Date: Fri, 03 Jun 1994 10:36:37 -0400 From: "Perry E. Metzger" <perry@imsi.com>

Since when can the government patent its work? I thought that works produced by government agencies could not be copyrighted or patented.

I'm not sure of the details, but I know the law in this area was changed during the Reagan administration to unfetter U.S. companies who had done research that was partially govt. funded. Under the old rules, foreign companies could take advantage of work that could not be patented or otherwise protected by trade secret. Thus, technologies that were developed through govt.-funded work were acquired for free and used against the U.S. in global economic competition. Not sure about work that is completely government-produced, but what did the government ever come up with all on its own, anyway? I do know that my company is currently engaged in several joint projects with the government as a result of the new regulations, and part of the deal is that we retain the rights to the inventions. tw