NIH plans cause a stir abroad

In March, the NIH made a little-noticed announcement of plans that will affect the right of ownership to inventions made under funding agreements (grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, subgrants, and subcontracts) with foreign entities. In Europe and elsewhere, the move is seen as a blow to international research cooperation.

The policy change was initiated "in response to concerns expressed by Congress," according to George Stone, chief of the Extramural Inventions and Technology Resources Branch, Office of Extramural Research at NIH. According to Stone, NIH has historically supported the Bayh-Dole Act, which encourages the commercialization of government-funded inventions. "But at the same time, we find ourselves in a position based on scrutiny received from Congress and the public to impose controls on the disposition of rights, particularly in cases where the U.S. public interest could be compromised if foreign entities had full rights to an invention," he said...