Sponsored by the American Council on Education and the National Alliance of Business, the 117-page study entitled Working Together, Creating Knowledge: The University-Industry Research Collaboration Initiative provides an overview of corporate–academic links and reinforces the belief that such ties have helped the United States remain a leader in biotechnology, computing, software and telecommunications. It notes that industry funding in academia has risen dramatically since US Congress passed the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act, which allows universities to retain ownership of patents produced on campus and encourage commercialization of publicly funded research. The report notes that licensing fees from such patents now account for $40 billion in “economic activity,” and that by 1998 industry-funded research had reached $2 billion, or 9% of all research at US colleges and universities—a seven-fold increase since 1970. Federal research accounted for $13.5 billion in research in 1998.
Among its recommendations, the report suggests tightening up of conflict-of-interest policies and resisting corporate efforts to limit what scientists can publish or when they can disclose results. To this end, it says that universities, companies and researchers should sign confidentiality agreements and that companies should assist universities in locating potential conflicts. The report notes that it is appropriate for universities to retain ownership of intellectual property and that publication delays to protect intellectual property rights should not be longer than 60 to 90 days. Universities have legitimate reasons for not providing background rights to intellectual property developed using funds by other sponsors, but they should make a strong effort to do so when appropriate and feasible, the report states. “Both parties should remain flexible during negotiations,” says the executive summary, “And the key measure of success should be whether the corporate partner has the ability to commercialize the fruits of the research to the benefit of the public.”
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