Joe Allen, executive director of the Bayh-Dole Coalition focuses on safeguarding American innovation through the defense of intellectual property rights. He is an advocate for policies that encourage the commercialization of federally funded inventions following his decades of experience in government and industry.

The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 allows universities and small businesses to retain ownership of inventions developed with federal funding, and it is the foundation of Allen's work. "When you put our public and private sectors together, we can take on anybody," he says.

A famous example of Bayh-Dole's success is Google. Allen recounts how two Stanford students, using funding from the National Science Foundation, created a search engine that initially failed to attract interest. "Stanford tried to license it, but no one wanted it. So the two kids came back and said, 'We'd like to start a company,' and Stanford said, 'Why not?' That turned into Google," he says.

Allen points to other examples where the Bayh-Dole Act has driven innovations that improve lives globally, such as a water purification system developed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Initially intended to be given away for free, the inventors realized that commercialization was necessary to ensure widespread access. "If you just give it away, no one will ever use it," Allen explains.

Small companies play a crucial role under the Bayh-Dole framework. Allen notes that "seventy percent of these inventions, even drugs, are licensed to small companies initially who are willing to take risks that big companies can't do.” He adds, “We're the only country in the world whose economy and innovation are driven by small companies."

The system includes safeguards to ensure that taxpayer-funded inventions serve public needs. The Act's "March-In Rights" allow the government to step in if a patented invention is not being adequately commercialized. Allen compares this provision to an airbag in a car. "I've been driving a long time, and I've never had my airbag deployed. Does that mean airbags are useless? No. If I have a catastrophic accident, I want to make sure it's there, but you're hoping you never use it."

Despite its success, the Bayh-Dole Act faces challenges. For example, critics of the pharmaceutical industry have sought to reinterpret the Act to impose price controls on the industry’s inventions that included federal funds. Allen recalls an instance when opponents misrepresented the Act’s original intent. 

Allen clarifies that the phrase "reasonable terms," often cited by advocates for more control over industry under the Act, refers to ensuring fair licensing agreements between universities and private companies. "They said reasonable terms means reasonable pricing, and that's what Bayh and Dole have rebutted. They can't really refute what Bayh and Dole have said," he asserts.

In Allen’s view, referencing the Act to impose government-mandated pricing on drugs could stifle American innovation. "The people behind this… don't like patents, and they're particularly focused on drugs," he says. 

He notes that countries with government-controlled drug industries struggle to produce innovative medicines. "If that sounds like a good idea to you, you may wonder why the U.S. is one of the few countries in the world that even makes drugs,” he says, and adds, “There's not a socialist country that even makes drugs.”

The stakes are high. Allen believes that a proposed rule to change March-In Rights and make price controls more likely could undermine the system he says has driven U.S. innovation for over four decades. "If this rule goes into place, it would undo the 44-year history of Bayh-Dole," he says.