IP Topics
By
Deborah A. Somerville
- January 2005
This text first appeared in the IAM magazine supplement 'From IP to IPO'
CREATE, designed “to promote co-operative research involving universities, the public sector, and private enterprises”, was signed into law by President Bush on 10th December 2004. In essence, the Act expands a safe harbour under 35 USC §103(c) to protect joint research partners from invalidation of their claimed inventions based on confidential information exchanged during the collaborative process.
This article traces the development of CREATE and reviews its requirements. It concludes by offering practical suggestions that university start-ups should consider in order to benefit from the Act as they enter into or continue collaborations with universities or other separate research partners. As indicated below, these practice tips consider proposed rules to implement the CREATE Act just published by the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) (Changes to Implement the Cooperation Research and Technology Enhancement Act of 204, 70 Fed Reg 1818 (11th January 2005)). It should be noted, however, that these rules are not final; the PTO is accepting public comments until 10th February 2005.