A Timely Case Before U.S. Supreme Court May Reconfigure Ownership of Student & Faculty Inventions
The Supreme Court ruled on June 6, 2011 to uphold the "First-to-Invent" stand of the U.S. Patent Laws in the case of Leland Stanford Junior University v. Roche Molecular Systems, Inc. Their decision found that universities could not use the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act to unilaterally claim ownership of faculty inventions made with federal support, without prior assignment agreements in place.
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the court's opinion noted, "since 1790, the patent law has operated on the premise that rights to an invention belong to the inventor." While he acknowledged that much has changed in U.S. patent law in 220 years, he emphasized, "the basic idea that inventors have the right to patent their inventions has not." The Court went on to say that the Bayh-Dole Act allocating patent rights involving federally funded research did not change that basic tenet."
IP Advocate has assembled, in chronological order, the last year of materials in this dispute for you to View as individual documents or Bundle into a Green Case portfolio for your research convenience.
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT
The University and Small Business Patent Procedures Act of 1980, 35 U.S.C. 200 et seq., commonly known as the Bayh-Dole Act, establishes a framework for determining ownership interests in federally funded inventions.
BRIEF IN OPPOSITION FROM ROCHE MOLECULAR SYSTEMS, INC., et al., RESPONDENTS
Whether the Bayh-Dole Act permits a private university to void, unilaterally and retroactively, an inventor’s otherwise valid contractual assignment of his rights in an invention, solely because that invention was developed in part with federal funds.
STANFORD UNIVERSITY PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI
The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University respectfully petitions for a writ of certiorari to review the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in this case.
BRIEF IN OPPOSITION FROM ROCHE MOLECULAR SYSTEMS, INC.
Stanford's petition for certiorari is defective in numerous ways… this case does not present the very question on which Stanford seeks this Court's review.
BRIEF OF AMICUS CURIAE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a direct and immediate interest in how the Bayh-Dole Act, 35 U.S.C. §§ 200-211, affects the clarity of title to federally funded inventions.
BRIEF OF AAUP, IEEE-USA, AND IP ADVOCATE BY D. SWENSON OF ROBINS, KAPLAN, MILLER AND CIRESI L.L.P.
By participating as an amicus in this case, the AAUP seeks to educate the Court about the ownership interests of faculty inventors and the importance of those interests to higher education and to society as a whole.
BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE WISCONSIN ALUMNI RESEARCH FOUNDATION ET AL. IN SUPPORT OF STANFORD’S PETITION
At stake here is who owns the rights to the inventions generated by the tens of billions of dollars that Congress annually appropriates to support academic research.
SUPREME COURT CASE COULD DEPRIVE INVENTORS AND BUSINESSES OF ABILITY TO COMMERCIALIZE INVENTIONS
An important case now before the Supreme Court may soon reconfigure ownership of all student and faculty inventions.
The Brief in Opposition ignores the statutory language, structure, and historical background of the Bayh-Dole Act.
RUBY SLIPPERS? WHAT RUBY SLIPPERS?
There are two branches to the discussion of Stanford v. Roche. One is under dispute and that has to do with the standing of an employee to assign future patent rights that later become substantive in federally funded research.
The Brief in Opposition ignores the statutory language, structure, and historical background of the Bayh-Dole Act.
AUTM GOT IT WRONG AGAIN. THEIR ARGUMENT WOULD BOTCH INVENTION MANAGEMENT
The Association of University technology Managers (AUTM) has enlisted the AAU, COGR, AAMC, ACE and more than 40 research universities to petition the Supreme Court to reverse the CAFC ruling that faculty inventors have initial ownership rights to inventions they made or reduced to practice during federally funded research.
This case turns on construction of the Bayh-Dole Act’s provisions governing ownership of inventions arising from federally funded research.
REBUILDING THE ROAD TO INNOVATION: RAMIFICATIONS OF THE STANFORD V. ROCHE DECISION
The journey from academic invention to commercialization frequently is marred by legal potholes that appear when it comes time to carve up the proceeds resulting in time-consuming and expensive litigation that slows the wheels of innovation. So it was in the case of Stanford vs. Roche.
BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES, ETC. IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER
Amici are research universities…, that collectively account for the vast majority of federally funded research performed pursuant to the Bayh-Dole Act, 35 U.S.C. 200 et seq.
BAYH-DOLE: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
Understanding what the Bayh-Dole Act does and does not require of inventors, agencies and universities is a critical pretext to any informed debate.
BRIEF OF AMICUS CURIAE, AMERICAN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW ASSOCIATION "AIPLA") IN SUPPORT OF NEITHER PARTY
In filing this brief amicus curiae, AIPLA takes no position on the merits of the Petitioner’s claimed rights….AIPLA’s sole interest is in the correct rule of law for obtaining and assigning patent rights,....
US: ACADEMICS, NOT UNIVERSITIES, OWN THEIR INVENTIONS
A Federal Circuit Court judge has ruled that US universities cannot automatically claim ownership of a researcher's federally funded invention.
BRIEF AMICUS CURIAE OF BIRCH BAYH IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER
This Brief Amicus Curiae in support of Petitioner is filed by former United States Senator Birch Bayh.
SG ASKS HIGH COURT TO HEAR CONTRACT IP RIGHTS CASE
The U.S. Office of the Solicitor General has pressed the Supreme Court to hear a dispute between Stanford University and a unit of Roche Holdings Inc. that centers on whether individual inventors or contractors get the first rights to inventions arising from federally funded research.
BRIEF OF AMICUS CURIAE BAYHDOLE25, INC. IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER
BayhDole25, Inc. is a non-profit, non-governmental organization named for the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 and related legislation, and founded on the twenty-fifth anniversary of passage of the Act.
ROCHE FIRES BACK AT SG IN CONTRACTOR IP RIGHTS CASE
Roche Molecular Systems Inc. said Tuesday that the government’s support for Stanford University’s U.S. Supreme Court petition … ignores the unique facts of the case and could harm privately funded firms.
This case requires the Court to decide whether a university receiving federal research funding secures clear title to resulting inventions of its employees when it fully complies with the requirements of the Bayh-Dole Act, 35 U.S.C. §§ 200-212.
STANFORD APPEAL REIGNITES CUSTODY BATTLE
With the U.S. Supreme court set to take on Stanford University’s dispute with Roche Molecular Systems Inc., the IP rules that have long governed ownership of federally funded inventions are now suddenly in doubt.
