Bickering over stem cell IP
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine is having trouble crafting an IP policy that would both maximize financial returns to the state's taxpayers and attract commercial developers of its stem cell innovations. The proposed Intellectual Property Policy for Non-Profit Organizations was released for public comment in February and the comment period ended last month. Like every other step CIRM has attempted to take, its proposed IP policy has attracted strong criticism and contradictory recommendations.
The conflict over regulations governing the terms for use of stem cell innovations funded at least in part by state money stems from fundamental disagreements over the economic value of basic research, the contributions of the private sector to research tool development, and the likely scope and timing of commercial stem cell therapies...