Presidential memorandum and statement of Government patent policy Memorandum for the heads of executive departments and agencies__ Presidential memorandum and statement of Government patent policy Memorandum for heads of executive departments and agencies__ 25 Conveyance of invention rights acquired by the Government_ Retention of greater rights... (V) PART C-EXECUTIVE ORDERS Executive Order 9865-Providing for the protection abroad of inventions resulting from research financed by the Government... Executive Order 10096—Providing for a uniform patent policy for the Government with respect to inventions made by Government employees and for the administration of such policy. Executive Order 10930-Abolishing the Government Patents Board and SECTION III-STATUTORY PATENT PROVISIONS OF INDIVIDUAL National Aeronautics and Space Administration.... Department of Agriculture... U.S. Arms Control Disarmament Agency. Central Intelligence Agency. Department of Commerce_ Department of Defense.. U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration. Environmental Protection Agency.. INTRODUCTION During the current legislative session the Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Domestic and International Scientific Planning and Analysis has undertaken to fulfill its responsibility of Special Oversight for all non-military funded Research and Development. In the course of this effort a broad range of subjects have been analyzed in Committee Prints, Hearings, and Reports. The Subcommittee has addressed internal R. & D. coordination and issues of international significance. It is informative that during hearings ranging from International Cooperation in Energy Research and Development to hearings on Federal Research and Development Expenditures and the National Economy a common theme has emerged-the significance of the Government's patent policies in the development of new technologies invented as a result of federally funded research and development. This is not a new interest for the Committee on Science and Technology. In 1965, the Hon. Emilio Q. Daddario, then a Representative in Congress from the First Congressional District of the State of Connecticut and a Subcommittee Chairman of this Committee reviewed the government patent policies applicable to our national space program. Following the extensive hearings on this subject, Mr. Daddario testified before the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States Senate. He outlined the efforts of the special subcommittee which he chaired and summarized the concerns which are still germane today: ... it is very clear. . . that where federally financed research and development is concerned both Government and the contractor have logical and justifiable equities in the ownership of such patents as may arise in the course of the contract. It is idle to pretend that the Government, at least in its role of representing the public, has no reason for nor interest in the title to such patents. Without the use of the taxpayers' funds the patent might not evolve in the first place-and the fact that the United States always has a free and irrevocable license to use the patent item or to have it produced by any party it chooses for governmental purposes is not always sufficient to protect the public interest. By the same token, it is equally unrealistic to assert that the contractor, who may have contributed as much or more than the Government in terms of know how and the expenditure of its own money toward the development of the patent, has no claim to ownership nor the exclusive right to utilize the patent for commercial purposes. To take the latter position may be unfair to the large contractor and, in addition, downright disastrous to the small contractor, to whom a patent portfolio is an important asset, both because of the financial support it offers and the protection it gives. This is because, in most cases, doing research for the Federal Government does not of itself assure the contractor of anything like a substantial profit. Our studies showed that in research contracts the profits tend to be 11⁄2 up to 22 percent. The profit tends to lie with the procurement and/or commercial marketing. (1) The issue of a fair and equitable patent policy; the wisdom of a uniform, government-wide policy; the resultant licensing and procurement practices and other issues have been of continued importance and were evident again in the hearings held earlier this year. It is to allow the Subcommittee members to conclude this legislative session with a careful scrutiny of this timely subject that the following 3 volume Committee Print was compiled. It contains official government documents, including summaries of individual Agency legislation which demonstrate the present official policies as well as Presidential messages and resultant regulations which Agencies adhere to in lieu of specific legislative mandates. How these relate to the success of the Nation's R. & D. effort will be the Subcommittee's focus during a forthcoming series of hearings. The second volume of these background papers includes portions of the texts of the important government patent policy studies done in the last 30 years, beginning with the 1947 Report of the Attorney General on Government Patent Practices and Policies. The third volume includes a selection of scholarly articles on this subject. SECTION I-PATENT PROVISIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. ARTICLE I Section 8 The Congress Shall Have Power To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; 76-204 - 76-2 (3) |