Countless ideas and inventions are developed at U.S. universities every year, often with federal funding. Many of these important ideas could not be commercialized for the public’s benefit without the Bayh-Dole Act, which streamlined the transfer of university technology developed with federal support. The transfer of federally funded inventions is subject to several statutory constraints. This article describes one such requirement—the need to obtain a waiver from the government if an exclusive transferee wishes to exploit the federally funded invention to manufacture products outside the U.S. for sale in the U.S.

Originally published in Life Sciences Law & Industry Report on August 21, 2015.