STANFORD UNIVERSITY 
STANFORD. CALIFORNIA 94305 
A«e» Cod* 4IJ A97-iW 
oma of 
TECHNOLOGY LICENSING 
ENCINA «-«J0 
September 8, 1976 
Mr. Donald S. Frederickson 
Director 
National Institutes of Health 
Building 1, Room 124 
Bethesda, Maryland 20014 
Subject: Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee Meeting 
Dear Mr. Frederickson: 
I am the individual at Stanford University responsible for its 
licensing program. Your recent letter to members of the Re- 
combinant DNA Advisory Committee (soliciting an input from the 
Committee regarding Recombinant DNA patent matters) prompted 
me to comment directly to you regarding the question of whether 
patents inhibit dissemination of research information. 
I am not aware of any economic, administrative, or physical 
force that will stop or delay a dedicated scientist at a uni- 
versity from promptly publishing his or her research findings, 
whenever he or she is ready to do so. From a pragmatic point 
of view, it would be fatal to the licensing program at this or 
any other university if an administrator delayed a scientist's 
publication in order to secure a patent position. 
We have filed on as little as a week's notice of an impending 
publication, but, of course, occasionally do miss patent bars. 
This is simply a fact of life in an academic institution. A 
case in point is the genetic engineering work of Drs . Cohen 
and Boyer which came to our attention only after publication. 
In rereading your letter to the Committee, it appeared some 
wording possibly may be subject to misinterpretation. My under- 
standing of "adverse patent claims," as used in policy options 
(1) and (2) , are patent claims adverse to the economic interest 
of the U.S. You may find those words misinterpreted by persons 
not familiar with patents to mean patent claims adverse to un- 
fettered research. Patent claims of course do not impede research 
but can be considered "enabling" for development to public use 
and benefit by commercial organizations. 
Very truly yours 
cc: N. Latker, DHEW 
R. Rosenzweig, Stanford 
NJR : sh 
Niels J. Reimers 
Manager, Technology Licensing 
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