THEFT IS THEFT UNLESS THE STATE DOES IT
The Trump administration has threatened to seize or license Harvard's federally funded patents, accusing the university of breaching contracts under the Bayh-Dole Act, as part of an escalating funding and civil rights dispute.
Harvard University (Image: Unsplash/ Somesh Kesarla Suresh)
India Today World Desk
New Delhi,
The Trump administration has threatened to seize or license Harvard's federally funded patents, accusing the university of breaching contracts under the Bayh-Dole Act, as part of an escalating funding and civil rights dispute.
Harvard University (Image: Unsplash/ Somesh Kesarla Suresh)
India Today World Desk
New Delhi,
UPDATED: Aug 9, 2025
In Short
In Short
Commerce Secretary accuses Harvard of breaching legal and contractual obligations
Government may take patents or issue licences under Bayh-Dole Act
Harvard must submit patent list by September 5
The Trump administration has launched a sweeping review of Harvard University’s federally funded research programmes, accusing the Ivy League school of breaking legal and contractual obligations tied to its lucrative patent portfolio.
In a letter obtained by Reuters, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick accused Harvard of “breaching its legal and contractual requirements” tied to the research programs and intellectual property derived from them.
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“The Department places immense value on the groundbreaking scientific and technological advancements that emerge from the Government’s partnerships with institutions like Harvard,” Lutnick wrote. “That carries a critical responsibility to ensure that intellectual property derived from federal funding is used to maximize benefits to the American people.”
Lutnick said the Commerce Department has begun a “march-in” process under Bayh-Dole, which could allow the government to take ownership of certain patents or issue licenses to other entities. Harvard has been given until September 5 to hand over a full list of patents stemming from federally funded grants, how they are used, and whether their licencing requires “substantial US manufacturing.”
As of July 2024, Harvard held more than 5,800 patents and more than 900 technology licenses with over 650 industry partners, according to its website. The university did not immediately comment.
Friday’s letter comes amid an escalating standoff between Harvard and the White House over allegations the school failed to address antisemitism on campus. Harvard sued in April after the administration began freezing or stripping billions of dollars in federal research funding.
President Donald Trump has made manufacturing and economic competitiveness a central theme of his second term, alongside tariffs on imports from dozens of countries.
Lutnick’s letter draws on the bipartisan Bayh-Dole Act, signed into law in 1980, which was intended to ensure Americans benefit from inventions developed with federal funding.
Other universities have faced similar scrutiny. Last month, Columbia University agreed to pay more than $220 million to settle antisemitism-related claims. The New York Times reported Harvard was willing to spend up to $500 million to resolve its own dispute.
- Ends
With inputs from Reuters
Trump administration seeks $1 billion settlement from UCLA, a White House official says
The Trump administration is seeking a $1 billion settlement from the University of California, Los Angeles, a White House official said Friday, weeks after the Department of Justice accused the school of antisemitism and other civil rights violations
BEING PRO PALESTINE
IS NOT ANTI-SEMITISM,
DEI IS CIVIL RIGHTS
Michelle L. Price,
Michelle L. Price,
The Associated Press
FILE - Children play outside Royce Hall at the University of California, Los Angeles, campus in Los Angeles, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
The Trump administration is seeking a $1 billion settlement from the University of California, Los Angeles, a White House official said Friday, weeks after the Department of Justice accused the school of antisemitism and other civil rights violations.
UCLA is the first public university whose federal grants have been targeted by the administration over allegations of civil rights violations related to antisemitism and affirmative action. The Trump administration has frozen or paused federal funding over similar allegations against private colleges.
The White House official did not detail any additional demands from the administration. The person was not authorized to speak publicly about the request and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Trump administration suspended $584 million in federal grants, the university said this week, after the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division announced it had found UCLA violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “by acting with deliberate indifference in creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students.”
Last month UCLA reached a $6 million settlement with three Jewish students and a Jewish professor who sued, arguing that the university violated their civil rights by allowing pro-Palestinian protesters to block their access to classes and other areas on campus in 2024.
The university has said it is committed to campus safety and inclusivity and will continue to implement recommendations.
“Earlier this week, we offered to engage in good faith dialogue with the Department to protect the University and its critical research mission,” James B. Milliken, UC president, said in a statement Friday. “As a public university, we are stewards of taxpayer resources and a payment of this scale would completely devastate our country’s greatest public university system as well as inflict great harm on our students and all Californians.”
As part of the lawsuit settlement, UCLA said it will contribute $2.3 million to eight organizations that combat antisemitism and support the university’s Jewish community. It also has created an Office of Campus and Community Safety, instituting new policies to manage protests on campus.
And UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk, whose Jewish father and grandparents fled Nazi Germany to Mexico and whose wife is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, launched an initiative to combat antisemitism and anti-Israeli bias.
Last month Columbia University agreed to pay $200 million as part of a settlement to resolve investigations into the government’s allegations that the school violated federal antidiscrimination laws. The agreement also restores more than $400 million in research grants.
The Trump administration plans to use its deal with Columbia as a template for other universities, with financial penalties that are now seen as an expectation.
Michelle L. Price, The Associated Press
The Trump administration is seeking a $1 billion settlement from the University of California, Los Angeles, a White House official said Friday, weeks after the Department of Justice accused the school of antisemitism and other civil rights violations.
UCLA is the first public university whose federal grants have been targeted by the administration over allegations of civil rights violations related to antisemitism and affirmative action. The Trump administration has frozen or paused federal funding over similar allegations against private colleges.
The White House official did not detail any additional demands from the administration. The person was not authorized to speak publicly about the request and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Trump administration suspended $584 million in federal grants, the university said this week, after the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division announced it had found UCLA violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “by acting with deliberate indifference in creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students.”
Last month UCLA reached a $6 million settlement with three Jewish students and a Jewish professor who sued, arguing that the university violated their civil rights by allowing pro-Palestinian protesters to block their access to classes and other areas on campus in 2024.
The university has said it is committed to campus safety and inclusivity and will continue to implement recommendations.
“Earlier this week, we offered to engage in good faith dialogue with the Department to protect the University and its critical research mission,” James B. Milliken, UC president, said in a statement Friday. “As a public university, we are stewards of taxpayer resources and a payment of this scale would completely devastate our country’s greatest public university system as well as inflict great harm on our students and all Californians.”
As part of the lawsuit settlement, UCLA said it will contribute $2.3 million to eight organizations that combat antisemitism and support the university’s Jewish community. It also has created an Office of Campus and Community Safety, instituting new policies to manage protests on campus.
And UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk, whose Jewish father and grandparents fled Nazi Germany to Mexico and whose wife is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, launched an initiative to combat antisemitism and anti-Israeli bias.
Last month Columbia University agreed to pay $200 million as part of a settlement to resolve investigations into the government’s allegations that the school violated federal antidiscrimination laws. The agreement also restores more than $400 million in research grants.
The Trump administration plans to use its deal with Columbia as a template for other universities, with financial penalties that are now seen as an expectation.
Michelle L. Price, The Associated Press
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