REPORT OF THE SENATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
RELATIVE TO PaTENTING aND DEVELOPING
DISCOVERIES MADE IN UNIVERSITY
LABORATORIES

TO THE SENATE:

In May, 1940, the Chancellor of the University suagested
to the chairman of the Senate Advisory Committee that some study be
made concerning the establishment of an organization to handle the
patenting and development of discoveries and inventions made through
the use of University facilities by memoers of the University staff
or by research fellows or through the collaboration of such persons.

Pursuant to that suggestion, the Committee has made some
investigation of procedure at other universities in the same matter,
particularly at the University of Wisconsin and the Ohio State
University.

At the University of Wisconsin, a corporation kmown as
the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Was established in Novem-
ber, 1925, for the purpose of securing patents and the assignment
of patents of discoveries and inventions made in the university
and bringing them into commercial use, This organization has de-
veloped a very substantial research fund which is used to endow
further research projects,

In 1937, the Ohio State University Research Foundation
was incorporated, It is reported to be functioning in a very sat-
isfactory manner, Its functions and operations are similar to
those of the Wisconsin organization,

Other universities have made use of Research Corporation,

. which has offices in New York and Chicago. This organization under-
takes the work and exnense of procuring patents and making commercial
development thereof, on a contractual basis.

Since the University itself is not organized in sucha
way as to be able to undertake these functions, it is the opinion
of the Committee that a separate entity in the form of an incor-
porated body should be set up to perform these functions or some
existing corporation should te adapted to the purpose in hand.

It is the belief of the Committee that the University
should cooperate with memters of its staff in patenting and de-
veloping their discoveries and inventions with a view to encouraging
research and raising funds for the endowment of research in the
University. The proceeds arising from the commercial development
of such patents should be shared between the Research Foundation,