Category Archives: Commons

Why I stepped away, and why I am back

I’ve been asked where I’ve been for the past year, and to brief about it, I decided to step away from writing and focus on other things, such as working with companies. I also felt that I had had enough … Continue reading

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Undermining Bayh-Dole by relying on it? 1

I feel like Charlie Chaplin in a pie factory. Before I could work through an op/ed by Niels Reimers in the Mercury News last April (2021) that the Bayh-Dole Coalition has dredged up to contest the use of march-in to … Continue reading

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The use of the patent system for federal research results, 8: Exploiting the use of the patent system

FSA policy 110, the first agency attempt at making a policy to deal with inventions made in federally supported public health research, tries to establish a middle ground for the use of patents. While clearly endorsing open access, including royalty-free … Continue reading

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The use of the patent system for federal research results, 3: FSA 110-1 and public interest

Federal policy on inventions made in federally supported research starts in a big way with Federal Security Agency Order 110-1, dated December 30, 1952. Norman Latker, patent counsel for the NIH, in 1978 testimony before Senator Nelson’s subcommittee, identified Order … Continue reading

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The VPR Letters, No. 4

Dear Vice Provost for Research, It’s been a while, and I thought I would drop you another note to help you with your management of university-hosted intellectual property. I once was contacted by a vice provost of research at a … Continue reading

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UW’s Fast Start template, another bad bureaucratic idea gone bad, 5

We have been discussing GeekWire’s account of the UW FAST start one-size-fits-all template agreement for startups. We showed that UW’s figures for startups were incorrect and there was little need for such a template. We then turned to H. Holden … Continue reading

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University Patent Thickets

Here’s a passage from Walton Hamilton and Irene Till, “What is a Patent” in the Spring 1948 issue of Law and Contemporary Problems: It is the very purpose of the patent lawyer to flood the office with an endless stream … Continue reading

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Harbridge House on university exclusive licensing, 2

There’s one more thing raised by the Harbridge House report–the metrics on those patent development firms. Patent applications are filed on approximately 10 to 15 percent of the disclosures submitted and, if present circumstances continue, only one-quarter of these patents … Continue reading

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Why dealing in patent monopolies is bad for university research

[updated to add some comments among the elements of the list] Bayh-Dole expands the opportunity for universities to deal in patent monopolies on inventions made in federally supported work. Bayh-Dole does not require such behavior, does not give any special … Continue reading

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Open: The proper (and effective) role for public institutions in invention management

There are many things we could do, but choose not to do. Some of those things, people could make money doing, but we refuse. We could sell body parts, or eat them, or we could make people slaves–good money in … Continue reading

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