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Author Archives: Gerald Barnett
Come in from the cold
In The Economist for August 8, there’s an article on the problem of patents. The article questions the utility of patents and points to a number of situations in which patents appear to block innovation or have nothing to do … Continue reading
The Most Innovative Public University in the World
The University of Washington ran a press release a couple of days ago announcing that Thomson Reuters has named UW the “most innovative public university in the world.” A reader might think that the ranking methodology includes the number of startups, … Continue reading
Posted in Innovation, Metrics
Tagged patents, thomson, Washington
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The Legal Context of University IP, Part 2 Revisited
In 2010, the National Academies and the National Research Council published a commissioned a report–The Legal Context of University Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer by Sean O’Connor, Gregory D. Graff, and David E. Winickoff. Here are comments on the findings of … Continue reading
Posted in Bayh-Dole, Policy, Present Assignment
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The Legal Context of University IP, Part 1 Revisited
In 2010, the National Academies and the National Research Council published a commissioned a report–The Legal Context of University Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer by Sean O’Connor, Gregory D. Graff, and David E. Winickoff. The report lists 45 findings and expands … Continue reading
Posted in Bayh-Dole, History, Policy, Present Assignment
Tagged Bayh-Dole, inventions, legal context
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More problems with the wild success of Bayh-Dole
There are plenty of jewels in Gene Quinn’s recent opinion piece. Perhaps the readers at IP Watchdog are all true believers in Bayh-Dole, so Mr. Quinn does not feel much need to work hard at what he writes. Here at Research … Continue reading
Posted in Bayh-Dole, Bozonet
Tagged 37 CFR 401.9, Bayh-Dole, IP Watchdog
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F-B-D.
Gene Quinn’s opinion piece got me thinking some more about how Bayh-Dole really must go. I agree with Quinn’s analysis of some critics of Bayh-Dole. The criticisms Mr. Quinn criticizes are indeed silly. There are much more damning weaknesses in … Continue reading
Bayh-Dole is a dismal failure. Here’s why.
At IP Watchdog, Gene Quinn has published an opinion piece on the virtues of the Bayh-Dole Act–“Patent policy is just too important for subterfuge and academic folly.” The impression he leaves is that anyone critical of Bayh-Dole is irrational, teaching … Continue reading
Posted in Bayh-Dole, History, Policy
Tagged Bayh-Dole, dismal failure, FDA drug approval, Quinn
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We are sure you will adopt this discovery faster now that it comes with a patent and a bureaucrat!
In Farewell to Reason, Paul Feyerabend examines cultural variety and considers the problem of the “objective” claims of science in the broader context of whether any given society consistently benefits from scientific objectivism, given how often science is wrong, how … Continue reading
Posted in Freedom, Policy, Technology Transfer
Tagged bureaucrat, capital asset, cargo cult, Feyerabend, patent
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Transferwell
I followed a link from Kottke.org to an Atlantic Monthly article by Derek Thompson about how to choose a charity to support based on effectiveness of action rather than effectiveness of pitch or pride of place. The counter-example Thompson gives is … Continue reading
Posted in Policy, Projects, Technology Transfer
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Embracing Bad Science in Technology Transfer
Julia Belluz and Steven Hoffman at Vox have published a new account of how screwed up academic science is. Belluz and Hoffman report on a string of studies and exposed forgeries that suggest that the published scientific literature is anything … Continue reading
Posted in Bad Science, Innovation, Policy
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