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Author Archives: Gerald Barnett
Dr. Irene Till, Pharma Monopoly, and the Bayh-Dole Heist
In a recent Twitter post, Prof. Richard R. John at Columbia University (@RrjohnR) asks for suggestions for a bibliography of “scholarship on the history of anti-monopoly since 1945.” One respondent cites Elizabeth Popp Berman “Why Universities Patent” (well, Prof. Berman … Continue reading
What Bayh-Dole has stolen from us
In an article published August 29, 2021 in The Intercept, Alexander Zaitchik describes the passage of the Bayh-Dole Act as “The Great American Science Heist,” with the subtitle “How the Bayh-Dole Act Wrested Public Science From the People’s Hands.” He … Continue reading
Posted in Bayh-Dole, History, Technology Transfer, Vannever Bush
Tagged Bayh-Dole, Rickover, Zaitchik
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The use of the patent system for federal research results, 11: Safeguards that don’t guard
We have been working through Federal Security Agency order 110-1, which in 1952 introduced an agency-wide policy for inventions made in public health research. The core of the policy was to prefer open access for all such inventions, but then … Continue reading
Posted in Bayh-Dole, Policy, Technology Transfer
Tagged development, free rider, safeguard, waste, widest distribution
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The use of the patent system for federal research results, 10: the drivers that eventually produce Bayh-Dole
There’s the version of the theory of patent rights that asserts that exclusionary practice is at the heart of the value of a patent, and any practice that declines to assert a patent wastes that value. This theory of exclusionary … Continue reading
Posted in Bayh-Dole, History, Policy, Technology Transfer
Tagged exclusion, patent, safeguard, technology transfer
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The use of the patent system for federal research results, 9: Exploiting the FSA policy safeguards
The earliest major federal patent policy, FSA policy 110-1–for public health research, no less–sets up a process by which the head of each “constituent unit” of the FSA is to make a determination in each case whether the use of … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 110, adequate, development, flip, FSA, public protections
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The use of the patent system for federal research results, 8: Exploiting the use of the patent system
FSA policy 110, the first agency attempt at making a policy to deal with inventions made in federally supported public health research, tries to establish a middle ground for the use of patents. While clearly endorsing open access, including royalty-free … Continue reading
Posted in Commons, History, Policy, Sponsored Research, Technology Transfer
Tagged 110, exploit, FSA, middle ground, open access
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The use of the patent system for federal research results, 7: Failure of FSA 110-1 to establish a middle ground
Let’s look more carefully at this second possibility beyond the possibility of open access–and where the “generally” in FSA 110-1 gets triggered to make at an attempted middle ground between always open access and full-on use of patents to exclude … Continue reading
Posted in History, Patents, Policy, Sponsored Research
Tagged 110, bother, excessive, FSA, middle ground, unreasonable
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The use of the patent system for federal research results, 6: The seeming middle ground
While the FSA policy makes what appears to be nice gestures–royalty-free licensing or at least licensing without unreasonable restrictions and without excessive royalties–there’s little here to provide guidance so far. The policy continues, looking at the prong in which the … Continue reading
Posted in Open Source, Patents, Policy
Tagged 110-1, conditional, limited, open access
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The use of the patent system for federal research results, 5: Possibilities of patent use
We are working through and around FSA order 110-1, the first major federal executive branch policy regarding inventions made in federally funded work, issued in 1952. The Supreme Court in its 1933 decision in Dubilier said the it was up … Continue reading
Posted in Bayh-Dole, History, Policy
Tagged excessive, possibility, practical application, unreasonable
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The use of the patent system for federal research results, 4: Forman
We are looking slowly at FSA order 110-1, the policy that starts the administrative battle over how federal funding ought to affect company opportunities to profit on matters of public health. The FSA, having insisted that research results should be … Continue reading
Posted in History, Patents, Policy
Tagged 110, Forman, FSA, public interest, reasonable
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