Re: Royalties and Institutional Conflict of Interest? Carlson, Claire 11 Sep 2006 14:53 EST
It seems to me that you would have to charge thesecond federal agency the lowest price you charge anyone - since the original funding agency doesn't pay royalties, another federal agency shouldn't either. Hope this helps. Claire Claire L. Carlson Associate Vice President for Research The University of Montana Research and Sponsored Programs University Hall 202 MIssoula, Montana 59812-4104 Phone (406) 243-5796 Fax (406) 243-5739 NOTE NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS: xxxxxx@umontana.edu -----Original Message----- From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG] On Behalf Of Barbara Gray Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 10:09 AM To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG Subject: [RESADM-L] Royalties and Institutional Conflict of Interest? The situation: A faculty member at a public institution of higher education invents a new instrument under a federal research grant. The university patents the instrument and commercializes it. ABC Scientific Supply has an exclusive license to make and sell the instrument, and the univesity receives royalty payments, which are generously shared with the inventor. Now the same faculty member is working on a proposal to another federal agency. He wants to buy twenty of the instruments from ABC Scientific to deploy in the field (meaning the university would earn royalties on the sale). This particular instrument allows measurements that are important for the research that no other similar instrument on the market can do, so a sole source procurement is justified. Is it appropriate for the university to pay full price for the twenty instruments using the new grant dollars and earn the royalties, which it will then share with the inventor/PI, or should the university charge the new grant for the cost of the equipment minus the royalty payment (assuming that ABC Scientific is willing to sell the equipment to the university at this reduced price)? I suspect there will be a difference of opinion on this, so please share your rationale. Thanks. Barbara -- Barbara H. Gray Director of Sponsored Research Desert Research Institute 2215 Raggio Parkway Reno, Nevada 89512-1095 Telephone: 775-673-7381 Fax: 775-673-7459 E-mail: xxxxxx@dri.edu www.dri.edu ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ====================================================================== ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ======================================================================