The U.S. government is considering a plan to take some of the profits from the money generated by patents developed at major universities that use federal funding, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said.
He made the revelation in an interview with The Axios Show on Wednesday.
The Trump administration has already been increasing control over, and profit from, the private sector, such as taking a stake in Intel and a cut of Nvidia's sales in China.
When Lutnick was asked about other kinds of deals that might give the U.S. a share of profits, he replied: "I think universities, who are getting all this money. The scientists get the patents, the universities get the patents, and the funder of $50 billion, the U.S. government, you know what we get? Zero."
The commerce secretary made the point that, "in business, if I gave them 100% of their money, I would get half the profits, with the scientists. So I think if we fund it, and they invent a patent, the United States of America taxpayer should get half the benefit."
Lutnick insists that with the benefit-sharing deal in place, "our Social Security system will be paid for" and deficits will be reduced or eliminated.
Last month, Lutnick sent a letter to Harvard demanding "a comprehensive list of all patents it has received stemming from federally funded research grants."
Lutnick told The Axios Show that he also intends to send a letter to the University of California system, contending that "I think it'll be a few universities to start, and then it'll become a master deal."
The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 allows universities to retain ownership of patents achieved with federal funding. The idea was to create a clearer path for universities to do research profitably, giving them an incentive to be more aggressive about developing new medicines and technologies, according to Axios.
While the University of California system and Harvard have led the patent tables among U.S. schools, not every university benefits. According to a 2024 study, most universities would make more money writing grants than seeking to commercialize patents, given the costs involved in the latter and the hurdles to success.
But Lutnick said he isn't suggesting ending university efforts to commercialize patents — only insisting that the government get half of whatever benefit they create.
"America should participate," he reiterated. "How do we not get our money back? That's insane."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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