IP Policies and Your University

Patent Law Broken

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 20:33:51 GMT

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Bruce Sewell, general counsel of Intel Corporation, says the patent system is broken, limiting research and tying up money and other resources in lawsuits.

"The U.S. patent system is beginning to show its age; outpaced by the swift evolution of technology and commerce, it increasingly favors speculators over innovators, impeding innovation and economic growth," he writes.

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Before passage of the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980, there were only a handful of tec

The Next Target - Students!

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 20:45:42 GMT

Universities have become much more aggressive about seeking profits from inventions made by everyone from respected and experienced faculty researchers to undergraduate students working on class projects.

Recently in the New York Times, Samantha Stainburn recounts the story of Peter Zummo and Matthew Naples, a pair of undergrads at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) who designed a water bottle that can be filled with sand and used to construct housing in developing

Invention Classification Controversy

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:23:31 GMT

In May 1984 Dr. Renee Kaswan, then a faculty researcher at the University of Georgia, disclosed her first invention. In 1987 she made a second discovery that is considered one of the university innovations that "changed the world."

In a UGA Invention Disclosure form filed in 1984, Kaswan disclosed that she had begun testing an ophthalmic cyclosporine preparation to treat ocular inflammation. Later in

Royalty Monetization - Short Term Cash v. Long Term Implications

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:43:51 GMT

In 2007, universities sold off $1.2 billion dollars worth of future royalty interests in "downstream licensing" royalty monetization programs, a cash management strategy which universities often employ to meet short term cash needs. There has been a recent upswing in monetization deals which occur after inventors have assigned and licensed their innovation and often after FDA approval of the patented invention.

At the nation's most prestigious research institutions - li

Student Jailed Over Invention -- What Rights Do Students Have?

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:41:19 GMT

In the early 1990s, University of South Florida student Petr Táborský was charged with criminal theft by his university, jailed and served time on a chain gang. The crime in question? Keeping his notebooks with his own research notes!

The controversy began when a Florida utility company gave a $20,000 grant to the university to find out if clinoptilolite (a kitty-litter like substance) could be cleaned with bacteria to be r

Lauded University Researchers Cheered, Then Jeered

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:50:38 GMT

University instigated lawsuits filed against faculty researchers are rife with implications and accusations of impropriety, misuse and abuse of intellectual property, violations of IP policies and various state and federal laws. But are these researchers the scoundrels described in case filings?

Court verdicts and, oddly, university publicity machines do not bear out this thesis. More likely, they tend to be talented, tenured inventors with awards and recognitions for t

Universities Forced to Comply With Open Records Acts - When Will UGA Toe the Line in Kaswan Case?

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:06:27 GMT

Two recent cases in the states of Colorado and California have seen universities "called on the carpet"
for violations of Open Meetings and Open Records laws. The plaintiffs in these cases are media outlets, employee unions and the general public. The Colorado case settled with a finding against the University,
and all indications point to a similar verdict in the California case.

Turning Research into Inventions and Jobs, Vivek Wadhwa and Robert E. Litan propose hastening technology commercialization in order to rapidly boost the U.S. economy. They suggest this as a response to Adrian Slywotzky's August BusinessWe