Bayh-Dole Bulletin | Edition 29

To say that the release of our new report, “The Economic Impact of the Bayh-Dole Act,” was successful is an understatement. It was a truly inspiring event. If you missed it, the recording is now posted on our website and YouTube channel.

I noted in my remarks that, while various narratives are floating around about the value and impact of federally funded R&D, “what’s often lacking is hard data on how the current system is functioning. Our report helps fill that gap.”

Brian O’Shaughnessy, Chairman of the Bayh-Dole Coalition Board of Directors, kicked off the event on Capitol Hill by summarizing the key findings:

• $3.3 trillion to U.S. gross economic output and 7.6 million job-years of U.S. employment between 1996 and 2025;
• More than 19,000 startups launched and more than 17,000 new products introduced from 2001 to 2025;
• For the first time, the report documents the economic impact of the law on every state and region of the United States.

We were honored that Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office John Squires then gave inspiring remarks about the importance of our report: “The economic impact of the Bayh-Dole Act report gives us a thirty-year account — a virtual play by play as it were — of the story of America blazing a trail from federally initiated research and discovery, to the marketplace of ideas, to the real economy, bettering lives. Its central finding deserves to be stated clearly: Bayh-Dole as a construct has generated substantial returns to the American economy.”

Under Secretary Squires went on to add that our report nicely complements a recent USPTO report which found that IP-intensive industries contributed nearly $11.4 trillion to private sector GDP in 2024, or 44 percent of the total, while employing 49.6 million Americans.

He added: “Placed side by side, the two reports trace one continuous story. Your report follows a stream of inventions as they move from scientific research into the market. Our report shows the scale of the IP-intensive economy into which those inventions flow. Together, they show the extraordinary returns America can earn when ingenuity is recognized, protected, transferred, financed, and put to work. American ingenuity is a force like no other and Bayh-Dole was just the juice directed to just the right segment at just the right time, to make it sing.”

We were also honored to be joined by the Associate Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Josh Carter, who oversees the SBIR and STTR programs, which are based upon Bayh-Dole. He recounted the critical efforts made by the Small Business Administration in supporting and helping get the Bayh-Dole Act signed into law, and the crucial role that small businesses have played in its subsequent success.

I moderated a panel with Steve Susalka, CEO of AUTM, Karen Kerrigan, President and CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, and Vinit Nijhawan, Managing Director of MassVentures, who did a tremendous job explaining how and why Bayh-Dole works — and that it should never be taken for granted.

We are well-positioned for the upcoming policy debates that will only increase when a new Congress begins next year. Because of your help and support, we now have an important resource to bring — a study showing that in the cold, hard light of day, the Bayh-Dole system keeps producing, protecting, and bettering lives here and around the world.