STATEMENT OF SENATOR BOB DOLE

FEDERAL TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER ACT OF 1986

MR. PRESIDENT, IN FY 86 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WILL SPEND APPROXIMATELY $18 BILLION ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AT OVER 700 FEDERAL LABORATORIES. OVER THE YEARS THESE LABORATORIES HAVE PRODUCED WELL OVER 28,000 FEDERAL PATENTS, YET ONLY 5 PERCENT OF THESE PATENTS HAVE BEEN LICENSED TO DATE. THIS LEGISLATION ADDRESSES THIS PROBLEM BY AMENDING THE STEVENSON-WYDLER TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION ACT OF 1980 IN AN EFFORT TO PROMOTE TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR BY AUTHORIZING GOVERNMENT-OPERATED LABORATORIES TO ENTER INTO COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AGREEMENTS AND BY ESTABLISHING A FEDERAL LABORATORY CONSORTIUM FOR TECHNOLOGY.

DOLE LEGISLATION

AS I AM SURE MANY OF MY COLLEAGUES ARE AWARE, I HAVE LONG BEEN A PROMOTER OF MORE PRIVATE SECTOR INVOLVEMENT WITH OUR GOVERNMENT'S RESEARCH FACILITIES. SIX YEARS AGO, I WAS PLEASED TO JOIN OUR FORMER COLLEAGUE, BIRCH BAYH, IN WORKING TO ELIMINATE MUCH OF THE TANGLE OF BUREAUCRATIC BRAMBLES THAT IMPEDED THE ABILITY OF UNIVERSITIES AND SMALL BUSINESSES TO TRANSFORM FEDERALLY ASSISTED RESEARCH INTO A PATENTED INVENTION.

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SPECIFICALLY, WITH THE ENACTMENT OF PUBLIC LAW 96-517, WE ESTABLISHED, FOR THE FIRST TIME, A RULE IN FAVOR OF UNIVERSITY AND SMALL BUSINESS OWNERSHIP OF INVENTIONS DEVELOPED. NOW, UNIVERSITY AND INDUSTRY COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IS AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH, AND WHOLE NEW TECHNOLOGIES HAVE FLOURISHED AS A RESULT. 

DESPITE MY EFFORTS ON THE BAYH-DOLE ACT AND THE STEVENSON-WYDLER ACT, I SOON DISCOVERED THAT THE FEDERAL LABORATORIES STILL FACED PROBLEMS AND DISINCENTIVES IN TRYING TO TRANSFER TECHNOLOGY. LAST YEAR, I RETURNED TO THE FIELD TO PROPOSE THE NEXT LOGICAL STEP WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF THE UNIFORM PATENT PROCEDURES ACT - A BILL THAT EXTENDED THE PRINCIPLES OF THE 1980 LAW TO LARGE BUSINESS CONTRACTORS AND REPEALED ALL EXISTING LAWS WHICH WERE INCONSISTENT WITH THOSE PRINCIPLES. IT ESTABLISHED A CLEAR AND CONSISTENT PRESUMPTION IN FAVOR OF INVENTION OWNERSHIP FOR ALL CONTRACTORS AND ELIMINATED ONCE AND FOR ALL THE HODGEPODGE OF AGENCY PATENT REQUIREMENTS BUILT UP OVER THE YEARS. IT HAD THE FURTHER EFFECT OF LURING RESEARCH INVESTMENTS FROM LARGE BUSINESS WITH THEIR SPECIALIZED SKILLS, TECHNOLOGICAL EXPERTISE, AND HEALTHY RESPECT FOR THE DOLLAR.