We were recently awarded a grant in conjunction with Robert Morris University and Intellectual Assets Corp.
The Council for Innovation Promotion (C4IP) is a bipartisan coalition dedicated to promoting strong and effective intellectual property rights that drive innovation, boost economic competitiveness, and improve lives everywhere.
From a recent issue of the RMU Research Newsletter:
"RMU and its collaborative partners, David McFeeters-Krone (Intellectual Assets, Corp.) and Scott Winn (LDRSHIP.DEV LLC), will study the potential impact that the threat of the federal government exercising march-in rights have on entrepreneurial separation to transfer technology programs for federally funded research. Entrepreneurial Separation for Technology Transfer (ESTT) refers to the process by which individuals or small groups within a university or research institution separate from their day-to-day roles to pursue the commercialization of technologies developed through research. Once their role in the commercialization effort is complete, these individuals usually return to their previous role within the research organization.
In the context of the Bayh-Dole Act, which allows universities, laboratories and researchers to retain ownership of inventions resulting from federally funded research, ESTTs can be key to successful technology transfer since those with the knowledge of the intellectual property are instrumental to its commercialization. The project proposes to update prior work, now more than 10 years old, and to significantly extend the previous research to identify those best practices that will ensure a greater likelihood of success in ESTT programs. In the context of recent calls for funding agencies to exercise “march in” rights, ESTTs may represent a preemptive option that aligns stakeholder interests. "March-in rights" under the Bayh-Dole Act allow the federal government to intervene and license a federally funded invention to third parties or take other actions if certain conditions are not met by the original patent holder. This provision is designed to ensure that the benefits of federally funded research are available to the public. However, the exercise of march-in rights presents several risks and concerns."