Embargo and Delay of Publication to Prevent Premature Disclosure of Potential Patents

The university accepts the obligation to protect potentially patentable material from premature public disclosure, in order to preserve entitlement to worldwide patent protection while the material is being evaluated for patentability. In order to fulfill its contractual obligations, it is occasionally necessary for the university to delay temporarily the publication of a thesis or dissertation that contains potentially patentable material.  Professional journals/publications may require an embargo on the release of content to the general public until the date of publication.

Embargo Procedures

To embargo the publication of a thesis, doctoral paper, or dissertation, the student must indicate which option they are choosing on the electronic ProQuest agreement form. The options are either six months, one year, or two year embargos. If additional time is needed, please write a memo to the Dean of Graduate Division and have your dissertation chairperson endorse your request before submitting it to: graddiv@hawaii.edu. If your request for additional time is approved, we will send a copy of your approved memo to ProQuest and Hamilton Library. Delaying the publication of a thesis or dissertation does not prevent a student from receiving his or her degree, provided that all other degree requirements have been fulfilled.

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