“Finding 4: The Bayh-Dole legal framework and the practices of universities
have not seriously undermined academic norms of uninhibited
inquiry, open communication, or faculty advancement based on scholarly
merit. There is little evidence that IP considerations interfere with
other important avenues of transferring research results to development
and commercial use.”
Have not “seriously” undermined. What does this mean? Some undermining is okay? Undermining a little is *way better* than the worser past when this undermining wasn’t? What norms are important here? Ah, inquiry, communication, and promotion. What a strange set to care about, and to care about them as less undermining.
What other norms might we care about? How about collaboration with industry? Oh, haven’t heard about that? What about inquiry freely migrating toward trendy market things rather than challenging consensus claims? What about promotion aligned with following something out to make an impact? But no, the promotion takes place despite technology transfer–what a relief to hear that!
And yet, this finding is a total failure to engage with what technology transfer aspires to, and how it is practiced. There is little evidence has nothing to do with whether anyone has bothered to collect the evidence, or whether the committee considered things such as the increase in litigation by universities against their inventors, whether claims in inventions by universities delay or undermine efforts to commercialize or dedicate to the public domain. Worse, there is no thought given, apparently, to the role a university might play in a community besides being the devourer of patents, investment, and government funding.
How about the norm of whether all the patents claimed have been licensed? How about the norm that graduate students should have the right to practice what they have uniquely learned in their degree research but cannot because the rights are licensed exclusively somewhere, or worse, aren’t licensed at all? How about that norm? No, it doesn’t wash. It’s just hand-waving. Bye, bye! Had lots of fun! Come again!