Commerce Secretary Gary Locke is apparently greatly concerned about getting more federally funded
research out of university research labs and into the market:
"the United States cannot afford to merely fund research and say a prayer that some entrepreneur will commercialize it down the road,"
So he's asking for advice on how to improve the commercialization of
federally funded research. Here's a simple and practical idea that he
almost certainly won't consider:
Get the Bayh-Dole Act repealed.
Bayh-Dole, of course, was officially designed to do exactly what Locke is supposedly now looking to do. It specifically gave universities and other organizations the right to patent and control federally funded research, with the misguided belief that this would increase commercialization of federally funded research. The law was enacted thirty years ago, and we can now say, pretty conclusively, that it has failed and has only served to hold back commercialization efforts and to massively stifle federally funded research in a number of areas, through a series of (somewhat predictable, if you understand what monopoly rights do) unintended consequences.
To read the full, original article click on this link: If Gary Locke Wants To Incentivize Commercializing Research He Should Look To Get Bayh-Dole Repealed | Techdirt
Author: Mike Masnick
