Category Archives: Policy

Behind the Usual Narrative, Part IV

Posted on October 21, 2016 by Gerald Barnett

The HEW IPA Program These distinctions become important as the NIH, led by Norman Latker, pushed in 1978 for the adoption of a template IPA agreement on a federal government-wide basis by the Government Services Administration. This effort was rebuffed by … Continue reading →

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The beating of Vannevar Bush will continue until productivity improves

Posted on October 20, 2016 by Gerald Barnett

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 →

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Behind the Usual Narrative, Part III

Posted on October 19, 2016 by Gerald Barnett

Support or Purchase? In American Universities and Federal Research (1959), Charles V. Kidd underscores Bush’s concern that the federal government make a distinction between support and purchase, between subvention and procurement. Kidd cites a memorandum from General Eisenhower to the … Continue reading →

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Behind the Usual Narrative, Part II

Posted on October 17, 2016 by Gerald Barnett

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 →

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Five Audit Issues for University Compliance with Bayh-Dole

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Gerald Barnett

While most discussions about Bayh-Dole compliance focus on the time periods for reporting inventions, filing patent applications, and giving notice of election to retain title, the compliance issues that matter are often overlooked. The top five involve ownership, money, and … Continue reading →

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Imagine

Posted on October 8, 2016 by Gerald Barnett

Without patents, we would ask whether invention means all that much in the menagerie of university research insights. What sort of epiphanies did you have today? Ah, I found an error in a published paper, had an inkling that there … Continue reading →

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Things universities can do with patents

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Gerald Barnett

A patent has many uses.  A patent can be used to: exclude others from using an invention the patent owner is using prevent others from using an invention the patent owner is not using extract payments from users or companies wanting to market products … Continue reading →

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Active Latency Innovation

Posted on October 4, 2016 by Gerald Barnett

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 →

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Does Bayh-Dole Require Reasonable Pricing?

Posted on October 2, 2016 by Gerald Barnett

[Revised and extended for clarity] Short answer: no, but well, sort of, er, actually–yes! but not what you might expect. In 2005, Norman J. Latker, the key draftsman of both the Institutional Patent Agreement and Bayh-Dole published a critique, along with … Continue reading →

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Georgia on my mind

Posted on September 23, 2016 by Gerald Barnett

At the University of Georgia, the Office of the Vice President for Research has a bizarre reading of the Bayh-Dole Act: The Bayh-Dole Act, passed in 1980, makes it possible for the federal government to assign its patent rights to … Continue reading →

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