Monthly Archives: October 2012

The Box of Technology Transfer

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

In The Marketplace of Ideas:  Reform and Resistance in the American University, Louis Menand works his way through the angst that is the lot of the English professor mired in a world of humanities departments who have lost their way … Continue reading →

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Luck. Goodwill. Diligence.

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

I have a hypothesis, not made idly: University innovation comes about primarily as a combination of luck, goodwill, and diligence, typically in that order of importance. Most of the major university licensing transactions appear to have followed this pathway. Something … Continue reading →

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The March-In That Ain’t

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

I came across an interesting commentary by John Conley on the NIH’s refusal to exercise march-in rights under Bayh-Dole. The post is from January 2011 and has to do with the problems Genzyme has had producing an enzyme that helps … Continue reading →

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Research Shanzhai

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

In the Teece formulation, innovation represents a competition among first movers, imitators, and infrastructure.  Each aims for a share of the value of something new and worthwhile.  Patents might be thought to aid the inventor, giving him or her a … Continue reading →

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Extending Affiliates Programs

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

“Affiliates programs” are generally donation-based financial support programs for university departments and schools.  In exchange for a membership fee, an affiliate program participant gets various premiums–invitations to research reviews, open houses, and job fairs; access to university labs and faculty … Continue reading →

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If Siri were free of rights, would there be a Siri?

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

Here is another article out today, from Peter Cohan, arguing that the US patent system should be scrapped.  Are we are well past being able to reform it?  Cohan’s five reasons don’t include regulatory capture, market inefficiencies, the march to … Continue reading →

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The Basic Premise of University Invention Management

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

Use = Success There’s really not much to add.  Infringement is not an option.

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On Deliberately Weak IP Rhetorics

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

I mentioned Boldrin and Levine’s argument against patents.  Their paper (it is posted but labeled a draft) is very uneven, moving between dubious assertions and insightful analysis.  Lurking over their discussion, though they do not acknowledge it, is Teece’s paper … Continue reading →

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Patent Abolition

Posted on October 6, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

John Gruber at Daring Fireball draws attention to an article in the The Atlantic by Jordan Weissmann who reports on a paper from the Federal Reserve by Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine arguing for the abolition of patents. The … Continue reading →

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