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. The Petitioner sets forth in the petition the amount of additional development work needed to make the invention suitable for commercial uses. For instance, the calibrator of the invention, which is presently tailored for high-reliability space missions, must be capable of operating with other gauges and other background gases. To accomplish this, tests must be run to provide data for diverse sets of conditions; moreover, material specifications and gas-handling techniques must be optimized, be optimized, and design

modifications will be required. It is stated that while none of these tasks requires technical breakthroughs, they nevertheless do require a large diversion of effort, money, experienced personnel, and facilities. The Petitioner's estimate is that the equivalent of about six professional manmonths, with supporting technical assistance, will be required to develop a more suitable commercial form of the invention. The Petitioner has stated that it plans to proceed with this development in mid-1967, when the present contract work is completed and its personnel are available for such further development work, provided, of course, that it is able to secure patent protection and title to the invention.

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, North American Aviation, Inc., is a contractor of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, under Contract NAS 7-190. The petition was made for waiver of title of the United States in an invention entitled "Brazing Alloy Binder," described in an attachment to the petition. The invention was made by Edward R. Roeder, an employee of the Petitioner, in the performance of work required under the above-identified contract, and in the manner specified in Section 305(a) of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, as determined by the Administrator. The petition was considered by the Inventions and Contributions Board on December 7, 1966 and March 28, 1967.

The Board, having duly considered the allegations and claims of the above-identified petition, expressly makes the findings required under Section 1245.106(b) of the NASA Patent Waiver Regulations (1966), (which Section, in its entirety, is hereby expressly incorporated by reference), and concludes that the invention does not fall within the enumerated proscriptions of the cited Section. The reasons for the Board's findings are stated below, corresponding in each case to the respective criterion set forth in each subsection.

SECTION 1245.106(b)(1). The invention relates to a brazing alloy binder that has application particularly in furnace brazing environments. The initial concept for the brazing binder alloy arose in the performance of the design, development, and testing of the H-1 rocket engine, and its use was investigated particularly in the development of test sections of the engine. Accordingly,

the invention is not directly to a Governmental program for creating, developing, or improving products, processes, or methods for use by the general public.

SECTION 1245.106(b)(2). While the brazing alloy binder of the present invention has general application in furnace brazing operations, it obviously will not be required by Governmental regulations for use by the general public.

SECTION 1245.106(b)(3). The brazing alloy binder of the present invention is used in a brazing paste to provide the minimum residue upon brazing. The invention is clearly not directly related to the public health or public welfare.

SECTION 1245.106(b)(4). The invention is in the field of technology relating to brazing materials. The Contractor's characterization of the invention field as metal joining, and more particularly metal-joining compositions of matter, is deemed unduly broad, so as to include welding alloys and various types of adhesives that have acquired a distinct and separate status from, for example, brazing alloys. The field of brazing materials is generally acknowledged as being a highly developed art, and one in which considerable work has been done outside of that funded by the Government. Petitioner points out that North American Aviation, Inc. has for many years done work in this field, and has developed many brazing-alloy inventions outside of work funded by the Government; in support of this claim, Petitioner identifies several of its inventions pertaining to the field of brazing that were developed solely with company funds. Additionally, the cognizant engineer

has pointed out that there are many brazing compounds available commercially, including some prepared with a plastic binder similar to the subject invention and used in the same manner, but are of a different chemical composition; for example, acrylic, the primary adhesive for the braze alloy, is an old and proven material for the binding of brazing alloys. For these reasons, therefore, it is found that the acquisition of exclusive rights to the invention 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. The Petitioner asserts that if the invention is not utilized or licensed by the company, it is made available to NAVAN, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Contractor, which has been established for the exploitation of company by-product inventions, either by manufacture, sale, or licensing. Specifically, it is stated that the corporate offices of the company seek to review all significant items of new technology and inventions for exploitation purposes. The invention may be exploited directly through or by the Division of the Corporation, or by licensing to an outside source. A decision having been made that the invention does not possess prime product-line qualities, or that extensive technology is not required for its transfer into commercial use, it is referred to NAVAN, Inc. The Petitioner points out that NAVAN has as its primary

function to sell inventions as new products through its own sales organization, and in order to accomplish effective marketing and/or licensing of inventions, potential licensees are contacted either in person or by mail. It is stated that the Company will, with respect to each of its waivers on NASA inventions, proceed in the manner previously described; namely, each waived invention will first be reviewed by the Division in which it originates. That Division, if it desires, will attempt either to utilize it in its own product line, or to license the concept. If it is decided to license, then affirmative steps are taken, such as contacting specific potential licensees, and negotiating with specific licensees an agreement which often will include considerable know-how. If the Division is not interested in utilizing the waived invention, then it will be referred to NAVAN, where once again positive steps are taken to contact interested licensees, or alternatively, manufacturers, whereby NAVAN would market the idea. In this case, as with each other case, the waived NASA invention will be treated as a separate entity, and affirmative steps will be taken to attempt to bring it to the point of earliest practical application.

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.