Patent 'March In' Could Chill Innovation
Federal and technology transfer officials believe that using "march-in" authority, which allows agencies to take control of a patent under certain circumstances, could have a chilling effect on government-sponsored research, according to a Government Accountability Office report (PDF) released Monday. The officials told GAO that if a march-in occurred, investors would be less likely to provide the funds to commercialize federal inventions for fear of losing their investments. Also, because the process can be long, a march-in would have limited utility in an emergency situation, they said.
GAO reviewed the departments of Defense and Energy, NASA and the National Institutes of Health to review because they accounted for 89 percent of federal research funding for fiscal year 2006 and none had exercised its march-in authority. DOD, DOE, and NASA have never received information that would lead them to initiate such a proceeding in the last 20 years and NIH has been petitioned formally three times but never pursued a case. DOD, NASA, and NIH said they valued the authority but DOE officials disagreed, in part, because no agency has ever used it.
Until March 2009, the Bayh-Dole Act required GAO to report periodically to determine whether march-in authority should be exercised; how the authority has been used; and what barriers and disincentives have been encountered. The GAO made no recommendations as part of its analysis. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the topic in October 2007. For more details click here.
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