Major Research Universities Agree to Technology Access Framework Amid COVID-19 Pandemic -

A growing number of major universities, including Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Yale University, Cornell University and Georgetown University, have committed to a set of technology licensing and patenting principles aimed at providing greater access to the universities’ innovations that may be useful in combatting coronavirus (COVID-19). The principles are referred to as the “COVID-19 Technology Access Framework” (the Framework) and under this Framework universities commit to using “rapidly executable, non-exclusive, royalty-free licenses to intellectual property rights…for the purpose of making and distributing products to prevent, diagnose and treat COVID-19 infection during the pandemic and for a short period thereafter.” In exchange for the royalty-free licenses, the Framework requests that licensees commit to distributing the resulting products as widely as possible and at a low cost that allows broad accessibility. The Framework expresses a commitment to making technology related to addressing the COVID-19 pandemic accessible with as few administrative burdens as possible.