The federal government funds most academic life-sciences research in the United States. But prior to 1980, universities were prohibited from patenting inventions arising from federally funded research.
In 1980, however, Congress passed the Bayh-Dole Act, which assigned academic invention ownership rights to their corresponding universities. This gave birth to university technology transfer offices, which now exist in virtually all of the nation's research-intensive universities.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Understanding Technology Transfer | North Carolina Biotechnology Center
