View source for Bayh–Dole Act

{{Short description|United States law regarding patent rights and government research}}
{{Infobox U.S. legislation
| shorttitle = Bayh–Dole Act
| othershorttitles = {{unbulleted list|Government Patent Policy Act of 1980|Patent and Trademark System Reform}}
| longtitle = An Act to amend the patent and trademark laws.
| colloquialacronym = 
| nickname = Patent and Trademark Law Amendments Act
| enacted by = 96th
| effective date = December 12, 1980
| public law url = http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-94/pdf/STATUTE-94-Pg3015.pdf
| cite public law = 96-517
| cite statutes at large = {{usstat|94|3015}}
| acts amended = {{unbulleted list|[[Patent Act of 1790]]|[[Patent Act of 1836]]|[[Patent Act of 1922]]|[[Patent Act of 1952]]}}
| acts repealed = 
| title amended = [[Title 35 of the United States Code|35 U.S.C.: Patents]]
| sections created = <!--{{USC}} can be used-->
| sections amended = {{Usc-title-chap|35|30}} § 201
| leghisturl = http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d096:HR06933:@@@R
| introducedin = House
| introducedbill = {{USBill|96|H.R.|6933}}
| introducedby = [[Robert Kastenmeier]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]]–[[Wisconsin|WI]])
| introduceddate = March 26, 1980
| committees = [[United States House Committee on the Judiciary|House Judiciary]], [[United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform|House Government Operations]], [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|Senate Judiciary]]
| passedbody1 = House
| passeddate1 = November 17, 1980
| passedvote1 = passed
| passedbody2 = 
| passedas2 = <!-- used if the second body changes the name of the legislation -->
| passeddate2 = 
| passedvote2 = 
| conferencedate = 
| passedbody3 = 
| passeddate3 = 
| passedvote3 = 
| agreedbody3 = <!-- used when the other body agrees without going into committee -->
| agreeddate3 = <!-- used when the other body agrees without going into committee -->
| agreedvote3 = <!-- used when the other body agrees without going into committee -->
| agreedbody4 = <!-- used if agreedbody3 further amends legislation -->
| agreeddate4 = <!-- used if agreedbody3 further amends legislation -->
| agreedvote4 = <!-- used if agreedbody3 further amends legislation -->
| passedbody4 = 
| passeddate4 = 
| passedvote4 = 
| signedpresident = [[Jimmy Carter]]
| signeddate = December 12, 1980
| unsignedpresident = <!-- used when passed without presidential signing -->
| unsigneddate = <!-- used when passed without presidential signing -->
| vetoedpresident = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto -->
| vetoeddate = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto -->
| overriddenbody1 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto -->
| overriddendate1 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto -->
| overriddenvote1 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto -->
| overriddenbody2 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto -->
| overriddendate2 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto -->
| overriddenvote2 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto -->
| amendments = 
| SCOTUS cases = {{ussc|name=Stanford University v. Roche Molecular Systems, Inc.|volume=563|page=776|year=2011}}
}}
{{United States patent law}}
The '''Bayh–Dole Act''' or '''Patent and Trademark Law Amendments Act''' ([[Public law|Pub. L.]] 96-517, December 12, 1980) is United States legislation permitting ownership by contractors of inventions arising from [[Research funding#Government-funded research|federal government-funded research]]. Sponsored by senators, [[Birch Bayh]] of Indiana and [[Bob Dole]] of Kansas, the Act was adopted in 1980, is codified at 94 [[United States Statutes at Large|Stat.]] 3015, and in 35 [[United States Code|U.S.C.]] §§ 200–212,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/35/part-II/chapter-18|title=35 U.S. Code Chapter 18 – PATENT RIGHTS IN INVENTIONS MADE WITH FEDERAL ASSISTANCE|work=cornell.edu}}</ref> and is implemented by 37 [[Code of Federal Regulations|C.F.R.]] 401 for federal funding agreements with contractors<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/37/401|title=37 CFR Part 401 – RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE BY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS UNDER GOVERNMENT GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS|work=cornell.edu}}</ref> and 37 C.F.R 404 for licensing of inventions owned by the federal government.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/37/part-404|title=37 CFR Part 404 – LICENSING OF GOVERNMENT-OWNED INVENTIONS|website=LII / Legal Information Institute|language=en|access-date=2019-10-23}}</ref>

A key change made by Bayh–Dole was in the procedures by which federal contractors that acquired ownership of inventions made with federal funding could retain that ownership. Before the Bayh–Dole Act, the Federal Procurement Regulation required the use of a patent rights clause that in some cases required federal contractors or their inventors to assign inventions made under contract to the federal government unless the funding agency determined that the public interest was better served by allowing the contractor or inventor to retain principal or exclusive rights.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/bownetri00unit#mode/2up|title=Background Materials on Government Patent Policies: The Ownership of Inventions Resulting From Federally Funded Research and Development|last=Subcommittee on Domestic and International Scientific Planning and Analysis of the Committee on Science and Technology U.S. House of Representatives|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|year=1976|location=Washington DC|pages=29–49}}</ref>  The National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and the Department of Commerce had implemented programs that permitted non-profit organizations to retain rights to inventions upon notice without requesting an agency determination.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ipmall.law.unh.edu/sites/default/files/BAYHDOLE/latkinPDF/Final_Draft_of_Patent_Policy_of_the_Department_of_Health,_Education,_and_Welfare,_1-5-1978.pdf|title=The Patent Policy of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare|last=Latker|first=Norman|date=January 5, 1978|website=IP Mall|access-date=October 22, 2019}}</ref> By contrast, Bayh–Dole uniformly permits non-profit organizations and small business firm contractors to retain ownership of inventions made under contract and which they have acquired, provided that each invention is timely disclosed and the contractor elects to retain ownership in that invention.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/35/202|title=U.S. Code § 202. Disposition of rights|website=Legal Information Institute|access-date=October 22, 2019}}</ref>

A second key change with Bayh–Dole was to authorize federal agencies to grant exclusive licenses to inventions owned by the federal government.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ipmall.law.unh.edu/sites/default/files/BAYHDOLE/latkinPDF/Brief_History_of_Federal_Technology_Transfer_by_Norman_J._Latker,_9-24-2000.pdf|title=Brief History of Federal Technology Transfer|last=Latker|first=Norman|date=2000-09-24|website=IPMall|access-date=2019-10-22}}</ref>