The Bayh-Dole Bulletin | Edition 27
Bayh-Dole Bulletin: Edition 27
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.
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About the Bayh-Dole Coalition
A Word From Our Executive Director
Well, this has been anything but a quiet summer. We are seeing an explosion of initiatives from the administration that directly impact the federal R&D system. We recently objected to the pending OMB rule allowing agencies to arbitrarily cancel grants and contracts. We are also preparing to comment on a pending NIH effort to develop effective approaches for measuring and rewarding scientific impact. But the most far-reaching proposal is the Office of Science and Technology Policy’s just-released paper, “Science: A New Golden Age.” The paper is an attempt to update Vannevar Bush’s opus, “Science: The Endless Frontier.” That report helped shape the current federal R&D system, which has done so much to make America the innovative leader of the world. However, that leadership is under unprecedented challenges from China, prompting a review of our system. If you haven’t done so already, you should take a look at the new paper, as it proposes some fundamental shifts in how the current system operates.
The Bayh-Dole Coalition is all for reducing unnecessary bureaucracy, making our system more dynamic and cost effective. That should be done by strengthening the decentralized university technology transfer system established under Bayh-Dole. We should build on our core strengths — an innovative culture empowering those creating breakthrough discoveries and managing them for development. As you can see in our response, we pointed out that shifting grants from academic institutions to individual scientists would undermine that system.
The report also calls out the “Failure of the Passive Model” — which poured money into universities, protected intellectual property — expecting that “innovations that secure the nation and enrich its people arrive on schedule.” Whatever that was, it certainly wasn’t the Bayh-Dole system, where an entrepreneurial private sector — particularly American small companies and start-ups — has an unmatched record transforming publicly funded research into groundbreaking products and even new industries, which put the United States in the forefront of innovation. To learn more about the Coalition’s response to the report, you can read our full statement here.
We look forward to working with the administration and Congress to ensure that we remain the dominant innovative force on the planet. There’s much work to do, but there are few issues of more importance than getting this one right. And with your help and support, we will.
July Coalition Highlights
- Statement: Bayh-Dole Coalition Responds to OSTP’s New Report — And Offers Advice (7/27)
- Op-Ed: Robert Dannals, Baltimore Sun, “I transformed prostate cancer detection. We must protect future breakthroughs” (7/20)
- Article: New Hampshire Business Review, “Dartmouth professor honored for developing ‘camera-on-a-chip’ that powers smartphones” (7/17)
- Article: Central Times Plus, “Pomper shares American Innovator Award from Bayh-Dole Coalition” (7/15)
- Letter: Bayh-Dole Coalition Letter to Senate Judiciary Committee re: PERA (7/13)
- Statement: Bayh-Dole Coalition Congratulates Laura Peter on WIPO Confirmation (7/10)
- Public Comment: Bayh-Dole Coalition Comments on OMB Rule on Federally Funded Research (7/7)
- Article: MLex, “Joseph Allen on keeping the Bayh-Dole Act’s legacy alive, 45 years later” (7/2)
- Article: Baltimore Sun, “How new tests can help catch prostate cancer early, image cancerous tissue” (7/1)
- Republished in Yahoo! Health, Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee, Charlotte Observer, and 24 additional outlets (7/1)
Coalition Priorities
We recently responded to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s new report, “Science: A New Golden Age,” supporting efforts to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy while emphasizing that reforms should strengthen the Bayh-Dole technology transfer system.
We also submitted comments opposing the Office of Management and Budget’s proposal to give federal agencies broad authority to terminate grants and contracts, warning that the change could undermine the long-term partnerships that fuel American innovation. In addition, we urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to advance the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA), underscoring that a strong, predictable patent system is essential to translating federally funded discoveries into real-world innovations.
Looking ahead, the Coalition will submit comments to the National Institutes of Health as it develops new approaches for measuring scientific impact. We will encourage NIH to identify the results of the Bayh-Dole and technology transfer system — patents, startups, jobs, and products — as key measures of success that reflect the full public value of federally funded research.
The Coalition will continue working with the administration, policymakers, member organizations, and partners to protect the Bayh-Dole framework and ensure America’s research enterprise remains the world’s leading engine of innovation.
Reminder: Submissions for the 2027 American Innovator Award are open! Help us recognize the inventors, technology transfer professionals, entrepreneurs, investors, and others who make the Bayh-Dole system work. Nominate an innovator here.
Member Corner
- August 14-16: International Federation of Inventors’ Associations (IFIA) will host the Silicon Valley International Invention Festival! SVIIF brings together more than 500 inventors from over 30 countries, creating an international platform for innovation, creativity, and technological advancement.
- 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 July member spotlight is Lesley Millar-Nicholson! As Executive Director of MIT’s Technology Licensing Office, Lesley helps guide a component of one of the nation’s most dynamic and successful university innovation ecosystems. She oversees MIT’s intellectual property and technology transfer activities, including shepherding management of over 600 invention disclosures each year and supporting filing and maintenance of more than 11,000 issued and pending patents. Such work has resulted in nearly 700 licensed startups and over 2,000 executed license agreements. The Bayh-Dole Coalition was fortunate to have Lesley as a speaker on our “Tech Transfer Today: Navigating a Shifting Bayh-Dole Landscape” panel at our Faces of American Innovation event in June 2026.
“At its core, technology transfer isn’t about counting patents or licenses — it’s about creating impact through facilitation of relationships between academic and research enterprises and those who will invest in further development of nascent technologies. Breakthrough discoveries require thoughtful stewardship, solid intellectual property protections, and strong partnerships among researchers, universities, entrepreneurs, and industry. Throughout my career in tech transfer, I’ve seen how Bayh-Dole provides a robust framework that allows those partnerships to thrive and result in life-changing applications. Protecting the Bayh-Dole tech transfer system means preserving America’s ability to translate world-class research into lasting societal and economic impact.” — Lesley Millar-Nicholson, Executive Director, MIT Technology Licensing Office
Get Involved
If you’re interested in formally joining the Bayh-Dole Coalition or donating to our organization, please do so below!