USIJ Response to March-In Decision

Today, the Biden administration announced a proposed framework for federal agencies on the exercise of the Bayh-Dole Act’s march-in rights. In response, Chris Israel, director of the Alliance of U.S. Startups & Inventors for Jobs, released the following statement:

"The Biden administration's latest announcement regarding march-in rights is ill-informed and endangers innovation across the country. Its recommendation that the price of products can be considered as a factor in march-in decisions runs contrary to the text of the statute, the established interpretation of the 43-year-old Bayh-Dole Act, and the stated intentions of Senators Bayh and Dole themselves.

"This radical change will harm a wide variety of innovative industries. President Biden's statement singled out pharmaceuticals as one sector where patents could be relicensed using march-in rights. But the proposal itself envisions the government invoking march-in rights to target patents across diverse industries -- inside and outside of the life sciences.

"If government leaders break decades of precedent by codifying this march-in proposal, no patent licensing agreement will be safe. Without security for hard-earned intellectual property rights, it will become exponentially more difficult for startups and inventors to secure funding for their innovations. Our economy will take a hit. And we will all lose out on potentially life-changing inventions.

"It is imperative that the Biden administration reconsiders its stance on march-in rights -- both for the sake of America's startups and inventors and for all of us who depend on the innovation they create."