Panel discussion to explore impacts of Bayh-Dole Act on research and innovation

Purdue University will host a panel discussion exploring the impacts of the Bayh-Dole Act on research and innovation, featuring experts from government, industry and higher education. The panel will convene at 4:30 p.m. Monday, April 1, in Deans Auditorium, Pfendler Hall, Room 241, on the West Lafayette campus.

Featured speakers are: Joseph Allen, executive director of the Bayh-Dole Coalition; Brooke Beier, senior vice president of Purdue Innovates, Purdue Research Foundation; and Duane Marks, associate vice president and general patent counsel, neuroscience, Eli Lilly and Co. The event is co-sponsored by the Purdue Program on American Institutional Renewal (PAIR) and the Office of Policy Planning.

Passed in 1980, the Bayh-Dole Act permitted ownership of inventions and intellectual property created as part of federal government-funded research. Co-written by Purdue alumnus Sen. Birch Bayh (’51, HDR ’65), the act is largely seen as a catalyst for innovation across American universities. A 2023 executive order proposed expanding the use of march-in rights, a provision that allows patented work supported by federal funding to be licensed to competitors of the patent holder, in an effort to reduce health care costs by lowering the price of pharmaceutical drugs. The possibility has generated increased attention to the provisions of Bayh-Dole and its role in promoting research, technological innovation and economic growth. 

PAIR seeks to advance the generation, communication and use of new knowledge about the workings of America’s governing institutions. It brings together scholars, students and practitioners interested in improving the workings of legislatures, courts, executive agencies and other institutions.