least one BYU Provo student who has been involved in drafting and creating the project. Teams that appear to have recruited BYU Provo students to the team only for submission purposes are not eligible to enter the competition.

BYU student teams submitting an application must have played a significant role in the creation of the innovative product and hold a significant stake in, if applicable, the business venture associated with the product.

• Management Role
  The BYU student team must hold key management roles in the business venture associated with the innovative product. In general, a member of the BYU student team should be the CEO, COO, or President of the business.

• Equity Ownership
  The BYU student team must own significant equity in the business venture associated with the innovative product. In general, the BYU student team should have ownership of 10% or more of the total equity of the business venture, with no less than 5% per BYU student.

• Intellectual Property
  The BYU student team must control the intellectual property of the innovative product.
  

Student plans that do not meet these criteria will be candidates for disqualification. In addition, teams using any type of “sunset” clause or other mechanism where BYU students are granted temporary or nominal- only status in ownership or management in order to qualify for the competition will be disqualified, with any prize made null and void, and required to be returned in full. These participants/teams will also be required to return any funds received for the express purpose of development of their product.

Status restrictions:

• Booked Revenues
  Existing teams that have booked revenue prior to September 1st (Fall of school year in which competition is held) are not eligible to enter any competitions in SIOY. “Booked revenues” is defined as a product that has already had money received for sales.

• Professional Investment
  An existing product or idea that has received any funds totaling more than $6,000, up to the date of the Finals event, is ineligible for further participation in SIOY. This funding includes grants, investments (including family and friends), and crowdfunding. No funding may be used to pay salaries and wages. However, any funding obtained through prize money or other competitions is admissible and unrestricted in amount.

Applications open early summer prior to the competition academic year and close early January (See SIOY.BYU.EDU for the application link, deadlines, resources, and event dates). Students are encouraged to register their teams as early as possible to allow competition organizers to forecast needs and provide resources to student teams. Teams that have received funding are required to participate in the Speed Mentoring event in November, Showcase event in February, and if chosen, the Finals event in late February/early March.

See SIOY Resources for additional resources.

Participants should be aware that neither administrators nor judges of the competition will be required, nor should they be asked, to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDA). Brigham Young University, instead, will ask all who view discussions on the product, see displays describing the product or demonstrations of the product to abide by the University’s Honor Code. Participants are encouraged to be selective about what they disclose, to label plans and contents with the words “CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY” and to seek legal counsel if they have any further questions regarding the legal protection of their ideas. Participants are responsible to protect any information concerning the plan that they share with mentors, team members, and fellow participants of the BYU Student Innovator of the Year competition. The BYU Student Innovator of the Year Competition directors take no responsibility for unwanted disclosure in these instances. Participants should be careful about disclosing information concerning patentable concepts. New patent laws passed in 2011 grant patent rights to the first to file regardless of work completed by others prior to the filing. Although a patent application can be filed in the U.S. up to one year after the first public disclosure of an invention, many foreign countries do not allow patent applications unless they are implemented before any sort of public disclosure. Participants concerned about the protection of intellectual property may contact the Brigham Young University Technology Transfer Office or seek answers to technology protection concerns on the Tech Transfer Office website (http://techtransfer.byu.edu).

It is the responsibility of the student to know of the personal tax or other financial implications upon receiving a cash or product prize. For example, student federal aid, such as aid accessed through the FAFSA process, may be affected because prize money may be reported as income. Also, international students are subject to the international withholding tax which, in most instances, will reduce the net amount of the prize money received. Because there are different ways to receive the prize money that can be more or less advantageous, we encourage all students to seek advice from a qualified tax advisor.

See Funding Guidelines