Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
merit.of.the.proposed.research,.potential.advancement.of.discovery,.and.the.past.and.
present. productivity. of. the. research.. As. a. result,. the. direct. value. of. any. potential.
projects.to.NADI.is.not.considered.
An. alternative. structure. governs. a. biological. research. agreement. between.
Washington.University.(WU).in.St..Louis.and.the.agricultural.biotechnology.com-
pany,.Monsanto..An.advisory.committee.solicits.proposals.that.conform.to.research.
areas.speciied.by.the.committee..In.this.case,.the.committee.is.equally.split.with.
three.university.members.and.three.representatives.from.Monsanto..Therefore,.the.
interests.of.Monsanto.have.more.weight,.both.in.deining.the.choice.set.of.research.
proposals.that.will.be.considered.by.the.committee.and.in.selecting.which.of.those.
proposals. are.funded.. Moreover,. the. agreement. speciically.directs. the. committee.
to.identify.and.fund.projects.that.not.only.have.exceptional.academic.merit.but.also.
serve.the.research.interests.of.Monsanto.
Depending.on.the.mission.of.the.university.and.its.role.in.the.community,.both.of.
these.alternative.governance.structures.have.merits..Because.the.research.interests.
of. the. private. partner. carry. more. weight,. the. WU/Monsanto. agreement. may. be.
more.likely.to.generate.innovations.that.result.in.commercial.applications,.meeting.
the.objective.of.serving.the.community.with.successful.technology.transfers..On.the.
other.hand,.the.Berkeley/NADI.agreement.more.adequately.protects.the.academic.
freedom. of. participating. faculty.. What. is. important. is. that. the. public. institutions.
make.conscious.decisions.about.where.they.are.comfortable.on.this.spectrum.of.con-
trol.over.the.research.agenda.and.that.they.are.fully.aware.of.the.implicit.trade-offs.
contained.in.the.related.contract.language.
The.primary.interest.of.universities.is.to.share.their.research.results.with.colleagues.
as.rapidly.as.possible,.through.publications.and.presentations.at.conferences,.with.the.
hope.that.scientiic.knowledge.and.research.will.be.advanced..This.academic.mission.
conlicts.with.the.interest.of.the.private.partner.to.appropriate.innovation.and.techno-
logical.advancements,.thus.requiring,.for.a.certain.amount.of.time,.that.research.results.
are. kept. from. competing. interests. until. the. private. partner. establishes. rights. to. the.
innovation..As.such,.the.publication.delay.provisions.of.research.agreements.usually.
come.under.considerable.scrutiny..In.fact,.guidelines.issued.by.the.National.Institutes.
of.Health.recommend.a.delay.of.30-60.days.
25
A.more.relevant.question.concerns.control.of.the.option.for.terminating.the.delay.
period.rather.than.the.speciied.maximum.length.of.this.period..For.example,.under.
the.Berkeley/NADI.agreement,.NADI.has.an.initial.30.day.delay.during.which.they.
must.decide.whether.an.innovation.has.the.potential.to.be.patented..If.they.decide.
that.the.parties.should.proceed.with.a.patent.application,.publications.can.be.delayed.
only.up.until.the.time.the.patent.application.is.iled.or.90.days—whichever.is.shorter..
And.Berkeley.has.right.to.ile.the.patent.application.at.any.time..The.iling.process.
can.be.expedited,.with. an.initial. application. iled.in.a.day. or.so.. Therefore,.under.
this.agreement,.although.the.maximum.publication.delay.is.120.days,.Berkeley.has.
complete.control.to.end.the.delay.(past.the.initial.30.day.period).
In.contrast,.in.the.WU/Monsanto.agreement,.important.issues.concerning.patent-
ing.of.innovations.that.are.generated.from.the.partnership.include.who.is.responsible.
for.iling.for.the.patents,.the.right.not.to.ile.for.a.patent,.control.of.patent.litigation,.
the.right.to.“know-how”.transfer,.and.ownership.of.the.core.technology..Who.holds.
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