Author Archives: Gerald Barnett

The March-In That Ain’t

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

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

“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?

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

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

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On Deliberately Weak IP Rhetorics

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

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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Cleese on Creativity

In a talk on Creativity (from 1991, it seems), complete with Danish subtitling to help expand your language competency, John Cleese talks about “open” and “closed” modes of operating, and the need to move between these two modes to find … Continue reading

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Recovering Agent Choice

Having looked at the various topics Research Enterprise has covered over the past four years, it’s also good to look at where we are in terms of university innovation management. Prior to Bayh-Dole’s passage in 1980, university innovation practice was … Continue reading

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Code 10-9

It’s been four years, now, that I’ve been writing for Research Enterprise.  Over 450 comments, essays, technical discussions, and parody Star Trek scripts later, it’s time to take a look at where things stand.  Over this period, Research Enterprise has … Continue reading

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