1. With regard to Table III.1, Summary of Federal Patenting and Licensing Data the data with regard to licenses granted by Commerce, NIH and NSF may be misleading unless the reader understands that up until recently Commerce and NIH did all of their licensing through NTIS, while under P.L. 96-517, as amended, universities making patentable inventions with NSF funding file their own patents and conduct their own licensing. It would be of service to the report's readers to clearly explain this, and to credit to these agencies the licenses granted by NTIS for their patents with a note that NTIS performed the licensing but was not the funding agency. 2. A similar problem exists in Table III.2 on pages 20 through 29. Although a footnote appears on p. 28 listing the agencies using NTIS for their patent licensing, the casual reader may be misled by tables showing that NIST and NIH have no royalty income. The data would be clearer if the table presented the royalty income for each funding agency with a footnote indicating that NTIS handled the licensing. Appendix VIII Major Contributors to This Report Resources, Development Division, Lowell Mininger, Assistant Director Related GAO Products Patent and Trademark Amendments of 1980 Set the Stage for Uniform Major Federal Research and Development Agencies Are Implementing the Patent and Trademark Amendments of 1980 (GAO/RCED-84-26, Feb. 28, 1984). Federal Agencies' Policies and Practices Are in Accordance With Patent and Trademark Amendments of 1980 (GAO/RCED-85-94, Aug. 29, 1985). Patent Policy: Universities' Research Efforts Under Public Law 96-517 (GAO/RCED-86-93, Apr. 4, 1986). Patent Policy: Recent Changes in Federal Law Considered Beneficial (GAO/RCED-87-44, Apr. 16, 1987). |