trademark "NAFLEX". The petition further states that a patent application has been prepared and filed by the Petitioner, and that waiver of title to the invention is requested to enable the Petitioner to "completely continue the present commercialization" of the invention. Evidence of the commercialization by the Petitioner is set forth in exhibits attached to the petition, and the petition indicates a significant quantity of sales of items embodying the invention within the last three years. Although the invention has already been commercialized to a degree, and to this extent has been brought to the point of practical application, it appears that the working of the invention by the Petitioner thus far has been done in a belief that ownership of the invention resided in the Petitioner, it later being

determined by NASA that the first actual reduction to practice of the invention occurred under a NASA contract. Moreover, the Petitioner states that commercialization of the invention is to be continued and completed, if waiver is granted. The Board is of the opinion that waiver of title to the invention would be an effective incentive to bring the invention to the fullest practical application at the earliest practicable date.

On the basis of the all the above-enumerated findings, the Inventions and Contributions Board concludes that the interests of the United States would best be served by waiving title under Section 1245.106 of the NASA Patent Waiver Regulations of June 1, 1966, and therefore RECOMMENDS THE GRANT OF THE PETITION.

electron-beam welders by the several concerns engaged in this technology, and, moreover, since the invention is an improvement over an existing system, the acquisition of exclusive rights thereto would not confer on the contractor a preferred or dominant position.

The Board further expressly finds, as required by Section 1245.106(c), that, in view of the Petitioner's plans and intentions, waiver of title would be an effective incentive to bring the invention to the point of practical application at the earliest practicable date. At the time of filing the petition for waiver, the Petitioner indicated that the invention was only a concept, and that no reduction to practice had been anticipated under the contract. Subsequently, the Petitioner disclosed that the invention has actually been reduced to practice, and is being installed as an electron-beam welder to be utilized in the immediate future.

The Petitioner states further that the General Electric Company, through its New Business Development Operation, is currently actively considering the manufacture of electron-beam welding machines. A concurrent further development of electronbeam welder components, including the invention, is being conducted with company funds as part of the consideration of manufacture of the welder. In the opinion of the contractor, waiver of title would be an effective incentive to pursue this further

development and commercialization of the invention, since, without title, the commercial exploitation would be long delayed, if undertaken at all, because of the risk of loss of capital investment without some assurance of receiving a fair return for its capital outlay. Private ownership of exclusive rights to the subject inventions would to a large extent provide this assur

ance.

In addition, a corporate licensing function, which is in the same company component as the one considering the manufacture of the welding machines, would make the subject invention available for licensing in the routine handling of these matters, if the company decides not to manufacture. It is asserted that this licensing function will have identified and will make available to prospective licensees all the developed know-how, together with license to use related company inventions and technical consultation services. Thus, the Government is assured that the invention will be commercially available in the near future, either as a company-manufactured product, or as inventions licensed to others.

On the basis of all the above-enumerated findings, the Inventions and Contributions Board concludes that the interests of the United States would best be served by waiving title under Section 1245.106 of the NASA Patent Waiver Regulations of June 1, 1966, and therefore RECOMMENDS THE GRANT OF THE PETITION.

STATEMENT OF FACTS: The Petitioner, Electro-Optical Systems, Inc., is a proposed contractor of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, under RFP BG72128-6-637P. The petition was submitted to NASA prior to contract execution for consideration of waiver of title to all inventions that may be made under the above-identified RFP, and was considered by the Inventions and Contributions Board on July 28, 1966. The Board, having duly considered the allegations and claims of the petition, expressly makes the findings required under Section 1245.104(a) of the NASA Patent Waiver Regulations (1966), (which Section, in its entirety, is hereby expressly incorporated by reference); concludes that (1) the Petitioner fully satisfies each of the criteria specifically enumerated by the indicated Section as a condition; that (2) the interests of the United States would best be served by waiving title under Section 1245.104 of the cited Regulations, and therefore RECOMMENDS THE GRANT OF THE PETITION. The reasons for the Board's findings are stated below, corresponding in each case to the respective criterion set forth in each subsection of Section 1245.104(a) of the Regulations.

SECTION 1245.104(a)(1). The primary object of the proposed contract is to design, manufacture, and test a pressure switch. (transducer) for monitoring the performance of the reaction control system (RCS) thrustor engines on the Lunar Module. The instrument will consist of two basic assemblies, a sensor and a signal conditioner. The sensor will be an extremely rugged

pressure-sensitive silicon strain gauge that produces an output voltage proportional to the engine chamber pressure up to a limit set by mechanical stops. The signal conditioner, which will be mounted remotely, will convert the output of the sensor to a high-level voltage output, and will switch when the chamber pressure rises above the specified threshold. The proposed contract, therefore, contemplates neither the development of any specific device or apparatus, nor the production of an end item, that will be put into use by the general public.

SECTION 1245.104(a)(2). The sole purpose of this proposed contract is to design, develop, and test a specific pressure transducer for use aboard governmental spacecraft, and as such does not directly concern the public health or public welfare.

SECTION 1245.104(a)(3). The proposed contract lies in the field of pressure transducers. The basic concepts in pressure transducers have been known and widely used by industry for a great number of years and were developed without the aid of Government funds. Petitioner has submitted a publication of the Instrument Society of America (I. S. A.) that is a compendium of an extensive survey undertaken by the Society. This compendium shows that at least 693 different models of pressure transducers were commercially available in 1963. Pressure transducers are utilized in almost every major industry where pressures are involved, e. g., chemical, petroleum, aviation, and others.

Although the Government has in the past funded, and is presently funding, projects involving specific pressure transducers, it is concluded from the information submitted by Petitioner, and from information within the knowledge of the technical evaluator, that there has been significant workin the field of pressure transducers outside of work funded by the Government.

Furthermore, as is evidenced by the I.S.A. compendium, there are several hundred companies that manufacture and sell pressure transducers. These transducers are of various types, and involve different principles of operation. It is therefore apparent that the proposed contract field is highly developed and extremely competitive. Also, some of the components that will be utilized in building the equipment to be supplied under the proposed contract will be slight modifications of existing components. In view of the above, and in view of the fact that the proposed contract is for only $53,000, it is not foreseeable that the grant of commercial rights in any inventions that may arise under this proposed contract would place the Petitioner in a preferred or dominant position in the proposed contract field.

SECTION 1245.104(a) (4). The proposed contract requires the Petitioner to provide the necessary personnel, facilities, equipment, and materials to perform the work. Therefore, the proposed contract is not for the services of the Petitioner for (i) the operation of a Government-owned research or production facility, or (ii) coordinating and directing the work of others.

SECTION 1245.104(a)(5). The transducers to be developed under the proposed contract will in part utilize slight modifications of existing components. For example, the signal conditioner will be a simple modification of a standard signal conditioner, EOS/MSI type RC07, which is the signal conditioner that has already been qualified for use in the Lunar Module. In

developing the present transducer, Petitioner will be required to draw upon its general knowledge and research in this area, as well as the general knowledge of the art, in carrying out the work under the proposed contract. Therefore, it is the purpose of the proposed contract to build upon existing knowledge or technology in developing a product for use by the Government.

SECTION 1245.104(a)(6). The technical evaluator states that Petitioner is recognized by industry and others as being highly competent in the field of pressure transducers. This is substantiated by a brochure submitted by Petitioner with its petition, which fully describes several transducers of the present type that Petitioner has developed and now offers for sale. Furthermore, Petitioner has shown a high degree of competence in this area by previously developing pressure transducers that are now qualified for use in NASA programs. Also, Petitioner has listed seven U.S. patents that are owned by it, and that it considers significant in the proposed contract field.

As stated immediately above, Petitioner presently manufactures and markets pressure transducers of the type to be developed under the proposed contract; this is evidenced by the above-mentioned brochure. Also, Petitioner lists in its petition examples of commercial sales that it has made in the past; this list comprises some 17 different industrial and academic concerns. Petitioner further positively states that it has had substantial foreign sales through an intermediary, and that it estimates that it has five percent of the total nongovernmental commercial market in the field of semiconductor transducers. These commercial activities clearly indicate that Petitioner has an established nongovernmental market in an area directly related to the field of the present proposed contract.