Table I.

NIH Actions Regarding Research Tools

1994	EST (expressed sequence tag) patent applications were withdrawn by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) because of their tool nature.
1995	A new patent policy in limited filing of patents on research tools and a new licensing policy provided for nonexclusive licensing of research tools without reach-through restrictions.
	UBMTA (Universal Biological Material Transfer Agreement) was established to allow for material exchanges among nonprofits.
	Industry working group was convened to facilitate the exchange of research tools to study HIV.
	NIH declined to sign an agreement with Human Genome Sciences. The Institute for Genomic Research database was later made public.
	Materials Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (M-CRADA) was created to allow the provider of unique materials to maintain rights when working with the NIH.
	Grantees gain authority to license unpatented research tools.
	New genomic sequencing grantees were required to release data rapidly.
1996	New NIH intramural policy was established for transgenic/gene-deleted mice.
1997	NIH/DuPont cre-lox Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) expanded access for NIH and grantees.
	A report was issued by the NIH Director's Working Group on Research Tools.
1998	Draft NIH Research Tool Guidelines were issued for review.
	Final NIH Research Tool Guidelines were issued.
1999	Access to the DuPont OncoMouse™ was expanded consistent with the new NIH Research Tool Guidelines.