This is excellent.

The letter is hard to read, but a quick summary would be this: The Trump Administration is threatening to seize Harvard’s patents for discoveries and inventions developed with federal funds because Harvard failed to disclose them as required by law, commercialized them abroad before doing so in the U.S., or in other cases failed to convert them into practical use. The university, which has metastasized into an weapon of Leftist indoctrination and pursued the corruption and politicization of higher education for decades while using its aura of virtue and superiority as a shield against accountability, has been relying on the Axis of Unethical Conduct, notably the news media and its manipulation of public opinion, to insulate it from the Administration’s long-overdue intervention.

It chose…poorly.

The letter to University President Alan Garber accuses Harvard of breaching its legal and contractual requirements tied to the research programs and patents, and alerts the school that the Commerce Department has begun a “march-in” process under the federal Bayh-Dole Act that could give the government ownership of Harvard’s lucrative patents. Signed in 1980 by Jimmy Carter, the law was designed to ensure that Americans benefit from inventions funded through taxpayer dollars. It has never been enforced against a university before.

President Carter justified the law by saying it was important for industrial innovation promote U.S. economic health, hence his support of legislation that “goes far toward strengthening the effectiveness of the patent incentive in stimulating innovation in the United States.”

This was before the globalization movement, and Harvard’s tilt away from American interests and values.

“The Department places immense value on the groundbreaking scientific and technological advancements that emerge from the Government’s partnerships with institutions like Harvard,” Secretary Lutnick wrote. That, he says, burdens Harvard with a “critical responsibility” to ensure that its intellectual property derived from federal funding is used to maximize benefits to the American people.

The letter is another escalation of White House pressure on Harvard, which it has accused of civil rights violations for failing to address antisemitism on campus as well as engaging in viewpoint discrimination. Lutnick demands that Harvard provide a list of all patents stemming from federally funded research grants, including how the patents are used and whether any licensing requires “substantial U.S. manufacturing” by September 5.

As of July 1, 2024, Harvard held more than 5,800 patents and had more than 900 technology licenses with over 650 industry partners, according to a university website.

Reuters writes that “many civil rights experts, faculty and White House critics believe the Trump administration’s targeting of schools is a pretext to assert federal control and threaten academic freedom and free speech.” Yes, many “experts” and critics will say that any actions by President Trump and his administration to foil progressive domination of our institutions, government and culture are “threats to democracy.” They, and most of the news media, want to mislead the public about who the real villains are.

Harvard’s been asking for this. It has arrogantly assumed that its wealth, power and influential alumni insulated it from law and ethics. Trump has the law on his side.