Committee on
University Management of Intellectual Property:
Lessons from a Generation of Experience, Research, and Dialogue

A committee under the auspices of the Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy and the Committee on Science, Technology, and Law will conduct a consensus study distilling lessons from research and experience since the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 for the acquisition, licensing, defense, and sale of intellectual property (IP) arising from publicly and privately sponsored research at U.S. academic institutions.

The project will involve commissioning papers synthesizing existing research, commissioning a survey of research sponsors, university officials, and licensees, holding a national conference, evaluating the various objectives of technology transfer, and recommending best practices for research institutions and research sponsors.

Those practices will take into account significant differences in the role of intellectual property in different fields of technology, differences in the constraints on and resources of universities, objectives of different research sponsors, and differences among potential commercial licensees of university-owned IP. The incentives that influence the behavior of researchers, administrators, and public policy makers will be examined and related to public goods. The committee will be announced shortly (please check back).

Request for Proposals: Economic & Legal

Please contact Mahendra Shunmoogam: mshunmoogam@nas.edu for more information.