Readers Write

We received the following note on the IP report from Terry Feuerborn, formerly Executive Director of Research Administration and Technology Transfer within the Office of the President at the University of California. He currently serves as the Technology Transfer Ombudsman for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

"From the beginning, there was reason for concern about the intellectual property management aspects of the stem cell initiative.  The wording in the initiative was confusing and hinted at an approach that would have been counterproductive. 

"Intellectual property issues are complex and often seem counterintuitive at first glance. Adoption of the federal rules embodied in the Bayh-Dole Act by CIRM would be a welcome development.  Those rules were hammered out over a long period of time by representatives of both higher education and the government.  In large measure, the rules were a response to the 'competitiveness' issue that was current at the time. 

"The results of the Bayh-Dole Act have been truly impressive.  The act played an important role, for instance, in the rise of the biotechnology industry.  In addition, the Bayh-Dole Act has been very effective in bringing new technologies to the marketplace.  The adoption of similar rules by the CIRM would ensure that intellectual property resulting from stem cell research would be managed in a way that has proved to be in the public interest."

Feuerborn also recommends further reading on the subject of the Bayh-Dole act, a brochure by Council on Governmental Relations.
"For the sake of disclosure," he reports, "I should mention that I am the author of this brochure."