Fortune75 runs a lengthy article on the Bayh-Dole Act or Patent and Trademark Ammendments Act, which promoted the participation of universities and federally funded institution in the commercialization of their patentable discoveries and inventions.

An excerpt:

"On the face of it, Bayh-Dole makes sense. Indeed, supporters say the law helped create the $43-billion-a-year biotech industry and has brought valuable drugs to market that otherwise would never have seen the light of day. What's more, say many scholars, the law has created megaclusters of entrepreneurial companies---each an engine for high-paying, high-skilled jobs---all across the land.

That all sounds wonderful. Except that Bayh-Dole's impact wasn't so much in the industry it helped create, but rather in its unintended consequence---a legal frenzy that's diverting scientists from doing science."

Read the full story here.