A concept to create an open, competitive licensing system for university innovators — the brainchild of researchers at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, MO — is one of Harvard Business Review’s “Ten Breakthrough Ideas for 2010.” Current restrictions imposed on the commercialization of federally funded discoveries in the U.S. slow the diffusion of new technologies, according to an HBR article by Robert E. Litan, vice president for research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation, and Lesa Mitchell, vice president for innovation. Such limitations are detrimental to the U.S. economy and to the universities, they argue. “We know that there are many vital innovations and discoveries languishing in university labs because of a suboptimal licensing system at many universities,” Litan says. “One simple amendment to the Bayh-Dole Act would allow faculty members to choose their own licensing agents/experts and bring these discoveries to market quickly.” Mitchell and Litan argue that if faculty members could choose their own licensing agents, increased competition would speed up the commercialization of new technologies while allowing universities to collect the same royalties as under the current system.
Source: TD Ameritrade