William Shakespeare once wrote:
There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
See Julius Caesar.
We caught the tide– but just barely. That the Bayh-Dole Act passed was amazing. That it passed in a lame duck session of Congress with its principal author defeated, the US Senate changing hands, and a sitting president thrown out, was a miracle. Even then success was not assured. The bureaucracy was waiting to undermine the implementing regulations. Yet the new law survived, strengthening the economy while improving public health and well-being.
Success depended on slipping through a narrow window of opportunity. In Julius Caesar, Brutus hesitates and is swept away. Fortunately, we launched and caught the tide. This is my “staff’s eye view” of how it happened.
To read the full, original article click on this link: The Enactment of Bayh-Dole, An Inside Perspective | IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Patent Law
Author: Joseph Allen
