Patents and Professors

The Interdependence between Patent Law, Science, and Research Universities in the United States of America

by Anna Marion Bieri

Book cover: Patents and Professors

Extent: 259 pages

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Subjects: Law

Series: Geistiges Eigentum und Wettbewerbsrecht

Series volume number: 176

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(June 2022)

ISBN: 9783161612695

9.09 x 6.06 inches

Price: $100.00

In stock

Anna Marion Bieri discusses the use of patents at US research universities and the effect university patenting has had on academia and society. Who should benefit from university inventions? And how should the current regulations and practices be modified to achieve this purpose?


Who owns inventions developed at US research universities? And who benefits from the current ownership regime? To answer these questions, Anna Marion Bieri discusses the transformation which has taken place in academia in regard to the involvement and commercialisation of patents and the effect university patenting has had on the academic mission and the scientific commons. Special emphasis is placed on the history and implementation of the Bayh-Dole Act – a widely-discussed law which facilitated the patenting and commercialisation of federally funded university inventions. On this basis, the author explores who should benefit from university inventions and how the current ownership regime should be modified to achieve this purpose. Finally, Anna Marion Bieri proposes that universities employ patents strategically in accordance with their research strengths.

  • By (author) Anna Marion Bieri