Acquisition and Protection of Foreign Rights in Inventions; Licensing of Foreign Patents Acquired by the Government; Uniform Patent Policy for Rights in Inventions Made by Government Employees

Résumé

The interim final rule removes the regulation dealing with the Government's foreign rights in inventions made by Government employees, and expands the uniform patent policy for domestic rights in inventions to include foreign rights in order to have a uniform patent policy for all rights in inventions made by Government employees. The rule also removes the regulation dealing with the licensing of foreign patents acquired by the Government, which is inconsistent with 37 CFR Part 404 on the licensing of Government-owned inventions. This action is taken in keeping with the goals of the National Performance Review and in order to comply with recent Executive Orders that address regulatory reforms. The rule also revises the uniform patent policy to permit an agency to impose certain conditions on the employee's title to the invention where the agency decides not to file a patent application, some of which are authorized by Sec. 15 of the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986; to require agencies to provide the inventor, prior to appeal, with a full explanation of the agency determination and a copy of 37 CFR Part 501 in all cases where the agency has determined that the Government is