Federal Research: Additional Actions Needed to Improve Licensing of Patented Laboratory Inventions
Federal Research: Additional Actions Needed to Improve Licensing of Patented Laboratory Inventions, Report no. GAO-18-327, Jun 2018
Federal agency and laboratory (lab) officials identified challenges in licensing patents across the federal government, and agencies have taken some steps to address and report them. Patent licensing is a technology transfer activity that allows, for example, federal inventions to be legally transferred to the private sector for commercial use. Specifically, officials at the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Energy (DOE), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as external stakeholders, noted challenges in having researchers identify potentially patentable inventions. DOD, DOE, and NIH officials also cited having inadequate internal systems to keep track of inventions developed in the labs. In addition, several stakeholders stated that licensing patented inventions can be lengthy and bureaucratic, which may deter companies from licensing. The agencies reported taking steps to address these challenges, such as implementing model license agreements across labs to expedite the process.
Publication type:
policy brief
Publication language:
English
Publication date:
2018
Publication URL:
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-18-327
Institute:
Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics team of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) (STAA)
Country:
United States of America
Project:
Federal Research: Additional Actions Needed to Improve Licensing of Patented Laboratory Inventions (STAA)

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