Category Archives: Bayh-Dole

Academic freedom, autonomy, and patrons

Paul Feyerabend, in the next to last essay of Farewell To Reason, responds to some of his critics, who state that they “believe in the autonomy of art, thought, and feeling over money.” Feyerabend is characteristically incisive in his reply. … Continue reading

Posted in Bayh-Dole, Freedom, Policy | Comments Off on Academic freedom, autonomy, and patrons

Was Bayh-Dole based on a misconception?

In an article published in 2013, Sean O’Connor argues that Bayh-Dole is the descendant of what he calls “the Biddle Report,” produced in 1947 by Assistant Attorney General John F. Sonnett (with final editing done by David Lloyd Kreeger) in … Continue reading

Posted in Bayh-Dole, History, Policy, Sponsored Research, Stanford v Roche | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Was Bayh-Dole based on a misconception?

NASA Turns Bayh-Dole Into a Vesting Statute

The US Supreme Court in Stanford v Roche ruled that Bayh-Dole was not a “vesting statute”–the law did not place ownership of patentable inventions made with federal support with the universities that hosted the research: Stanford contends that reading the … Continue reading

Posted in Bayh-Dole, Policy, Present Assignment, Stanford v Roche | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on NASA Turns Bayh-Dole Into a Vesting Statute

The path from Bayh-Dole to inventors

Bayh-Dole is a law of federal contracting for inventions. Let’s work through it, again. 1) Bayh-Dole applies to federal agencies, not to universities. When university administrators say that “Bayh-Dole requires universities to commercialize inventions made with federal funding,” they are twice wrong. First, … Continue reading

Posted in Agreements, Bayh-Dole | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The path from Bayh-Dole to inventors

Look, It's a Thrush!

One of the biggest problems in dealing with university technology transfer is the propensity for people to reason from the names given to things, rather than what the things are. In biology, a truism is that one cannot reason from … Continue reading

Posted in Bad Science, Bayh-Dole, Freedom, Policy | Comments Off on Look, It's a Thrush!

The University of Michigan’s Mess of a Present Assignment, Part I

In reviewing university IP policies, I came upon the following Form HR36100 at the University of Michigan titled “Supplemental Appointment Information.” After a section in which the appointee provides name and social security number, we have this: It is apparent that university … Continue reading

Posted in Agreements, Bayh-Dole, Policy, Present Assignment | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The University of Michigan’s Mess of a Present Assignment, Part I

Do what you have promised to do: Further consequences of (f)(2)

[Updated with a discussion of NIST’s May 2018 rule change] The (f)(2) requirement in the standard patent rights clause authorized by the Bayh-Dole Act is a requirement for the host university to delegate, to flow down, to subcontract a portion … Continue reading

Posted in Bayh-Dole, Innovation, Policy | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Do what you have promised to do: Further consequences of (f)(2)

The First Principle of Bayh-Dole

Here is the First Principle of Bayh-Dole: A federal agency may not require the assignment to the federal government of an invention made with federal support at a nonprofit or small business if an inventor or the inventor’s assignee reports … Continue reading

Posted in Bayh-Dole | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The First Principle of Bayh-Dole

Bayh-Dole Flow Down

Every so often I make an effort to show graphically how Bayh-Dole operates. The Bayh-Dole Act authorizes (arrow 1) the Department of Commerce to create regulations governing the disposition of patentable inventions made in the performance of work supported by … Continue reading

Posted in Bayh-Dole | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Bayh-Dole Flow Down

Florida Atlantic’s patent policy misrepresents Bayh-Dole four ways in just one sentence

I have been working on some ideas regarding scope, but each time I go to university patent policies to illustrate the issues, I find totally crazy stuff. Here’s a bit from the “General Comments” section of Florida Atlantic University’s patent policy [the … Continue reading

Posted in Bayh-Dole, Policy, Stanford v Roche | Comments Off on Florida Atlantic’s patent policy misrepresents Bayh-Dole four ways in just one sentence