Tillis and Coons Introduce Bill to Study Bayh-Dole Reporting Processes

Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Chris Coons (D-DE) have introduced a bill to study the inefficiencies in the reporting system required under the Bayh-Dole Act, with an eye toward streamlining processes.

Titled the “Improving Efficiency to Increase Competition Act of 2023,” the bill would direct the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a report to Congress on the impact of the various reporting requirements implemented by different agencies under Bayh-Dole for intellectual property developed by federal grantees. According to a one-pager on the bill:

“Each government agency has set forward different methods for reporting, has established various forms of communication with grantees (including the rate at which a grantee may hear back from a federal agency, if at all), and has its own standards for retaining the intellectual property from the grantee. This means grantees have to navigate the reporting system differently for each federal agency.

This burdensome, time-consuming, and confusing process forces grantees, many of which are universities, to dedicate resources to navigating different systems for each federal agency.”

The legislation directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study on how these different disclosure processes affect innovation and where improvements might be made. It requires that the GAO reach out to grantees of “various sizes, budgets, geographical positions, and specialties.”

The bill comes in the wake of a proposed framework last month that would considerably expand the criteria for compulsory licensing of patented technology developed under Bayh-Dole, particularly with respect to drug pricing. Tillis criticized the proposal in a letter sent in December to President Biden and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) this week sent FOIA requests demanding more information on the process that led to the framework and the parties involved.

Whereas many see the latter framework as obstructive to the intent of Bayh-Dole, the  “Improving Efficiency to Increase Competition Act of 2023” aims to improve the system. “This bipartisan, bicameral legislation will support efforts to eliminate unnecessary red tape so that federal grantees can thrive, and their ideas can bolster national competitiveness and create new innovations and technologies,” Coons said.

Specific inquiries the bill directs the GAO to make include the percentage of inventions that aren’t elected by contractors to retain within the time period provided following disclosure of an invention under 37 CFR Part 401; the number of extensions granted for disclosure; the average response time for requests for extension; how the reporting requirements impact the ability of contractors to compete with foreign competitors; and the time and effort universities devote to management and reporting under Bayh-Dole.

The report would be due one year after the date of enactment of the legislation, with a briefing to the relevant committees by the Comptroller General due no later than 180 days after enactment.

The bill has been endorsed by the Bayh-Dole Coalition, AUTM and a number of universities and research institutions.

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