Category Archives: Commons

Who Owns Digital Learning Resources?–6

Posted on September 10, 2018 by Gerald Barnett

Let’s come back around to Hal Plotkin’s question–who owns digital learning resources? Plotkin wants the answer to be: certainly not the university bureaucrats aiming to “commercialize” everything and therefore putting everything behind a paywall. That makes sense. Bureaucrats don’t have … Continue reading →

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Who Owns Digital Learning Resources?–5

Posted on September 7, 2018 by Gerald Barnett

There’s a basic problem with federal grant support for research. I don’t know if the Department of Education has avoided this problem, but I will put it out there. If a federal agency supports both research and maintenance of contract deliverables, … Continue reading →

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Who Owns Digital Learning Resources?–4

Posted on September 6, 2018 by Gerald Barnett

Now let’s deal with “digital” educational works in the context of university intellectual property claims. This is something I’ve spent a couple of decades dealing with. The Department of Education published its final rule in January 2017, requiring open licensing … Continue reading →

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“Only assholes get patents…”

Posted on February 26, 2018 by Gerald Barnett

Slashdot points to a recent blog post by Marco Arment on dealing with feature copying and imitation in software apps. Arment summaries copyright and trademark angles, noting that neither provides much defense. He then moves on to patents: Only assholes … Continue reading →

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Thinking about projects, small and big–8

Posted on December 18, 2017 by Gerald Barnett

Here’s the rub for “the work” that necessarily includes “commercialization.” Any license or assignment of an invention made in “the work” draws that licensee or assignee into “the work.” That licensee, to the extent that commercialization is a requirement of … Continue reading →

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Thinking about projects, small and big–7

Posted on December 15, 2017 by Gerald Barnett

What have we got to by musing on research projects at universities? First, that a sponsor may support a big project by providing support to a small project that is a component of that big project. The sponsor who does … Continue reading →

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Lower drug development costs than industry reports–shock!

Posted on November 3, 2017 by Gerald Barnett

At the SciScip discussion group notice has been given to an article published in September 2017 in JAMA that has determined the median cost to develop a new cancer drug at $648m, much lower than the pharmaceutical industry reports for … Continue reading →

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“Protecting” university inventions

Posted on July 9, 2017 by Gerald Barnett

I answered a question on Quora a bit ago: How can I protect my invention after applying for a patent? In the context of the question, my answer has to do with what an individual might do to “protect” an invention. … Continue reading →

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There are no Bayh-Doles in Canada

Posted on June 3, 2017 by Gerald Barnett

In a recent hearing held by the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, made some valuable remarks, which he has published at his blog. Geist … Continue reading →

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Seven Pillars of Bayh-Dole, the Law that Loots the Commons

Posted on May 9, 2017 by Gerald Barnett

I’ve spent more than a few months now focused on Bayh-Dole and its history. It’s worth taking a moment and summarizing some findings. Perhaps this could be the start of a new guide to the Bayh-Dole Act, told from the … Continue reading →

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