The Trump administration has escalated its conflict with Harvard University over patents and federally funded research, initiating a review and the 'march-in' process under the Bayh-Dole Act, which could lead to federal ownership of Harvard's patents, amid ongoing lawsuits and funding disputes.
The Trump administration has threatened to take control of Harvard's patents from federally funded research, citing non-compliance with federal laws, as part of a broader legal and political conflict involving funding cuts and investigations into Harvard's activities.
The U.S. Commerce Department is reviewing Harvard's compliance with federal rules regarding patents from federally funded research, threatening to seize patents worth hundreds of millions if Harvard fails to provide required disclosures by September 5, citing concerns over non-compliance with the Bayh-Dole Act.
The National Institutes of Health has declined to use "march-in" rights to lower the price of Astellas and Pfizer's prostate cancer drug Xtandi despite being invented at UCLA with grants from the US Army and NIH. The institutes' analyses found Xtandi "to be widely available to the public," an indication that there was not a pressing need for the US to act. Under the Bayh-Dole Act, the government can promote the commercialization and public availability of even partially government-funded inventions, but the move has never been successful.