5 
applications were filed from 1969 through the fall of 1974 under 
IPAs. Approximately $24 million is committed to the development 
of inventions on the basis of licenses granted under these patents. 
Meanwhile the Department has reviewed 178 petitions for ownership 
from institutions not having IPAs and has granted 162 of them. Ap- 
proximately $53 million has been invested or committed to development 
under the licenses awarded through this mechanism. The commitment 
of private risk capital in these instances may be viewed as evidence 
that a licensable patent right is a primary factor in the successful 
transfer of results from Department-funded research to the public. 
It indeed appears that the incentives provided by Department 
patent policy have encouraged the development of new technology and 
its transfer to the public — a clear benefit to the United States. 
B . The Patenting of Recombinant DNA Research Inventions 
1 . Patenting and Disclosure of Information 
In reviewing patent policies generally, the effect of the pro- 
cessing of patent applications on the rapid dissemination of 
scientific and safety information must be considered. Under U.S. 
law an inventor has a one-year period of grace after research 
results are published in which to file for a patent. In a number 
of foreign countries, however, valid protection requires that a 
patent application be filed prior to publication. If one publishes 
first, valid patent protection cannot be obtained. Thus it could 
be anticipated that the effect of allowing patents on recombinant 
DNA inventions would be to encourage U.S. inventors to file for 
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