Category Archives: Commons

University patent policies then and now

Posted on April 28, 2013 by Gerald Barnett

Some patent policies in effect in 1962, with the date of most recent revision. From the preamble to the New Mexico State University research and patent policy, 1960: Discoveries and inventions which appear as a natural product of original work … Continue reading →

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The non-patenting of the first digital computer

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Gerald Barnett

In Turing’s Cathedral, George Dyson provides an account of the creation of the first digital computer at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton.   John von Neumann, leading the effort, in 1946 came up with a patent policy for the … Continue reading →

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The University as Bayh-Dole Privateer

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Gerald Barnett

Why would a nation-state seek to claim ownership of inventions made by its citizens?  That is, what uses would a nation-state put its patent system to, beyond those that one might expect of an individual inventor, entrepreneur, investor, company, university, … Continue reading →

Posted in Bayh-Dole, Commons, Innovation, Metrics, Policy, Shanzhai | 1 Comment

Keeping open 3d printing innovation open

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has announced an effort to monitor 3d printing patent applications for possible Pre-issuance Submission actions.  PIS is a new procedure in the America Invents Act patent reform that allows the public to provide patent examiners with … Continue reading →

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Research Shanzhai

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

In the Teece formulation, innovation represents a competition among first movers, imitators, and infrastructure.  Each aims for a share of the value of something new and worthwhile.  Patents might be thought to aid the inventor, giving him or her a … Continue reading →

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Extending Affiliates Programs

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

“Affiliates programs” are generally donation-based financial support programs for university departments and schools.  In exchange for a membership fee, an affiliate program participant gets various premiums–invitations to research reviews, open houses, and job fairs; access to university labs and faculty … Continue reading →

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Thinking like App.net

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

The App.net folks are thinking about how to develop an approach to open systems that rewards 3rd party contributions.  Dalton Caldwell has a nice discussion of one approach in a recent blog post.  Imagine that there’s a set cut of … Continue reading →

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Dealing with TLO Food Bowl Aggression

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

I came across a paper in PLoS that discusses Global Access Licensing.  The point of the paper is to lay out GAL Framework principles and appeal to university licensing offices to implement them.  The authors point out that Bayh-Dole allows … Continue reading →

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Adoption before productization

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

In Four Steps to the Epiphany, Steven Blank argues that technology startups need to find their “earlyvangelist” customers before their product is finished.  Earlyvangelists are people who have a problem, know they have the problem, and have taken steps to … Continue reading →

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Berlin contracts and Bayh-Dole

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Gerald Barnett

Germany has produced its own version of template agreements for research between universities and industry, called the “Berlin contracts.” There is even an English translation that makes for interesting reading. German law is also interesting because in addition to patent … Continue reading →

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