UVa official to stand by Obama for patent overhaul signing

President Barack Obama is scheduled today to sign into law new federal guidelines that overhaul how researchers and entrepreneurs obtain patents for their inventions.

With the president at the ceremony in Alexandria will be the University of Virginia’s point man for commercializing discoveries and inventions, an appearance that both signals support of the patent law changes and illustrates how the university has ramped up efforts to connect university research with commercial partners.

W. Mark Crowell, executive director for innovation partnerships and commercialization, said UVa’s invitation to appear at the bill signing followed discussions and meetings with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Crowell said the office said it was “interested in having examples of top drawer university programs that fit in with the theme of innovating out of a recession.”

While Obama — and UVa — predict the patent revisions will spark “innovation-based economic development,” the “America Invents Act” has its share of detractors.

The controversy centers on a shift in the timing of when an invention might qualify for patent protection. The new law changes the system from “first to invent” to one that rewards the “first inventor to file” for a patent.

Opponents say the shift favors deep-pocketed corporations that can afford to test out inventions more quickly than entrepreneurial startups that may toil for years before having the money or legal resources to obtain a patent.

Crowell, however, said the new law dovetails with efforts by UVa to make smarter decisions on which inventions to patent or offer to corporations or other partners for commercialization. The “first inventor to file” approach positions universities to better deal with early challenges to inventions by others with similar discoveries, rather than facing more costly challenges down the road.

“If you have a clear path to patent, it takes some of the risk away. It makes the rules more consistent with most of the countries in the rest of the world,” Crowell said. “I think it will create a system where the patents will be stronger and easier to defend.”

A less-cluttered path to patenting university research could also help UVa tap into growing demand from private companies to find their next drug, for example, by licensing university-produced research instead of spending massive money on internal research and development. Crowell said the current trend clearly favors such R&D outsourcing.

“It will enhance the partnering potential between universities and companies overall,” he said of the new patent law.

Crowell, named to his post about a year ago, said UVa has revamped how it evaluates inventions that spring forth from university research with a goal of putting more effort behind those that show the most promise to be commercialized, which can generate revenue for UVa.

“We are really advocating loudly and clearly here that we need to do this — whether we get money or not,” Crowell said.

The university today has a more rigorous and structured review process that includes review boards that may include scientists, engineers, business leaders, venture capitalists and medical experts who track the progress of a discovery or development. The university has also has organized “innovation events” involving corporations, research foundations, federal agencies such as the FDA, venture capital firms and others in an attempt to bring more investment money to Grounds.

UVa said 26 companies spun out of the university have garnered a total of $250 million in investments during the past five years.

Thomas C. Skalak, vice president for research, said the new patent law will bolster UVa’s efforts.

“It’s new ideas that change the world,” he said. “The connection is that universities are where a lot of new ideas are created and where a lot of talent is concentrated. So what it allows is for new ideas to be translated to reality faster.”