Since the early 1980s, universities in the United States have greatly expanded their patenting and licensing activities. The Congressional Joint Economic Committee, among other authorities, have argued that this surge contributed to the economic boom of the 1990s. And, many observers have...

The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 facilitated the retention by universities of patent rights resulting from government funded academic research, thus encouraging university entry into patenting and licensing. Though the Act is widely recognized to be a major change in federal policy towards academic...

The efforts of a number of OECD governments to emulate the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, which permitted United States institutions receiving government research funds to patent their inventions, are critiqued.This critique is based on a review of recent research on the characteristics of the...