Supreme Court Says Bayh-Dole Act Does Not Deprive Individuals of Patent Rights

摘要

The Bayh-Dole Act does not bar inventors from assigning their individual rights in patents resulting from research funded by the federal government, the US Supreme Court ruled on June 6 (Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University v. Roche Molecular Systems Inc, US, No. 09-1159, 6/06/11). In a dispute over patents on HIV technology, the court, in a 7-2 vote, rejected Stanford University's argument that the Act automatically vests patent title to universities and other contractors for inventions resulting from research financed at least in part by federal funds.