You invent it, you own it – Supreme Court addresses federally funded inventions

Description

Abstract: Researchers at a university and a private biotech company developed a technique to measure the effectiveness of antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV. The university obtained three patents related to the technique. Its researchers agreed to assign to the university their right, title and interest in the inventions created, but one did the same for the private company. When the division doing this federally funded research was taken over by another company, which then began manufacturing HIV detection kits, the university alleged patent infringement. This article explains why the Supreme Court sided with the company, while a sidebar discusses the opinions of the two dissenting justices. Bd. of Trustees v. Roche Molecular Sys., Inc., No. 09-1159, June 6, 2011 (Supreme Court)