Search the RE article base
Contact Information
Twitter
My TweetsUseful Web Sites
Category Archives: Freedom
Ten Years After 25 Years After Bayh-Dole, Part 1
Ten years ago Sara Boettiger and Alan Bennett, a couple of University of California licensing officers, published an article on Bayh-Dole in Nature Biotechnology, “Bayh-Dole: if we knew then what we know now.” Boettiger and Bennett paint a picture of … Continue reading
Federal patent policy for the 21st Century, Part 3
What’s funny (funny “strange” not funny “funny”) is that universities could implement the core of this version of the law themselves, right now, no politics necessary. Yes, there is still all the wasted paperwork to throw around under the current … Continue reading
Federal patent policy for the 21st Century, Part 2
In Part 1, I proposed a new law governing federal patent policy for public interest research conducted at universities–research to advance science and technology, or to address matters of public welfare. That new law carried with it public covenants that … Continue reading
Documented and undocumented technology transfer programs
Recently, the University of California, in an internal report on its technology transfer program, indicated that its commercialization rate was 0.5%–1 invention in 200 got to the point of a commercial product. There was no indication whether those commercial products … Continue reading
How can universities demonstrate they aren’t patent trolls?
Let’s say, just for the sake of argument, that university administrators at places like Caltech don’t want to be labelled patent trolls. What might make it clear that universities are not just one more set of patent trolls? “We’re not … Continue reading
Posted in Agreements, Commons, Freedom, Policy
Tagged commons, license, patent, public good, troll
Comments Off on How can universities demonstrate they aren’t patent trolls?
Poppy fields forever
The great challenge with a received view is to see the world afresh, without the habitual cognitive anchors–to move free of the anchors–the assumptions, the chosen dichotomies, the methods of classifying, the rationales, the take on historical context–to work out what we should … Continue reading
Posted in Bayh-Dole, Freedom, Social Science
Comments Off on Poppy fields forever
Why not give Lee Hood an open research tab of $100m?
Brooke Struck has written an interesting comment on Dan Sarewitz’s article “Saving Science.” Struck argues we should balance internal and external pressures to perform research. Here’s my take on it. The first part I posted to SciSP and is indented. … Continue reading
Posted in Freedom, History, Sponsored Research
Comments Off on Why not give Lee Hood an open research tab of $100m?
The beating of Vannevar Bush will continue until productivity improves
Apparently it is popular in science policy to think that Vannevar Bush failed to have insights worth pursuing when it comes to science policy. Dan Sarewitz calls him a liar. Venkatesh Narayahnamurti and Toluwalogo Odumosu blame him for a distinction between … Continue reading
Posted in Freedom, Policy, Vannever Bush
Tagged freedom, policy, rules, science, Vannevar Bush
Comments Off on The beating of Vannevar Bush will continue until productivity improves
Behind the Usual Narrative, Part II
Bush’s Idea Vannevar Bush’s Science the Endless Frontier argues that the federal government has a proper role to play in advancing scientific research by supporting both research and scientific education. “The Federal Government,” writes Bush, “should accept new responsibilities for … Continue reading
Posted in Freedom, History, Innovation, Policy, Sponsored Research
Comments Off on Behind the Usual Narrative, Part II
Active Latency Innovation
In The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic Progress, Joel Mokyr works through an economic history of technological change. He observes that sometimes changes happen incrementally, and sometimes with a sort of “macro” leap. It appears that in some … Continue reading
Posted in Commons, Freedom, Innovation, Policy
Comments Off on Active Latency Innovation