The document is a comprehensive response by several major academic associations—including the Association of American Universities (AAU), Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), Council on Governmental Relations (COGR), Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), and American Council on Education (ACE)—to a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Request for Information concerning federal technology transfer authorities and processes. Representing the leading U.S. research universities and medical schools, the associations underscore the critical societal and economic value of technology transfer stemming from federally funded research, attributes much of the United States’ competitiveness and innovation to university-led commercialization of scientific discoveries, and defend the effectiveness of the Bayh-Dole Act as the foundational statutory framework. They assert that no legislative changes to Bayh-Dole are necessary, emphasizing the act’s proven track record in facilitating the transition of inventions from academia to the marketplace, generating significant economic output, supporting millions of jobs, and fostering public health and security.
The response details ongoing systemic challenges confronting effective university technology transfer, including insufficient funding for technology transfer offices, complex and inconsistent administrative requirements (such as invention reporting and conflict of interest rules), bureaucratic obstacles related to patenting and government waivers, and regulatory uncertainty that deters public-private partnerships. The associations advocate for targeted improvements, such as streamlined reporting processes, reconsideration of specific regulatory changes, enhanced federal support for proof-of-concept and early-stage commercialization, clarity around patent rights and march-in provisions, and reforms to tax code provisions that currently impede university-industry collaboration. They recommend expanding successful programs like NSF’s I-Corps and propose more holistic metrics for assessing the outcomes and impacts of technology transfer, cautioning against an overreliance on simplistic measures such as patent counts or revenue. Ultimately, the document encourages NIST to adopt evidence-based, stakeholder-informed policies that strengthen the technology transfer ecosystem while preserving public interest objectives, and expresses the associations’ readiness to assist in implementing improvements to maximize the societal returns on federal research investments.
