What Berkeley Lab Inventors Need to Know about Conflicts of Interest in Licensing
(October 26, 2001)

Berkeley Lab and UC Policy, State Law and Contract 98 Concerning Conflicts of Interest in Licensing

Berkeley Lab’s Regulations and Procedures Manual states “The Laboratory is bound by a variety of conflict-of-interest policies, some of which emanate from its contract with DOE and some of which are founded on California state law and University policy.”  (RPM section 2.23 F.)   The University of California’s policy on conflicts of interest provides that none of the University’s “faculty, staff, managers, or officials shall engage in any activities which place them in a conflict of interest between their official activities and any other interest or obligation.”  In addition to UC policy, University faculty and staff must comply with state statutes and regulations governing conflicts of interest, specifically the Political Reform Act of 1974.  This Act requires public officials to “perform their duties in an impartial manner, free from bias caused by their own financial interests or the financial interests of persons who have supported them.”  (Gov. Code, § 81001, subd. (b).)  Finally, Contract 98 under which UC operates the Berkeley Lab for DOE requires the Lab “have implementing procedures that seek to avoid employee and organizational conflicts of interest, or the appearance of conflicts of interest, in the conduct of its technology transfer activities”  (Section 7.1(d)).

Altogether, the Laboratory inventors and licensing staff must not allow their personal financial interests to influence or appear to influence their or other’s University licensing decisions.

Guidelines on Managing Potential Conflicts of Interest in Licensing

Licensing decisions for the University are made by Licensing Professionals within authorized campus and Laboratory licensing offices.  At Berkeley Lab, the Licensing Professionals are members of the Technology Transfer Department.  As an inventor, you may be invited by the Licensing Professional to work with him or her and potential licensees to effectively commercialize University inventions.

Because inventors may have the opportunity to influence University licensing decisions in ways that could lead to personal gain or give advantage to companies in which they have a financial interest, inventors must disclose their financial interest in companies with which the Licensing Professional is negotiating a license.

The Licensing Professional will send a copy of the TT 100–LBNL disclosure form to the inventors when he or she begins negotiating with a candidate company.  The inventor must complete and return this form in a timely manner, as the licensing review is dependent upon it.  This information will indicate the review necessary for the license -- e.g., if an inventor is a principal in the licensing company, a review by the DOE contracting officer will be required.

The economic disclosure will not be required in the cases of multiple non-exclusive licenses offered on identical terms to all licensees.  A typical example of this would be software licensed under a standard agreement to anyone or any company.