1980 amendments to US patent law (Public Law
96–517 amending Title 35 of the US Code by adding
sections 200–212) and the implementing regulations
issued in 1987 (commonly known respectively as the
Bayh-Dole Act and the Bayh-Dole Regulations) allow
companies and non-profit organizations, including
universities, to claim world-wide patent rights on
inventions made under US Government grants and
contracts. The Bayh-Dole Regulations also require
universities to establish procedures to ensure that university
employees inform them of inventions soon after
they are made.