Ethics and technology transfer do not always go hand-in-hand. Share your thoughts and experiences here.
Academic Inventors' Bill of Rights
IPAO Founder Renee Kaswan took her fight for inventor rights to AUTM's Annual Conference in New Orleans. Kaswan, in collaboration with Alan Bentley, Director of Commercialization of the Cleveland Clinic, developed proposals for an Academic Inventors' Bill of Rights. She has long advocated for more involvement for academic researchers in licensing and commercialization of their inventions.
"Intellectual property policies at most universities don't give faculty members adequate say in how their inventions are commercialized," said Kaswan. Her proposal for a Bill of Rights argues for faculty inventors to have the right to choose agents to handle the inventions rather than being restricted to their institution's technology transfer office. According to Kaswan, "Sometimes they're good. Sometimes they're not. Sometimes they like us. Sometimes they don't."
IPAO is making both Bentley and Kawan's Academic Inventors' Bill of Rights available for review, download and comments from our community of users. Please join us in expanding this national dialog on an issue of critical importance for university researchers, graduate students, administrators and technology transfer professionals.
