{"id":130266,"date":"2025-08-12T07:04:44","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T15:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/08\/12\/department-of-commerce-threatens-harvards-ip-rights-to-gain-leverage-in-negotiations\/"},"modified":"2025-08-12T07:04:44","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T15:04:44","slug":"department-of-commerce-threatens-harvards-ip-rights-to-gain-leverage-in-negotiations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/08\/12\/department-of-commerce-threatens-harvards-ip-rights-to-gain-leverage-in-negotiations\/","title":{"rendered":"Department Of Commerce Threatens Harvard\u2019s IP Rights To Gain Leverage In Negotiations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harvard has been dealt a rough hand by the Trump administration. Not only are billions of dollars of federal funding and the ability to host foreign students in the balance, one of their graduates is throwing the cards at them<\/a>! The \u201cnegotiations\u201d between Harvard and Trump appeared to be coming to a close based on one of the President\u2019s Truth Social posts: <\/p>\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two things. First, that deal that might have been announced in the next week was just wishful thinking. Second, Harvard\u2019s \u201cextremely appropriate\u201d responses to the strong-arming may have changed too \u2014 because the administration is now looking to take even more from the school. Law360<\/a> has coverage: <\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Commerce on Friday threatened to invoke the government\u2019s so-called march-in rights to take control of patents owned by Harvard University, accusing the Ivy League institution of not meeting its obligations tied to federally funded research.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Taxpayers deserve the benefit of the bargain. If Harvard won\u2019t honor the Bayh-Dole Act, then we will find someone who will. pic.twitter.com\/8U7yJtYacS<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Howard Lutnick (@howardlutnick) August 8, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

You don\u2019t have to look far beyond the legalese to see this for what it is: a \u201cnegotiation tool\u201d meant to force Harvard to bend the knee. If the administration really wanted to go after people that \u201cfailed to live up to [their] obligations to the American taxpayer,\u201d they\u2019d be putting whoever told Trump tariffs were a good idea in a Times Square pillory. For what it\u2019s worth, Harvard was quick to respond. Here\u2019s what they told Law360:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThis unprecedented action is yet another retaliatory effort targeting Harvard for defending its rights and freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnologies and patents developed at Harvard are life-saving and industry-redefining\u2026[w]e are fully committed to complying with the Bayh-Dole Act and ensuring that the public is able to access and benefit from the many innovations that arise out of federally funded research at Harvard.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Very collegiate way of saying, \u201cWe\u2019ll deal with your bullshit paperwork, go kick rocks.\u201d I\u2019d expect nothing less from Harvard.<\/p>\n

Trump Admin Threatens To Take Harvard\u2019s Patents<\/a> [Law360]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Harvard Law Graduate Is Helping Trump Attack Her Alma Mater<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump Administration Places Thumb On Negotiation Scale, Decides Harvard Didn\u2019t Do Enough To Fight Antisemitism<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim,\u00a0is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0cwilliams@abovethelaw.com <\/a>and by tweet at\u00a0@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Department Of Commerce Threatens Harvard\u2019s IP Rights To Gain Leverage In Negotiations<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Harvard has been dealt a rough hand by the Trump administration. Not only are billions of dollars of federal funding and the ability to host foreign students in the balance, one of their graduates is throwing the cards at them<\/a>! The \u201cnegotiations\u201d between Harvard and Trump appeared to be coming to a close based on one of the President\u2019s Truth Social posts: <\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two things. First, that deal that might have been announced in the next week was just wishful thinking. Second, Harvard\u2019s \u201cextremely appropriate\u201d responses to the strong-arming may have changed too \u2014 because the administration is now looking to take even more from the school. Law360<\/a> has coverage: <\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Commerce on Friday threatened to invoke the government\u2019s so-called march-in rights to take control of patents owned by Harvard University, accusing the Ivy League institution of not meeting its obligations tied to federally funded research.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Taxpayers deserve the benefit of the bargain. If Harvard won\u2019t honor the Bayh-Dole Act, then we will find someone who will. pic.twitter.com\/8U7yJtYacS<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Howard Lutnick (@howardlutnick) August 8, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

You don\u2019t have to look far beyond the legalese to see this for what it is: a \u201cnegotiation tool\u201d meant to force Harvard to bend the knee. If the administration really wanted to go after people that \u201cfailed to live up to [their] obligations to the American taxpayer,\u201d they\u2019d be putting whoever told Trump tariffs were a good idea in a Times Square pillory. For what it\u2019s worth, Harvard was quick to respond. Here\u2019s what they told Law360:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThis unprecedented action is yet another retaliatory effort targeting Harvard for defending its rights and freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnologies and patents developed at Harvard are life-saving and industry-redefining\u2026[w]e are fully committed to complying with the Bayh-Dole Act and ensuring that the public is able to access and benefit from the many innovations that arise out of federally funded research at Harvard.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Very collegiate way of saying, \u201cWe\u2019ll deal with your bullshit paperwork, go kick rocks.\u201d I\u2019d expect nothing less from Harvard.<\/p>\n

Trump Admin Threatens To Take Harvard\u2019s Patents<\/a> [Law360]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Harvard Law Graduate Is Helping Trump Attack Her Alma Mater<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump Administration Places Thumb On Negotiation Scale, Decides Harvard Didn\u2019t Do Enough To Fight Antisemitism<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim,\u00a0is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0cwilliams@abovethelaw.com <\/a>and by tweet at\u00a0@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Department Of Commerce Threatens Harvard\u2019s IP Rights To Gain Leverage In Negotiations<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Harvard has been dealt a rough hand by the Trump administration. Not only are billions of dollars of federal funding and the ability to host foreign students in the balance, one of their graduates is throwing the cards at them! The \u201cnegotiations\u201d between Harvard and Trump appeared to be coming to a close based on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":130193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Chris-Williams-2025-l8Ih2c.jpg?fit=512%2C288&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}