WASHINGTON (August 11, 2025) — Today, Frank Cullen, executive director of the Council for Innovation Promotion, issued the following statement regarding the Department of Commerce’s letter to Harvard University regarding the ‘march-in’ process:
“We are deeply troubled by the Commerce Department’s letter to Harvard University stating that the Department is ‘initiating the ‘march-in’ process under the Bayh-Dole Act’ to grant licenses or take title to Harvard’s patents. The Bayh-Dole Act exists to move federally funded discoveries from university labs into the marketplace — most often through startups and other entrepreneurial ventures — where they become new products, create jobs, and strengthen the economy. By casting doubt on the security of university patents, even for a single institution, this effort injects uncertainty into the market, discourages investment, and punishes the entrepreneurs who take the risks needed to bring innovations to life.
“For 45 years, Bayh-Dole has long provided a predictable, fair framework that gives innovators and investors the confidence to commit the time, resources, and expertise required to turn breakthrough discoveries into lifesaving medicines, cutting-edge technologies, and other products that improve lives. Threatening a government takeover of intellectual property undermines inventors and the companies that bring those inventions to market, and this is why no administration — Republican or Democrat — has ever exercised its march-in rights. Just as no one would build a house on land they might lose, innovators and entrepreneurs will not invest in discoveries if their patent rights can be revoked at will. This action threatens to weaken America’s innovation leadership and runs counter to the very mission of the Commerce Department and the Patent and Trademark Office.
“We urge the administration to protect American intellectual property in all its forms and to administer it with a steady hand. Rooted in the Constitution, our intellectual property system has been a crown jewel, the gold standard. It must be strengthened, not undermined.”
About the Council for Innovation Promotion: The Council for Innovation Promotion is a bipartisan coalition dedicated to promoting strong and effective intellectual property rights that drive innovation, boost economic competitiveness, and improve lives everywhere.