The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 put in place a system that gave universities significant control over intellectual property associated with the results of federally funded research at their institutions. Managing University Intellectual Property in the Public Interest finds that this system has been more effective than the pre-1980 system in making research advances available to the public and spurring innovation. The report suggests that the system may be improved by university leaders who articulate a clear mission for intellectual property management that stresses a responsibility to disseminate technologies for the public good and does not predicate licensing on the goal of raising significant revenue for the university. The report recommends that universities consider additional ways to engage faculty in commercializing their inventions and concludes that the Bayh-Dole framework and related intellectual property considerations have not seriously undermined academic norms of uninhibited inquiry.

Project Scope                                                                                                                                                

A committee under the auspices of the Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP) and the Committee on Science, Technology, and Law (CSTL) conducted a consensus study distilling from research, experience, surveys, and discussions since the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 lessons for the acquisition, licensing, defense, and sale of intellectual property (IP) arising from publicly and privately sponsored research at U.S. academic institutions.  The project commissioned papers synthesizing existing research, commissioned original data collection, held a national conference, evaluated the various objectives of technology transfer, and recommended best practices for research institutions and research sponsors.  The study's recommendations took into account significant differences in the role of IP in different fields of technology, differences in the constraints on and resources of universities, the objectives of different research sponsors, and differences among potential commercial licensees of university-owned IP.  The incentives that influence the behavior of the researchers, administrators, and public policy makers were examined and related to public goods.

Meetings & Events

This website contains unedited verbatim presentations made by meeting participants and is not an official report of the National Academies. Opinions and statements included in this material are solely those of the individual authors. They have not been verified as accurate, nor do they necessarily represent the views of other participants, the committee, or the National Academies.

June 1-2, 2009
Washington, DC

Meeting closed in its entirety

February 17-18, 2009
Washington, DC

Agenda

Presentations:

* Edward Roberts and Charles Eesley: Entrepreneurial Impact: The Role of MIT
* Andrew Chien: Reinventing Industry-University Relations
* Richard Kordal: AUTM 2007 Survey

November 20-21, 2008
From Concept to Application: Managing the Transfer of Academic Research Results - A Workshop
Washington, DC

Agenda

August 28-29, 2008
Washington, DC

Agenda

Presentations:

* Susan Butts: An Industry Perspective on Technology Transfer and Dow Study of IP Terms
* Mark Allen: Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2)
* Marvin Parnes: University Role and Strategy in Regional Economic Development: The View from the University of Michigan
* John Parks: The Role of the University in Economic Development
* John Fjeld: The Challenges of Creating New Ventures to Commercialize University Technologies
* Paul Gottlieb: Management of University Intellectual Property: Department of Energy Policies, Practices, and Experiences
* Linda Katehi: Driving Economic Development: The Role of the Public Research University
* A. Stephen Dahms: New Perspectives on Managing University Intellectual Property: New Modes of Capitalization and Catalysis to Move University Scientific and Technological Research to Commercial Success
* Robert Lodder: Commercializing University Results

June 30-July 1, 2008
Washington, DC

Agenda

Presentations:

* John Raubitschek: Bayh-Dole Act: Rights and Responsibilities
* Bob Hardy: Council on Governmental Relations
* Wes Cohen: Management of University IP and Social Welfare: Brief Research Overview
* Richard Johnson and William Zerhouni: U.S. Patent Law: A Changing Landscape
* Louis Masi: IBM Global University Programs
* Erik Iverson: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
* Wendy Streitz: Intellectual Property in an Academic Research Context

Reports

The Committee on the Management of the University Intellectual Property released its report, Managing University Intellectual Property in the Public Interest, at a public briefing on October 4, 2010.

Press Release

Membership

Mark S. Wrighton, Chair, Chancellor and Professor of Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis

Mark C. Fishman, Vice Chair, President, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research

Craig A. Alexander, Vice President and General Counsel, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Margo A. Bagley, Professor of Law, University of Virginia, Charlottesville

Wendy H. Baldwin, Director, Program on Poverty, Gender, and Youth, Population Council

Alan B. Bennett, Executive Director, Public Intellectual Property Resource, Associate Dean, University of California, Davis

Wesley M. Cohen, Frederick C. Joerg Professor of Business Administration, Professor of Economics, and Management Faculty Director, Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University

Robert Cook-Deegan, Director, Center for Genome Ethics, Law, and Policy, Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP), Duke University

Mark S. Kamlet, Provost and Senior Vice President, Carnegie Mellon University

Greg Kisor, Vice President and Portfolio Architect, Intellectual Ventures

David Korn, Vice Provost for Research, Harvard University

Katharine Ku, Director, Office of Technology Licensing, Stanford University

Edward D. Lazowska, Bill and Melinda Gates Chair in Computer Science & Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle

Marshall C. Phelps, Jr., Corporate Vice President, Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy, Microsoft Corporation

Dorothy K. Robinson, Vice President and General Counsel, Yale University

N. Darius Sankey, Managing Director, Zone Ventures

Jerry G. Thursby, Professor of Strategic Management & Ernest Scheller, Jr. Chair, College of Management, Georgia Institute of Technology

Jennifer L. West, Isabel C. Cameron Professor of Bioengineering and Department Chair, Rice University

sponsors

This project is sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Robertson Foundation, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, FasterCures Center, Milken Institute, HighQ Foundation, Myelin Repair Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and an anonymous foundation.