Author Archives: Gerald Barnett

Penn State’s Pscyhomagnotheric IP Policy

[I have restored some broken links–I will have to revisit to see how Penn State has dealt with its goofy policy drafting. 15 Nov 2022.] Four years ago, Penn State announced that it was adopting a new policy to allow industry … Continue reading

Posted in Agreements, Bozonet, Policy, Sponsored Research | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

FOIL Technology

A few years ago, the University of Washington claimed to have started a bunch of companies. I went through their lists of startups for two years and found they were making it all up. They claimed to have started 35 … Continue reading

Posted in Bayh-Dole, Bozonet, Metrics, Startups | 1 Comment

Effects, uncontested, are a policy's objectives

After 35 years, no reliable data on federally supported technology transfer Here is Sylvia Kraemer, writing in Science and Technology Policy in the United States (2006), on a fundamental problem in federal research policy identified by a Department of Commerce … Continue reading

Posted in Bayh-Dole, Metrics, Policy, Technology Transfer | Comments Off on Effects, uncontested, are a policy's objectives

Science at the Frontier and the Effect of the Linear Model

In Science the Endless Frontier, Vannevar Bush proposed federal funding to universities to expand the frontiers of science. Folks these days focus on the science part of Bush’s proposal and his advocacy for funding research at universities. They skip over the idea … Continue reading

Posted in 3D Printing, History, Innovation, Policy, Social Science, Technology Transfer | Comments Off on Science at the Frontier and the Effect of the Linear Model

Vannevar Bush and the Unexpected Model of Innovation

In Science and Technology Policy in the United States: Open Systems in Action, Sylvia Kraemer spends a section of a chapter discussing Vannevar Bush and Science the Endless Frontier. Kraemer agrees that Science the Endless Frontier is an important document in … Continue reading

Posted in History, Innovation, Policy, Technology Transfer, Vannever Bush | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Vannevar Bush and the Unexpected Model of Innovation

Abstraction as an Obfuscating Drafting Technique in University Patent Policies

The Arizona Board of Regents intellectual property policy fails to state, simply, that the Board expects to own patentable inventions made by employees who have agreed to assign their inventions to the Board. Instead, the Board policy fusses around with … Continue reading

Posted in Bozonet, IP, Policy | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Abstraction as an Obfuscating Drafting Technique in University Patent Policies

When to disclose inventions? Part I. Arizona State

Here is a basic question: When should university-based inventors disclose their inventions to the university administration? This is a remarkably difficult question. Is it when the invention is “made”? If so, what does it mean to “make” an invention? What … Continue reading

Posted in IP, Policy, Present Assignment | Tagged , , | Comments Off on When to disclose inventions? Part I. Arizona State

The Purpose of the Patent System for University Research

There is a general argument that the patent is a pretty useful cultural tool to stimulate and reward technological innovation. The owner of a patent has the right to exclude others from practicing (making, having made, using, selling, offering for … Continue reading

Posted in Bayh-Dole, Commons, Freedom, History, Policy, Social Science, Technology Transfer | Comments Off on The Purpose of the Patent System for University Research

Dual selectivity or dual monopoly? What’ll it be?

Archie Palmer’s surveys of university patent policies make clear that most universities for a long time did not have a patent policy, and when they did write a policy, often it recorded ad hoc practices–for the vast majority of universities, … Continue reading

Posted in Freedom, History, Innovation, Policy, Technology Transfer | Comments Off on Dual selectivity or dual monopoly? What’ll it be?

Patent policy as norming myth, with antidotes

Among those developing university patent policies, Archie Palmer was the Johnny Appleseed, publishing surveys and discussions of university patent policies for over three decades, from the 1930s to the 1960s. Palmer argued that it was important that universities have patent … Continue reading

Posted in Freedom, History, Policy | Comments Off on Patent policy as norming myth, with antidotes