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At this time, all licensing of invention disclosures for

patent application has been "in-house", with the assistance of Air Force patent attorneys.

We are looking into the practicality

of using broker services to handle license agreements, to seek out laboratory technologies with commercial potential, and assist

in-house transfer.

joint inven

To date, the Air Force has realised about $75,000 from royalty income. Based on DOD guidance, the inventor receives 20% of the royalty on his or her right in the invention: tors will share the 20% equally. If the annual income is less than $1,000 times the number of inventors, the inventors will receive the entire amount divided equally. The balance of the royalties go to the activity where the invention occurred. In this regard, the laboratory commander/director may utilise up to 20% of these funds to reward other Federal employees who develop valuable inventions which cannot be commercialized for national security reasons or because their utility is significant only within the context of the DOD mission.

In summary, the Air Force has made considerable progress in establishing the Domestic Technology Transfer Program, and I an confident that as we become more familiar and comfortable with the legislation, our progress will accelerate. We realize that to succeed in technology transfer and commercialization as de

to develop relationships with organisations that have a mutual interest in technology development and commercialization.

The Air Force is well embarked on establishing a strong technology transfer program. We are committed to continued efforts

in this area, to the resolution of any staffing or funding short

falls, and will provide the necessary impetus to achieve an even stronger program.

Mr. WALGREN. Okay. Well, thank you very much, General Douglass. And I want to express my appreciation to all of you on behalf of the subcommittee for your presentations. We'll develop some of your testimony with some written submissions we might make to you.

I do want to commend you for the good work that you do, and I know that all of us in the Congress, when we go to our districts, see the result of the technology development work that the services, all of them, have done. You have some very good programs in place and you should know that that's appreciated.

We also, of course, look to you for the maximum effect of this kind of legislation because you are at such a central position in it. So we want to encourage you and urge you and bring a good public record to bear on what kinds of things are being done on the military side.

So, with that, let me thank you very much. Those bells haveare indicating that the House is assembling to attend the services for former Senator Pepper, who was such an institution and contributed so much over so many years to the democracy that we have. So there is a very important recognition of that life that we all should stop and think about a little bit.

So thank you very much for coming. I appreciate your cooperating with us to end this in a timely manner. Thank you.

[Whereupon, at 11:45 a.m., the subcommittee adjourned.]

APPENDIX

QUESTION: Based on the 1988 National Research Council report on Photonics: Maintaining Competitiveness in the Information Era,

as well as on the views of many scientific experts throughout the world, and in view of major research and manufacturing programs recently initiated by Japan and Europe in the area of photonics, specifically opto-electronics, what is the DOD specifically doing to bring Photonics to the point of weapon system insertion by the mid-to-late-nineties, thereby maintaining the current U.S. leadership in this critical technology? Is the current level of DOD resources adequate to ensure our continued leadership?

QUESTION: Is Photonics being considered as a "leapfrog" technology, with emphasis on manufacturing technology as well as on materials/information processing technologies, in order to preclude past experiences (e.g., microelectronics) whereby the U.S. led in developing the technology, only to have Japan assume world leadership through its manufacturing expertise? As a counter to a major Photonics program recently announced by Japan's MITI (Ministry of International Trade and Industry), is DARPA planning any major program in this area? If not, should one be initiated?

PHOTONICS TECHNOLOGY

Question: What is the DoD specifically doing to bring Photonics to the point of weapon system insertion by the nineties? Is the current level of DOD resources adequate to ensure our continued leadership?

Answer: We can only respond to the Army's role in this critical technology. In its recently developed Technology Base Master Plan (ATBMP), the Army has identified Photonics as one of the thirteen key emerging technologies. This Plan, which has been approved by the Secretary of the Army and the Army Chief of Staff, allocates 25% of the entire technology base resources to meet specific technical objectives within these thirteen key emerging technologies. The time frame for demonstrating these objectives for fielded and future weapon systems is early-to-mid nineties.

Currently the Army funds Photonics research and development programs in optical processing of information, optical image processing, optical computing, optical acoustics, and optical signal processing. The Army funding for this fiscal year for these activities is approximately $25 million. Funding for future Photonics programs within the Army is projected to increase significantly as outlined in the ATBMP. Current and future funding levels are considered adequate for meeting the Army's mission of inserting this technology into Army weapon systems such as the communication modules and automatic target recognition for land and air-based vehicles. The Army research and development efforts in Photonics are conducted in the Electronic Technology Devices Laboratory, the Harry Diamond Laboratory, the Communication and Electronic Command's Center for Night Vision and Electro-Optics, the Missile Command, and other Army research and development organizations.

Question: Is DARPA planning any major program in this area? If not, should one be initiated?

Answer: Although DARPA should provide the information requested in this inquiry, the Army is aware of a recent DARPAinitiated Broad Agency Announcement which seeks to accelerate the development of Photonics technology. However, the Army cannot provide information relevant to the funding level for this effort or for other DARPA programs in Photonics. For its part, the Army is certainly cognizant of Japan's Ministry of International Trade

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