Santa Monica, Calif. – Faced with dwindling federal support for research, more and more states like Wisconsin are stepping up to fill the shortfall with state money. But as state commitments soar higher and higher, a basic question often is left unanswered.
Who should control, profit, and otherwise benefit from discoveries made in state-funded laboratories across Wisconsin? How you settle such matters are known as intellectual property policy, and like most states, Wisconsin apparently doesn’t have a coherent, across-the-board policy.