What does the Bayh-Dole Act do?

• A. It mandated government ownership of all patents arising from federally funded research.
• B. It restricted universities from patenting federally funded research.
• C. It allowed universities and small businesses to own patents on federally funded research.
• D. It applied only to medical devices.

Answer: (C)

The key idea is that the Bayh-Dole Act lets the entities that actually perform federally funded research own the patents that come from that work. Specifically, universities, nonprofit organizations, and small businesses can retain title to inventions arising from federally funded projects, instead of having the federal government hold ownership by default. This change was meant to make it easier to move discoveries from the lab into the market by promoting licensing and collaboration with industry.

In practice, while the resulting patents can be owned by these institutions, the government still holds certain rights. It gets a license to practice the invention and can intervene if there’s a failure to commercialize or if national needs aren’t being met. The act also requires reporting of inventions and encourages licensing arrangements that favor small businesses to speed up commercialization.

The other options don’t fit because the act does not mandate government ownership, does not restrict universities from patenting federally funded research, and it applies broadly beyond medical devices.