The Trump administration has escalated its offensive against Harvard University by launching a review of the university's federally funded research programs and threatening to strip it of lucrative patents. In a letter to Harvard President Alan Garber posted online on Friday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick accused Harvard of breaching legal and contractual requirements tied to federal research funding and patents.
Lutnick said the Commerce Department had begun a 'march-in' process under the Bayh-Dole Act, which could allow the government to take ownership of patents or grant licenses. He demanded that Harvard provide within four weeks a list of all patents stemming from federally funded research, including how they are used and whether licensing requires substantial US manufacturing.
Harvard held more than 5,800 patents as of July 2024 and had over 900 technology licenses with more than 650 industry partners, according to its Office of Technology Development. The university has already sued the administration in April after it began stripping or freezing billions of dollars in federal research money.
Other universities, including Columbia and Brown, have signed settlement agreements with the government to avoid funding losses. Harvard's president reportedly told faculty that a New York Times report suggesting the university was open to spending up to $500m to settle was inaccurate and had been leaked by White House officials.
Critics say the administration's targeting of schools over alleged antisemitism is a pretext to assert federal control and threaten academic freedom. The Bayh-Dole Act, signed into law by President Jimmy Carter, was intended to promote innovation by allowing universities to patent federally funded inventions.
