Author Archives: Gerald Barnett

Federal agency patent enforcement under Bayh-Dole, 4

We are working through the contention that Bayh-Dole does not authorize federal agencies to enforce patents on federally owned inventions. It’s clear that there is no such authorization in Bayh-Dole, though the law authorizes everything else–getting patents, licensing patents, administrating … Continue reading

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Repeal 35 USC 207 and 209, barriers to public use of federally owned inventions

Bayh-Dole does not authorize federal agencies to enforce patents on federally owned inventions. Federal agencies do not need patent enforcement for non-exclusive licensing. give up enforcement in exclusive licensing. Federal exclusive licensing is ineffectual and disrupts rather than promotes public … Continue reading

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Time for an executive order to bring federal agencies into compliance with Bayh-Dole

Bayh-Dole precludes federal enforcement of federally owned patents. The president should issue an executive order confirming this situation by forbidding federal agencies to enforce patent rights covering federally owned patents. Doing so would remove a huge barrier to public utilization … Continue reading

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The point at which federal patent policy in 1971 broke from public interest

Here’s the point at which federal patent policy broke from the public interest. In 1971, President Nixon revised the Kennedy patent policy. One of the revisions was to the federal disposition of inventions. Here’s Kennedy: Government-owned patents shall be made … Continue reading

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Federal agency patent enforcement under Bayh-Dole, 3

I have made the claim that Bayh-Dole nowhere expressly authorizes federal agencies to enforce patents on federally owned inventions. There’s no express authorization for federal agencies to enforce patent rights. But perhaps there’s an implied right for the government to … Continue reading

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Federal agency patent enforcement under Bayh-Dole, 2

We are working through two assertions about Bayh-Dole. The first is rather easy–Bayh-Dole does not anywhere give federal agencies the right to enforce patents on federally owned inventions. It’s not there. It’s not a matter of much argument. The second … Continue reading

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Federal agency patent enforcement under Bayh-Dole, 1

This may appear to be an outrageous claim, but it isn’t. Bayh-Dole does not authorize federal agencies to enforce patents held by the federal government. That much is not outrageous because there is nothing in Bayh-Dole that authorizes such enforcement. … Continue reading

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Bayh-Dole precludes enforcement of federal patents

An argument regarding enforcement of federally owned inventions. Bluntly: the federal government lacks the authority to enforce patents, and the federal government should not enforce patents, and federal dealing in patent monopolies does not work. Let’s expand the argument to … Continue reading

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Madison on the patent clause–and Young Frankenstein

James Madison, writing in the Federalist (43), discusses the Constitution’s patent clause. The discussion is brief, so here it is, with comments: A power “to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing, for a limited time, to … Continue reading

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Can federal agencies enforce patents on federally owned inventions?

Something outlandish. Bayh-Dole does not authorize federal agencies to enforce patents on federally owned inventions. Go look. I’ll wait. Patents on federally owned inventions are not ordinary patents. Bayh-Dole is part of federal patent law, Chapter 18 0f Title 35. … Continue reading

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