Oral Argument Observers See Close Outcome of Bayh-Dole Inventorship Debate at High Court

This article discusses the current debate over the interpretation of the Bayh-Dole Act in the Sanford v. Roche case. The dispute is regarding whether the Act is meant to favor the contractor or the individual inventor of a patent which is created from federally-funded research. Brian Kacedon, partner at Finnegan, was quoted throughout the piece regarding his thoughts on the upcoming decision. Kacedon believes that the universities who contract these patents will want the title for their own reasons, versus giving that title to an individual inventor. ‘‘And if games are played’’ by a university, he added, ‘‘sooner or later the government will stop its funding’’ to that university, echoing Scalia’s conclusion of how the ‘‘loophole’’ would eventually be closed.