The Bayh-Dole Bulletin | Edition 24
Bayh-Dole Bulletin: Edition 24
Welcome to the Bayh-Dole Bulletin, a monthly newsletter from 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.
If you were forwarded this email and would like to receive future communications, please join our mailing list here.
About the Bayh-Dole Coalition
A Word From Our Executive Director
The highlight of the year for the Bayh-Dole Coalition is the announcement of our American Innovator Award winners. As you know, we started this award to recognize remarkable individuals whose vision, sacrifice, perseverance, and assumption of considerable risk were instrumental in turning a federally funded invention into a product improving well-being here and around the world. These stories explain better than any statistic how the Bayh-Dole system works and why preserving the system that makes these stories possible is critically important to both our economic and personal well-being. I’m sure you will be impressed when you see this year’s award winners. There stories and achievements are truly inspiring
We will also announce a new member of the Bayh-Dole Coalition’s Hall of Fame, which honors those who made the Bayh-Dole
Act possible and ensured that the law would work as intended. We will be inducting Jere Glover (pictured below), a tireless advocate for small businesses who helped create and sustain the SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) and STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) programs. But few know that while serving in the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, Jere played a key role in getting the Bayh- Dole Act signed right before it would have died without President Carter’s signature. We all owe a great deal to Jere, and I hope you will be able to attend our ceremony to both thank him and meet some of the most remarkable people you are likely to meet anywhere — the Bayh-Dole Coalition’s 2026 Faces of American Innovation.
I guarantee that you will be glad you came!
April Coalition Highlights
- Press release: Bayh-Dole Coalition Celebrates Game-Changing Sports Innovation on World IP Day (4/26)
- Article: SBE Council, “WORLD IP DAY 2026: ‘Ready, Set, Innovate'” (4/25)
- Article: KUOW, “What does UW’s disappearing research money mean for Seattle’s innovation economy?” (4/24)
- Podcast: KUOW Booming, “An engine of Seattle’s innovation economy is running out of gas” (4/22)
Upcoming Events & Coalition Priorities
On Wednesday, June 3, and Thursday, June 4, 2026, the Bayh-Dole Coalition will host our fourth-annual American Innovator Award ceremony and Faces of American Innovation Capitol Hill briefing.
This year’s two-day program will bring together leaders from across industries to highlight the groundbreaking individuals featured in our soon-to-be-released 2026 Faces of American Innovation report and to engage in timely conversations around the future of Bayh-Dole and the U.S. innovation system.
Please RSVP here: https://forms.gle/ES1XqDSr6fW393AC7. We welcome you to share this invitation with your network. Please submit an individual response to the RSVP form for each person interested in attending.
More details will be released soon. In the meantime, please find a tentative agenda below.
Wednesday, June 3 — Top of the Hill Banquet & Conference Center, Minuteman Ballroom (1 Constitution Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002):
- Breakfast (estimated start time: 9 AM)
- 2026 Bayh-Dole Coalition American Innovator Award Ceremony
- Bayh-Dole Advocacy Conference
- Lunch
- Prep session for Capitol Hill meetings (members only — estimated end time: 2 PM)
Thursday, June 4 — Russell Senate Office Building, Room 385 (2 Constitution Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002):
- 2026 Faces of American Innovation report briefing (estimated start time: 8:30 AM)
- Capitol Hill meetings (members only — estimated end time: 3 PM)
Interested in attending the exclusive portions, but not a member? Become one today!
⚽️🏈⚾️🏀🏐 World IP Day 🏐🏀⚾️🏈⚽️
Recognized on April 26, this year’s World Intellectual Property Day celebrates the vital role IP plays in driving creativity, innovation, and economic growth. This year’s theme, “IP and Sports,” spotlights how IP protections support athletes, innovators, and entrepreneurs — from recording studios to streaming services — by ensuring that sports-progressing inventions are safeguarded and incentivized.
The Bayh-Dole Act is a prime example of strong IP policy. Though often linked to fields like medicine and energy, Bayh-Dole has also paved the way for innovations in sports technology, including sports gear and injury prevention. As laws like this continue to empower athletes, defending our robust IP system remains essential to sustaining progress.
You can see our full World IP Day press release here. Thank you for celebrating with us!
Member Corner
- SUNY Research Foundation
- John Walters, Director of the Office of Technology Management at Mississippi State University
- June 1-12: The IP Policy Institute at The University of Akron School of Law (IPPI) is partnering with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to host the WIPO-U.S. Summer School on Intellectual Property! This two-week course, held online via Microsoft Teams, focuses on IP law in the United States of America and will consist of lectures, case studies, simulation exercises, and group discussions on selected IP topics.
- June 22-25: Biotechnology Innovation Organization will host BIO 2026 in San Diego! The BIO International Convention is the largest and most comprehensive event for biotechnology, representing the full ecosystem of biotech with 20,000 industry leaders from around the world.
- October 18-21: Licensing Executives Society USA-Canada will host its 2026 Annual Meeting in San Diego! The program will deliver in-depth content, networking, keynotes, panel discussions, roundtables, and hands-on workshops designed to help you stay ahead in today’s fast-moving IP landscape.
If you are interested in becoming a member, please apply here! If you are a member and your organization has an upcoming event, submit the information here to be featured in our newsletter and events calendar.
Member Spotlight
Our April member spotlight is the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF)! This past November, WARF celebrated its 100thanniversary supporting University of Wisconsin-Madison research as the first, and still one of the most respected, university-based tech transfer offices in the world. WARF has been granted more than 4,500 patents, all based on UW-Madison research, and currently manages a portfolio of more than 3,000 active and pending patents, biomaterials, plant varieties, and other forms of IP across biohealth, engineering, physics, computer science, and agriculture. The Bayh-Dole Coalition is proud to count WARF as a member and longtime WARF patent counsel, Howard Bremer, as a Bayh-Dole Founding Father.
“WARF’s track record of success supporting UW-Madison shows what’s possible when strong institutions work with brilliant researchers to translate discoveries into impact. The Bayh-Dole Act is foundational to that model — empowering universities to control the rights to federally funded research and collaborate with commercial partners to turn genius ideas into real-world solutions. As CEO of WARF and throughout my longer career in global health, I’ve seen firsthand how essential IP protections and sound regulations are for advancing human health, building innovative technologies, and generating breakthrough products, new companies, and thriving communities. I couldn’t be prouder of WARF’s legacy within the Bayh-Dole Coalition as together we build a better, more prosperous and innovative future.” — Erik Iverson, CEO, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
Get Involved
If you’re interested in formally joining the Bayh-Dole Coalition or donating to our organization, please do so below!