IP Law Daily, VITAL BRIEFING—Commerce Department informs Harvard that it might exercise ‘march-in rights’ against patents, (Aug 12, 2025)
Never used but sometimes considered, a Bayh-Dole Act provision could authorize government seizure of university’s patents under certain circumstances. New Vital Briefing article discusses the White House’s unusual move.
Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick told Harvard University President Alan Garber in a letter dated August 8 that the Trump Administration is initiating the “march-in” process contained in Chapter 18 of the Patent Act, popularly known as the “Bayh-Dole Act.” The Department plans to investigate Harvard’s IP portfolio and, if violations are found, “intends to grant third-party licenses to Harvard's patents or take title where Harvard has failed timely to disclose or elect title to inventions.”
The Bayh-Dole Act’s march-in provision (35 U.S.C. § 203) authorizes federal agencies that supply funding assistance for the research and development of inventions by private entities to require owners of patents covering the inventions to grant licenses to third parties or even to hand over title to the government, if certain conditions are met. The Commerce Department appears to be accusing Harvard of failing to adequately publicize inventions and to ensure that licensees manufacture products derived from subject inventions substantially in the United States. Lutnick’s letter to Harvard’s President demands that the university comply with a request for information by September 5, including a “comprehensive list of all patents it has received stemming from federally funded research grants,” as well as information sufficient to prove compliance with the Bayh-Dole Act.
A new Vital Briefing article titled “In latest salvo fired at Harvard, White House invokes patent ‘march-in rights’” looks at the Bayh-Dole Act framework and how it applies in this instance, while looking at the previous administration’s explorations of the Act’s march-in provisions for context. The article is available here.
MainStory: Patent