Federal patents incentives and Ada reuse economics

Federal patents incentives and Ada reuse economics

[darwin.sura.net!bogus.sura.net!howland.reston.ans.net!sol.ctr.columbia.ed]

    Attached is a GAO report on serious economic problems with federal
patent policy procedures as it relates to incentives to federal scientists.
It illustrates the social and economic problems when it comes to technology 
transfer, including software reuse.  The DoD's continual ignoring of the
non-technical aspects of Ada reuse will result in the continual waste of
millions of dollars in efforts such as DSRO, which have little basis in
sound capitalistic business economics.


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     TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER: BARRIERS LIMIT ROYALTY SHARING'S EFFECTIVENESS

 		               GAO/RCED-93-6
 
			         ABSTRACT
 
    Despite the introduction of royalty-sharing programs at government
laboratories, federal scientists' interest in patenting has not increased.
Many scientists said that the small financial rewards, such as those paid
under some royalty-sharing programs, offer little incentive to patent.
For example, 17 of 21 agencies GAO reviewed use royalty-sharing formulas
that often pay an indivdual only a few hundred dollars for an invention.
GAO also found inadequate financial controls over payments to inventors.
In addition, agency management is using virtually all of the laboratory's
share of invention income to cover the administrative costs of transferring
federal technology to U.S. companies, meaning that the benefits of royalty
sharing are not visible to other potential investors.

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Single copies of the report are available for free from:
 
			U.S. General Accounting Office
			P.O. Box 6015
			Gaithersburg, MD  20877
 
Cite the report number and title, and they will send you a copy.


Gregory Aharonian
Source Translation & Optimization
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Greg Aharonian
Source Translation & Optimiztion
P.O. Box 404, Belmont, MA 02178