Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed federal agency implementation of three recent patent policy changes and their impact on universities, small businesses, and other nonprofit organizations.
GAO noted that federal agencies are in the process of implementing legislative amendments that: (1) change title rights to inventions that nonprofit organizations and small businesses develop with federal funds; (2) extend title rights to federal contractors to inventions they developed with federal funds; and (3) establish a Statutory Invention Registration (SIR) procedure to reduce the federal patent inventory. GAO found that implementation of these amendments was delayed because the Department of Commerce disagreed with the Department of Energy (DOE) over proposed regulations affecting DOE government-owned, contractor-operated facilities. GAO also found that: (1) the amendments have been significant in stimulating business sponsorship of university research and the removal of licensing restrictions on nonprofit organizations; (2) the Small Business Innovation Research program and lower maximum capital gains tax rates had an equal or greater impact on small business research and innovation efforts; and (3) DOE plans to issue a regulation establishing criteria and procedures for large business contractors to retain title rights to some or all of their inventions.
