Fred Reinhart – How Technology Transfer Has Evolved Over The Years

Listen to Lisa and her guest, Fred Reinhart, as they discuss his experience with four different institutions, how technology transfer has changed since he started, and much more on this episode of Tech Transfer IP.

Fred has over thirty-five years of experience as a technology transfer executive at institutions such as the New England Medical Center, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University. Fred is on the Board of Directors at the University of Iowa Research Foundation and was previously Chairman of the Michigan Biosciences Industry Association and President of AUTM. Fred is currently a senior advisor for technology transfer at UMass Amherst and UMass System.

Listen as Fred speaks about the changes he has seen over his many years in tech transfer, including his thoughts about march-in rights, the myths surrounding these rights, and how these rights would work if used around the Coronavirus Pandemic. He also discusses his thoughts about the paper by Rebecca Eisenberg & Robert Cook-Deegan published in 2018 entitled, “Universities: The Fallen Angels of Bayh-Dole” and how AUTM has worked to help change the perception that universities use technology transfer solely for the purpose of making money.

Listen, as Fred shares why it’s good to have patent applications on platform technology, and why he is optimistic that Bayh-Dole will survive its fortieth anniversary. He also shares about free agency for university inventors, and about his leadership role with the Nonprofit Founders Research Institution and what it does. Fred shares how AUTM has evolved over the years and what he sees in their future.

Fred has seen and heard more in his career than most, and we are lucky that he likes to talk about his favorite subject. He shares his amazing insights and thoughts, so sit back and listen to what this icon of the industry has to say.

In This Episode:

• [01:48] Fred, welcome to the show!
• [02:25] Fred shares how technology transfer has changed over the years since he started in five phases.
• [04:11] He believes that at the beginning, everyone was consumed with building infrastructure.
• [07:01] Fred speaks about agreements they had to sign when working with prospective licensees.
• [07:55] The second phase was a learning curve.
• [09:29] The next stage was saving the world with startups.
• [11:38] Success and other misfortunes were under stage four.
• [13:22] The last step is reality is so real, unrealistic expectations.
• [16:51] Fred speaks about march-in rights and busts some myths around it and the government.
• [20:15] Fred shares how he thinks march in could work during the Coronavirus Pandemic.
• [22:05] Is there ever a time when a march in is appropriate? What would that be?
• [25:11] Fred discusses a paper that was released in 2018 about the Bayh-Dole Act.
• [27:35] He chats about how AUTM has tried to counter University’s focus on money and revenue.
• [32:13] Fred shares a report that came out about licensing by academic institutions.
• [36:20] Every license or option is an opportunity for a relationship between academia and the private sector.
• [38:29] How do you feel about the attack that has been on universities like the one that says university patents are standing in the way of improving health in poorer countries?
• [43:55] How do you feel about the people saying that universities shouldn’t be enforcing their patents?
• [46:50] Fred speaks about why it’s appropriate to file patent applications on platform technology.
• [51:39] When you submit a patent application, everyone will see how you came up with something useful.
• [52:19] Are there any other attacks that you have heard of that I haven’t mentioned?
• [53:49] Fred is optimistic that Bayh-Dole will survive its fortieth anniversary.
• [55:52] Fred speaks about the free agency for university inventors.
• [58:50] Fred chats about a conflict of interest issue with ownership of IP.
• [1:02:30] Can you share a little about the Nonprofit Founders Research Institution with whom you have a leadership role?
• [1:08:00] Fred shares why saying research project support costs get funding much easier.
• [1:12:57] Fred speaks about AUTM, how much they have grown and evolved over the years.
• [1:15:17] He chats about how the changes that evolved made perfect sense.
• [1:19:00] Fred discusses how AUTM has members all over the world and how the sharing of ideas has been significant.
• [1:23:56] What do you think is the future for AUTM?
• [1:24:22] Fred, thank you for all of your insights today.

Find Fred:

• Email Fred