"An Act relating to contracts between the University of Alaska and its employees involving research or other development of intellectual property and to the authority of the president of the University of Alaska regarding employee contracts for development of intellectual property."

Senate Bill 320 is a companion to House Bill 282 sponsored by Representative Fate. The proposed legislation brings the University of Alaska system into alignment with universities nationwide inasmuch as the dissemination and use of intellectual property is concerned.

Put another way, current law effectively chills the research environment within the UA system. As a consequence, the attraction of top-level faculty members is severely inhibited. This has unnecessarily placed the UA at a competitive disadvantage.

What's more, Alaskans have been shorted in our rightful ability to take full advantage of a highly developed university system through spin-off applications relevant to the private sector and the state as whole.

A few years ago one university located in the Northwest had a promotional campaign centered around the statement, "You're getting something out of it whether you go there or not." This was a clear reference to benefits accruing to the larger community as a direct result of university related research endeavors.

This is the direction which SB 320 proposes to take with respect to the University of Alaska. Alaskans should be getting something out of it whether we go there or not.

# # #

58 Viewer(s)