Earlier this month, the Senate took patent reform off the table for this legislative session. The Senate leadership did this despite the fact that a strong bill passed in the House with overwhelming support. And thousands of constituents have called for meaningful reform to finally put an end to patent trolling. Instead of listening to innovators and entrepreneurs across the country, the Senate followed marching orders from big biotech, pharmaceutical, and trial lawyer lobbyists.

We were particularly disheartened to see universities oppose critically needed reform of our broken patent system. In a letter organized by the Innovation Alliance, over 100 academic institutions urged the Senate not to pass patent reform legislation. But in doing so, these universities are not representing the interests of their students, researchers, or the inventive learning communities that academia should aim to foster.

By standing in the way of legislative reform, academic institutions are advocating against the interests of their most inventive students and researchers. As things stand now, student innovators are entering into an environment ridden with the threat of abusive patent trolls and costly, unnecessary litigation. That’s why we’re calling on students and researchers to raise their voice and sign the petition in support of real patent reform.

In joining with patent trolls, universities are engaged in a short-sighted chase for cash. For example, more than 60 institutions have sold patent rights to the infamous troll Intellectual Ventures. Despite these deals, a recent Brookings Institution study revealed that patent licensing campaigns don’t actually bring much revenue to universities. Instead of hitching their wagon to patent trolls, universities should focus on true technology transfer. This means partnering with industry to actually bring new products to market and not partnering with trolls that simply tax productive companies.

University support for patent trolls is especially disappointing because many of the innovations that come from academia are funded by public tax dollars. University research is often made possible by grants from the National Science Foundation and other federal programs that support important academic innovation. While the law allows for universities to patent and license out federally funded inventions, we would hope universities take better care in ensuring that their deals align with the interest of the public whose funds they are using.

Broad patent reform might be on hold for this legislative session. But we’ll be ready when the Senate reconvenes. If you’re affiliated with a university and dismayed by the Senate’s failure to pass common-sense fixes to the patent system, then join us in signing a letter to the Senate. It’s time to make sure our elected officials hear us loud and clear: some academic institutions may be against critical reform, but we—your constituents—urge our lawmakers to put an end to patent troll abuse.

Sign the petition today. Support student innovation. And urge your peers, colleagues, and fellow alumni to do the same. Together, we’ll put an end to patent trolls.

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Wall of Shame : The academic institutions that fought against patent reform in the Senate:

American Council on Education

Arizona State University

Association of American Medical Colleges

Association of American Universities

Association of Public and Land-grant Universities

Association of University Technology Managers

Auburn University

Ball State University

Boston University

Brandeis University

Brown University

California Healthcare Institute (CHI)

Carnegie Mellon University

Case Western Reserve University

City College of New York

Clemson University

Cleveland State University

College of William & Mary

Colorado School of Mines

Colorado State University

Colorado State University System

Cornell University

Duke University

Emory University

Florida A&M University

Georgia Institute of Technology

Idaho State University

Indiana University

Iowa State University

Johns Hopkins University

Kansas State University

Louisiana Tech University

Miami University

Michigan State University

Michigan Technological University

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Montana State University

New Mexico State University

New York University

North Carolina State University

Northern Illinois University

Northwestern University

Ohio State University

Ohio University

Oklahoma State University

Oregon State University

Pennsylvania State University

Portland State University

Purdue University

Rice University

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

San Francisco State University

South Dakota State University

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale

Stony Brook University – State University of New York

Texas State University

Texas Tech University

Tulane University

University at Buffalo – State University of New York

University of Akron

University of Alabama at Birmingham

University of Arizona

University of Arkansas

University of Cincinnati

University of Colorado at Boulder

University of Colorado System

University of Connecticut

University of Delaware

University of Florida

University of Georgia

University of Hawaii

University of Houston

University of Idaho

University of Illinois at Chicago

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Illinois System

University of Kansas

University of Kentucky

University of Louisville

University of Maryland, College Park

University of Massachusetts

University of Michigan

University of Minnesota

University of Missouri – Kansas City

University of Missouri – St. Louis

University of Missouri System

University of Montana

University of Nebraska

University of New Hampshire

University of New Mexico

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

University of North Carolina at Wilmington

University of North Carolina System

University of North Texas

University of Oklahoma

University of Oregon

University of Pennsylvania

University of Pittsburgh

University of Rhode Island

University of Rochester

University of South Carolina

University of South Florida

University of Southern California

University of Tennessee System

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

University of Texas at Austin

University of Texas at Dallas

University of Toledo

University of Vermont

University of Virginia

University of Washington

University of Wisconsin Colleges

University of Wisconsin System

University of Wisconsin-Extension

University of Wisconsin-Madison

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

University of Wyoming

University System of Maryland

Washington State University

Washington University in St. Louis

Wayne State University

West Virginia State University

West Virginia University

Western Michigan University

Yale University