I agree that publicly funded research should be easier to get access to. Ironically, you have it backwards. Before the Bayh-Dole Act, there tended not to be any patent filings on publicly funded research at universities because it wasn't clear what claim the federal government had to the patents. Bayh-Dole, by clearly vesting patent rights in the universities, allowed the universities to take title to the patents and license or sell them to private corporations.
The usual story that gets told here is of fantastic success. Look at all the startups that have come out of university research. Look at all the licensing revenue universities have generated from patents that they own thanks to Bayh-Dole.
I'm actually a Bayh-Dole skeptic. Like you, I tend to believe that too much publicly funded research does get concentrated into certain private hands thanks to patent rights on federally funded research. But strengthening the Bayh-Dole Act would only encourage more concentration.
Some startups need exclusive rights to succeed, and pharmaceutical or biotech startups are the prime examples. But most startups don't need exclusive rights to succeed, and I don't see why we should trust university tech transfer offices to make good decisions about who should have access to federally funded technology and on what licensing terms when that is the case, as it is so often. A weaker Bayh-Dole Act would be more helpful than a stronger Bayh-Dole Act in that regard.
But even some biotech inventions like CRISPR-Cas9 or mRNA vaccine tech doesn't seem to me to be stuff that the federal government should allow to be controlled by university tech transfer offices. Some technologies are too important for that. That's why the Bayh-Dole Act includes a provision for "march-in rights." The surprising fact, however, is that they have never been used, even during the pandemic. That to me seems like the easiest and best place to push the federal government if you feel like too much tax payer funded research is being held hostage by tollbooth workers in university tech transfer offices.
The usual story that gets told here is of fantastic success. Look at all the startups that have come out of university research. Look at all the licensing revenue universities have generated from patents that they own thanks to Bayh-Dole.
I'm actually a Bayh-Dole skeptic. Like you, I tend to believe that too much publicly funded research does get concentrated into certain private hands thanks to patent rights on federally funded research. But strengthening the Bayh-Dole Act would only encourage more concentration.
Some startups need exclusive rights to succeed, and pharmaceutical or biotech startups are the prime examples. But most startups don't need exclusive rights to succeed, and I don't see why we should trust university tech transfer offices to make good decisions about who should have access to federally funded technology and on what licensing terms when that is the case, as it is so often. A weaker Bayh-Dole Act would be more helpful than a stronger Bayh-Dole Act in that regard.
But even some biotech inventions like CRISPR-Cas9 or mRNA vaccine tech doesn't seem to me to be stuff that the federal government should allow to be controlled by university tech transfer offices. Some technologies are too important for that. That's why the Bayh-Dole Act includes a provision for "march-in rights." The surprising fact, however, is that they have never been used, even during the pandemic. That to me seems like the easiest and best place to push the federal government if you feel like too much tax payer funded research is being held hostage by tollbooth workers in university tech transfer offices.