HIGHWAY TO THE EORIZON 



gled their interest in this development. Because of lack 

 of adequate patent protection half a dozen likely new 

 products and some potential new processes developed 

 at the various Regional Laboratories of the Department 

 of Agriculture have been peddled without finding a 

 strong commercial sponsor. This dead-end result is not 

 exactly "in the public interest." 



Advocates of the Kilgore Bill, who insist so pointedly 

 on the public ownership of all medical discoveries, 

 should regard thoughtfully the plight of pharmaceu- 

 tical-chemical research in France. This seemingly be- 

 nevolent idea is embodied in the French patent law 

 which does not protect medical discoveries. As a result 

 this branch of chemistry has withered. When by chance 

 some French chemist stumbles upon a promising thera- 

 peutic agent, he smuggles the formula to Germany or 

 England where he can patent his discovery. 



On top of the risks and the costs of research must be 

 piled the risks and costs of bringing up the laboratory 

 child to commercial maturity in a manufacturing plant. 

 Pyramided above both are the risks and costs of market 

 development. The long gamble of time and money must 

 be safeguarded or nobody will take all these chances. 



To the South, especially, the future of that pioneer- 

 ing research which creates new industries is today cru- 

 cial. Broader than this immediate sectional considera- 

 tion, research is the key to the continued economic 

 progress of the whole country. This scientific tool is the 



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