Intellectual Property Reports Impact Legislation, CIRM Policy

The recommendations in two CCST reports on intellectual property policy have largely been adopted by the Legislature and by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

Assembly Member Mullin's bill (AB 2721) would establish a central office to track IP funded by the state of California. A second measure, by Assembly Member Plescia (AJR 44) would memorialize the President and the Congress, in cooperation with the California Legislature, to work together to restore, protect, and enhance intellectual and physical property rights by reviewing present law, pending federal and state legislation, and all trade agreements. SB 340, as introduced by Senator Battin would direct that all revenues derived from patents, royalties, and licenses paid to the state as a result of intellectual property agreements involving stem cell research be deposited into the General Fund.

In February, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee (ICOC) ratified an Intellectual Property (IP) Policy for Non-Profit Organizations that adopts many of the suggestions made by CCST in its August 2005 report, Policy Framework for Intellectual Property Derived from Stem Cell Research in California. The core principles of the policy permits grantees to own IP rights from CIRM-funded research, requires broad sharing of IP with the scientific community, makes patented inventions that are made in the performance of CIRM-funded research freely available for research purposes in California research institutions, leaves many licensing particulars to the owners, and maintains march-in rights. All of these provisions were recommended by the CCST report.

CCST Report Leads to Federal Laboratory Technology Contracting Act

Upon release of the CCST report, California's Federal Laboratories: A State Resource, which detailed the resources of the six largest federally funded laboratories in the state, Senator Jackie Speier moved quickly to propose legislation that would reconcile the conflict between state and federal contracting procedures, potentially enabling the state to make use of these facilities and benefit directly from their cutting-edge technologies and expertise.

In addition, CCST is actively working with the Legislature to support the federal laboratories in their bid to attract a major Department of Energy grant.

• SR 26 (Perata, Migden, and Speier) Enrolled, and HR 29 (Houston with Coauthors Hancock, Leno, and Mullin) These two resolutions request the Governor to direct the relevant state agencies to work with the national laboratory partnership of Sandia National Laboratories, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to request the United States Department of Energy to approve locating the National Biological Foundry in California.
• SB 1629 (Speier, Lieber, Karnette) modifies the existing contracting procedures and policies to enable the state to contract with specified federally funded research laboratories and make contract payments in advance.