Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick indicated the Trump administration is looking to take a cut of the revenue generated by university patents developed through federally funded research.
Lutnick in an interview with Axios published Wednesday discussed taking a portion of revenue from the patents, arguing it is unfair for the government to give universities the money with no finanical return.
“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 Trump Cabinet member told Axios’s Mike Allen.
The original purpose of universities maintaining full ownership of patents was to incentivize the quick development of new technologies. And while most universities seek to commericalize patents, they generally would make more money by writing grants, according to a 2024 study cited by the outlet.
The idea floated by Lutnick could draw billions of dollars for the federal government.
“In business,” Lutnick said, “if I gave them 100 percent 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.”
The idea is already underway after the Trump administration sent a letter to Harvard in August wanting to know what patents have been developed with federal funding. Lutnick said the University of California will receive a similiar letter.
“I think it’ll be a few universities to start, and then it’ll become a master deal,” he added.
President Trump has drawn pushback from some Republicans over his administration’s moves to take a stake in Intel and receive a portion of Nvidia’s AI chip sales in China. Lutnick’s comments represent an expansion targeting university revenues.
The move comes after the Trump administration has already been hitting universities financially by cutting off federal funding, forcing institutions to make deals with big payouts.
