Category Archives: Bayh-Dole

Repeal or reform Bayh-Dole?

It seems repealing is the activity of the moment when it comes to health care insurance, but it’s not at all clear that the replacement law will do much for the price of prescription drugs. And the problem is not … Continue reading

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Geez, folks, figure it out. Bayh-Dole’s purpose is high drug prices.

In 1992, Howard Bremer gave a talk to a Texas technology transfer group in which he recounted his involvement in the creation of the Bayh-Dole Act. Two comments stand out. First, Bremer made it clear that the federal government had … Continue reading

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CRISPR and Bayh-Dole

Michael Eisen has an insightful discussion on his It is NOT Junk site on the CRISPR patent dispute between the University of California and the Broad Institute (Harvard, MIT). It is well worth the read. Behind the discussion lurks the … Continue reading

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Government Interest Patent Activity 1976 to 2016, Part 4

In a portfolio model, 1 invention in 200 becoming a commercial product is acceptable, if the 1 is a big hit. In an agent model, 1 in 200 is unacceptable and borders on malpractice or fraud unless inventors willingly turn … Continue reading

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Government Interest Patent Activity 1976 to 2016, Part 3

With this context, let’s return to our patent activity graphs. University and nonprofit patents with a government interest have grown from 10% of all patents citing a government interest to over 50%. This level of activity leveled off around 1998 … Continue reading

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Government Interest Patent Activity 1976 to 2016, Part 2

Let’s turn to Research Corporation now. For decades, Research Corporation was the dominant invention management broker for universities. Even where universities created research foundations to manage inventions, those foundations often contracted with Research Corporation to do the actual patent work. … Continue reading

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MoFo’s New Bayh-Dole Fakefographic

Morrison & Foerster, a big law firm (revenue near $1b per year, around 1,000 attorneys), has an infographic out about the Bayh-Dole Act, subtitled “5 Steps to Retain Title.” Here’s a bit of their advice–steps 1 to 3. It looks … Continue reading

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Bayh-Dole’s Mandate to Break-up Patent Monopolies on Subject Inventions

In the past few months, I have spent a good deal of time on the Bayh-Dole Act. One of the great challenges of dealing with Bayh-Dole is to get past what university patent brokers say the law “is” and get … Continue reading

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Why is Bayh-Dole not part of the Federal Grants and Cooperative Agreements Act?

Why is Bayh-Dole a part of federal patent law? It concerns how federal agencies contract for research, not (apparently) how patents are awarded. It doesn’t make any sense for Bayh-Dole to be in patent law. Instead, why wasn’t Bayh-Dole made … Continue reading

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Free Competition and Enterprise in Bayh-Dole

One reason that Bayh-Dole is so difficult to parse is that there are multiple levels at work. It’s easier to just say that Bayh-Dole gives universities ownership of inventions made with federal support, and they can do anything they want … Continue reading

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