PATENT POLICY ADOPTED

Labeling as undesirable the patenting by members of the faculty of discoveries or inventions bearing on matters of health and therapeutics, the Corporation has adopted certain rules which are aimed at preventing the recurrence of such episodes as the Emerson-Drinker affair of two years ago. Uncertain at that time which stand to take, the Corporation took no action, but at last it has formulated a commendable policy.

Since a University is primarily an institution for the dissemination of knowledge and enlightenment it is fitting that it should make easily accessible by the public information and devices which have bearing on matters of health and therapeutics. Men on the faculty who invent and perfect such devices do so certainly not because they expect to derive profits from their inventions, but because they have a genuine scientific and humanitarian interest in the subject. For a man to invent some therapeutic machine and then patent it so that it can not be duplicated or perfected in indeed to display a total lack of altruistic and humanitarian movies.

That the University will not patent inventions dealing with matters of public health unless they are dedicated to the public is praiseworthy. And since no patents can be taken out by members of the University, such unfortunate affairs as the Emerson-Drinker suit will be a thing of the past. The combined faculties by adopting this new ruling are preserving the notion that a University exists primarily for the public welfare and enlightenment.