Category Archives: Policy

Seven Ways Universities Commonly Fail to Comply with Bayh-Dole

University patent administrators and patent policies make a fetish out of compliance with Bayh-Dole. What’s funny is how this fetish is about selective compliance–compliance that advances the power and freedom from accountability for administrators, at the expense of faculty and … Continue reading

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Wisconsin continues to defy the US Supreme Court, five years on

Here is an excerpt from the University of Wisconsin’s current patent policy regarding the Bayh-Dole Act, under the heading “Federal Agreements”: In order to expand public use of inventions and in recognition of the need for establishing government-wide policies for the … Continue reading

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The tick bites deeper into the neck

I know, most of you don’t have time to work through 50 pages of close reading of a university patent policy, with all its levels and inconsistencies and misrepresentations and foolishnesses. Here’s a summary: FSU’s patent policy violates Florida state … Continue reading

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Florida State’s garbled mess of patent guidance

[Updated with new accounts of garbledness and bad juju. This policy just keeps giving.] Florida State University’s “Office of Commercialization” starts a guidance web site off with an enumeration of points about intellectual property. Here’s the first point: Employee Guideline: … Continue reading

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11 rationalizations regarding university compulsory patent ownership

Given that university patent administrators don’t write about the reasons why a comprehensive, compulsory invention assignment policy is such a good thing, especially when coupled with a monopoly-seeking exclusive licensing program, I will identify some possible arguments in favor of … Continue reading

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Listing Our Way to a Uniform Compulsory University Patent Policy

I have yet to see a cogent argument for comprehensive, compulsory invention assignment policies at universities. There was a time, years ago now, when most universities had no patent policy at all. Time goes by, and Archie Palmer rallies universities … Continue reading

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Comply with commitments under federal regulations

Restoring voluntary assignment for university inventors is the first step in reconditioning university invention management–and putting that management on a road of development consistent with university mores and roles. Voluntary assignment can be accomplished a number of ways. I will … Continue reading

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The NSF recommends bureaukleptic compliance

Here’s interesting guidance in a footnote to the current NSF statement of terms and conditions for grants to universities: Footnote 2 offers a “reminder” that universities should adopt a present assignment in “employee assignment agreements.” The idea is that somehow … Continue reading

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New Mis-Guidance on Bayh-Dole for Universities

There’s a very nice guide on the internet to managing federal grants, “A Guide to Managing Federal Grants for Colleges and Universities [now behind a paywall, apparently].” The Guide is published by Atlantic Information Services and looks like it was published … Continue reading

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Dealing with compulsory assignment, Part 4 (Florida)

There are alternatives to compulsory invention assignment practice–there’s still a voluntary aspect to nearly all university patent policies, already there, built-in–on the administrative side. There are often two mechanisms in policy by which patent administrators can implement a voluntary program … Continue reading

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