The risky proposal threatens to undermine the Bayh-Dole Act, which has skyrocketed innovation and economic growth in the US.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick believes taxpayers are getting short-changed by America’s patent system. Last year, he argued that the federal government should be entitled to 50% of the revenue universities earn from licensing the patented discoveries they’ve made with help from federally funded research grants.
Lutnick is deeply mistaken. Taxpayers already receive an astounding return on investment when government-supported research is translated into real-world cures, technologies and consumer products. These inventions don’t just improve the quality of life for millions of Americans. They are an essential engine of US economic dynamism.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.
Proposed patent tax offers a dangerous ‘solution’ to a non-existent problem
Sally C. Pipes
The risky proposal threatens to undermine the Bayh-Dole Act, which has skyrocketed innovation and economic growth in the US.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick believes taxpayers are getting short-changed by America’s patent system. Last year, he argued that the federal government should be entitled to 50% of the revenue universities earn from licensing the patented discoveries they’ve made with help from federally funded research grants.
Lutnick is deeply mistaken. Taxpayers already receive an astounding return on investment when government-supported research is translated into real-world cures, technologies and consumer products. These inventions don’t just improve the quality of life for millions of Americans. They are an essential engine of US economic dynamism.
Read the op-ed here.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.