About (Old)
The Founding Fathers
In 1980, Senators Birch Bayh (D-IN) and Bob Dole (R-KS) drafted the Patent and Trademark Law Amendments Act, which eventually became known as the “Bayh-Dole Act.”
The two Senators recognized that scientists benefiting from federal funding were routinely making breakthrough discoveries — but by and large, those innovations would go on to gather dust. The reason? Discoveries that benefited from federal funding were not being effectively managed; the government was taking them away from the inventing organization to make them available to anyone through non-exclusive licensing.
The Bayh-Dole Act revolutionized technology transfer as it allowed universities, small businesses, and nonprofits to capitalize on their research and turn their discoveries into viable consumer products. By ensuring that academic institutions and companies would own inventions they make with government-support, Senators Bayh and Dole spurred the transformation of laboratory discoveries into new products benefitting the American taxpayer — and citizens throughout the world.
Hall of Fame
In addition to Senators Bayh and Dole, others have contributed to the passage and continuing success of the Act, now considered giants whose shoulders we stand upon.
Howard Bremer and Norman Latker envisioned the Bayh-Dole system and worked the rest of their lives to bring it into being and to nurture it.
In 1978, Purdue University contacted Senator Birch Bayh’s Judiciary Committee staff about a patent problem they were having. The meeting included Howard Bremer and Norman Latker and led to the introduction of what was to become the Bayh-Dole Act. Howard and Norm helped us craft the Bayh-Dole Act which introduced the incentives of the patent system– and decentralized technology management– to take these inventions from the laboratory into the marketplace where they now improve lives around the world.
Howard Bremer
Howard was part of what’s rightly called The Greatest Generation—those who survived the Great Depression, fought and won World War II and then came home to build the most prosperous nation in history. Howard represented a rapidly receding era when integrity, modesty and personal responsibility were commonly held virtues.
Howard’s efforts were critical in the success of enacting Bayh-Dole and over the years, he remained a steadfast defender pushing back against the critics of the patent system. Whenever he saw misleading attacks launched against Bayh-Dole, he would not sit idly by, but went straight to work on a response which was always factual, and never stooped to personal attacks.
Norman Latker
Norm was the patent counsel at the National Institutes of Health in the 1960s. He realized that billions of dollars’ worth of federally funded research was going unused because the government took patent rights away from universities and others creating inventions with agency support. Norm envisioned a more effective system to take these discoveries off of the agency shelves, and transform them into useful products. Working with the founders of what became AUTM, the program became the forerunner of the Bayh-Dole Act.
When the law finally passed, Bayh and Dole entrusted crafting the implementing regulations to Norm’s capable hands. He then spent two years successfully fighting off efforts by the bureaucracy to undermine the law.
Niels Reimers
Niels Reimers actively supported Bayh-Dole and developed the Stanford technology transfer model, which he later took to MIT. Niels licensed the Cohen-Boyer invention, which is widely considered to have jump started the U.S. biotechnology industry. The impact of Cohen-Boyer alerted American companies to the value of universities as research partners; Bayh-Dole made this, and similar federally funded discoveries economic, not just scientific, assets.
D. Bruce Merrifield
As Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Technology during the Reagan Administration, the development and oversight of regulations implementing Bayh-Dole came under Dr. Merrifield’s jurisdiction. Quickly realizing the importance of the law, Dr. Merrifield explained to the White House that it was something the President should support. He also gave Norman Latker full support to push back against efforts to weaken the regulations.
Dr. Merrifield was a rare public servant who was not afraid to take risks and use his position to advance the public good. He was not intimidated when challenged by more powerful agencies and never backed down when things got rough. Without his leadership, Bayh-Dole would not have survived its infancy.
Success Stories
Innovations made possible thanks to the Bayh-Dole Act include:
- Virtual exposure therapy
- Neoprene
- Firefighting drones
- eSight 3 electronic glasses
- Non-lethal pest control
- Biosorption activated media filtration system
- Honeycrisp apples
- Quantum computing
- Autonomous vehicles
- Allegra
- Flu mist
- Nicotine patch
- Technology to remove arsenic/ammonia from drinking water
- Children’s vaccine for Rotavirus
- Airport scanners for detecting explosives in shoes
- Cervical cancer tests
- Early detection and protection against Osteoporosis
- Blood test detecting brain injuries
- V-chip (allows parents to prevent children from viewing certain TV shows)
- Organ preservation solutions
- Gene chips
- Magnetic resonance spectroscopy
- Advanced ultrasound imaging
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Coumadin (blood thinner)
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CAR T-cell therapy
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Live vaccine candidates to protect against pneumonia
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Lyrica (drug to combat neuropathic pain and epilepsy)
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Amevive/alefacept (to treat psoriasis)
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Paper-based diagnostic chip
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Taxol (drug to fight breast and ovarian cancers)
- Tovaxin™ (custom multiple sclerosis therapy)
- Ervebo/ rVSV-ZEBOV (Ebola vaccine)
- Zerit (AIDS therapy)
- Epivir (AIDS therapy)
- Electronic funds transfer (and secure communications)
- High-definition television
- Sustained drug delivery technology
- Window technology for computers
- Cloud computing interface
- Lightweight automobile wheels
- Electronic connectors for billions of devices
Bayh-Dole Today
Thanks to Bayh-Dole, tens of thousands of innovations have been made available to the public. But support for America’s innovation ecosystem is eroding. We have the opportunity — and obligation — to change that.
As we celebrate this milestone, we strive to maintain the efficacy of this vital piece of legislation.
Leadership
Executive Director
Joseph P. Allen
Joe is the executive director of the Bayh-Dole Coalition. As a professional staffer on the Senate Judiciary Committee to Sen. Birch Bayh (D-IN), he played a key role in the successful passage of the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 and its subsequent amendments.
He later served as the founding director of the Office of Technology Commercialization at the Department of Commerce, where he helped oversee the implementation of Bayh-Dole across federal agencies. He also chaired the Interagency Committee on Technology Transfer, where his work helped guarantee that discoveries made by visiting scientists in America’s laboratories and universities would be owned by the U.S. host organizations. And he served as president of the National Technology Transfer Center and vice president and general manager of the Intellectual Property Management Group at the West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation.
Board of Directors
Brian O’Shaughnessy
Board Chair
Brian is chair of the IP Transactions and Licensing Group at Dinsmore, one of the nation’s largest law firms. A past president of the Licensing Executives Society of USA and Canada, he continues to serve LES as senior vice president for public policy. Brian earned B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Department of Chemistry, Rochester Institute of Technology, and a J.D. from Syracuse University, College of Law.
Chris Israel
Treasurer
Chris is the executive director of the Alliance of U.S. Startups and Inventors for Jobs, a coalition of inventors, startups, investors, incubators, and research institutions that works to safeguard America’s innovation ecosystem. He is also a senior partner at ACG Advocacy, a bipartisan government affairs firm. Prior to joining ACG Advocacy, Chris served in the George W. Bush administration, where he worked as deputy chief of staff to the Secretary of Commerce and served as the nation’s first International Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator. Chris received his B.A. from the University of Kansas and an M.B.A. from The George Washington University.
Karen Kerrigan
Secretary
Karen is president & CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. In that role, she regularly testifies before Congress on the key issues impacting entrepreneurs and the economy, engages with the President’s cabinet and key advisors, and has been appointed to numerous federal advisory boards. She also chairs the Small Business Roundtable and is a founding member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum. Karen earned a B.A. from SUNY Cortland and currently serves on the Cortland College Foundation Board.
Rose Wang
Board Member
Rose is the executive advisor of AIM-Hi Accelerator Fund, which bridges the gap between early-stage cancer research and the successful development of high-impact oncology products. A serial entrepreneur, she founded Binary Group, an IT consulting firm, as well as several other startups. She is a two-term Council Member of the National Women’s Business Council. She also serves as a Trustee to Excelsior College and was a past member of the Board of Directors at Women Impacting Public Policy. Rose earned two international MBAs from Georgetown University and ESADE (Spain).
Jon Soderstrom
Board Member
Jon recently retired as Managing Director of the Yale Office of Cooperative Research. Under Jon’s direction, since 2000 more than 75 startups with over 42 billion in venture capital and another $7 billion in public equity financing based on Yale intellectual property have taken root in New Haven. Previously, Dr. Soderstrom was the Director of Program Development for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He is a past president of AUTM and has testified before Congress on tech transfer issues. Jon received his Ph.D. from Northwestern University and his B.A. from Hope College.
