Collaborative R&D and the Cooperative Research and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) Act

Publication Date: January 2005

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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Research Area: Science and technology

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Abstract:

The Cooperative Research and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) Act, P.L. 108-453, was signed into law on December 10, 2004. Reflecting congressional interest in encouraging cooperative research and development among universities, industry, and government, this legislation addresses issues of patent ownership under collaborative ventures. The act amends 35 U.S.C. section 103 to permit the patenting of inventions made through joint research among multiple partners if certain conditions are met. The change is in response to a 1997 decision of the Federal Court of Appeals in OddzOn Products, Inc., v Just Toys, Inc. which stated that absent an assignment of rights to a single entity prior to the start of a research endeavor, the sharing of information among members of a research team could render any resulting invention unpatentable because it does not meet the "nonobvious" requirements of the law. (To be nonobvious an invention must not have been readily within the ordinary skills of a competent artisan at the time the invention was made.) This Court decision was seen by some observers to be an impediment to joint public-private research endeavors and contrary to the intent of congressional policy facilitating such activities. This report will be updated as events warrant.