Why Transfer Technology?

In 1980, the Bayh-Dole Act introduced a fundamental change to the patent law: title to inventions made with government funding by small businesses, universities and other non-profit entities belong to those entities, and not to the government.

The Bayh-Dole Act allows for the transfer of exclusive control over many government funded inventions to universities and businesses operating with federal contracts for the purpose of further development and commercialization. The contracting universities and businesses are then permitted to exclusively license the inventions to other parties. The federal government, however, retains "March-in" rights to license the invention to a third party, without the consent of the patent holder or original licensee, where it determines the invention is not being made available to the public on a reasonable basis, (in other words, to issue a compulsory license.)

With the passage of the Bayh-Dole Act, colleges and universities immediately began to develop and strengthen the internal expertise needed to effectively engage in the patenting and licensing of inventions. In many cases, institutions that had not been active in this area began to establish entirely new technology transfer offices, building teams with legal, business, and scientific backgrounds. These activities continue to accelerate nationally as the importance of the Bayh-Dole Act becomes fully appreciated.

Benefits and Opportunities of Technology Transfer

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