26 Apr Bayh-Dole Coalition Celebrates Game-Changing Sports Innovation on World IP Day
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 26, 2026) — Today, Executive Director of the Bayh-Dole Coalition Joseph P. Allen released the following statement to commemorate the 26th annual World Intellectual Property (IP) Day:
“World IP Day is an opportunity to recognize the vital role IP rights play in driving innovation, creativity, and economic growth across industries, markets, and the world.
This year’s theme, ‘IP and Sports,’ highlights how intellectual property fuels the technologies, products, and experiences that power advances in the sports ecosystem. IP protections make it possible to bring new ideas from the lab to the field — and into the hands of athletes and fans worldwide.
The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 has been a cornerstone of this innovation pipeline. By allowing nonprofit organizations, including universities, and small businesses to retain control of IP on their federally funded discoveries and license patents to private sector partners, the law has enabled breakthroughs across sectors, including those that enhance athletic performance, improve athlete health outcomes, and expand access to sports and recreation technologies.
Many of the tools that define modern sports — including improved helmet protection, injury-prevention technologies, and next-generation prosthetic designs — trace their roots to federally funded research. Bayh-Dole ensures these discoveries and others like them do not sit idle on laboratory shelves, but instead are developed and commercialized into real-world applications that benefit all Americans, including athletes, and strengthen America’s innovation economy.
On this World IP Day, we celebrate the inventors, researchers, entrepreneurs, and creators whose work keeps the world dynamic — from sports to life sciences and manufacturing — and reaffirm the importance of upholding the IP and Bayh-Dole system that supports them. The Bayh-Dole Act is truly a homerun for America.”
About the Bayh-Dole Coalition: The Bayh-Dole Coalition is a group of innovation-oriented organizations and individuals committed to celebrating and protecting the Bayh-Dole Act, as well as informing policymakers and the public of its many benefits.