OORSCT KmOHORST HtNNtrORO WhiTNCT & HallaOAY 
Dr. Donald S. Fredrickson 2 October 13, 1976 
2) I fully subscribe to the view previously expressed 
by the Advisory Committee that knowledge with respect to 
indicated safety precautions in recombinant DNA research 
should be promptly disseminated. I suspect that a lot of 
such knowledge can be disseminated without publishing one 
or more inventions resulting from such research. When 
such dissemination would result in the publication of an 
invention and thus prevent a patent on the invention from 
being obtained in one or more countries, I believe that 
delay in the dissemination of such knowledge until a U.S. 
patent application can be filed should be an option avail- 
able to the inventor and would itt be a disaster from the 
public interest point of view. In this connection, I under- 
stand that publication with respect to an invention, after a 
U.S. patent application has been filed but before a foreign 
patent application has been filed, for example, in France, 
will not prevent the issuance of a patent in France or, for 
that matter, in most foreign countries. Such a policy should 
not, therefore, result in a long delay of dissemination of 
the knowledge. 
3) I oppose a requirement that patents resulting 
from the research be dedicated to the public or assigned 
to HEW and a requirement that patent licenses, whether or 
not exlusive, be approved by HEW. I take this position 
not only because, as I have indicated above, I am a strong 
believer in the patent system, but also because I believe 
that the red tape involved in obtaining licenses or ap- 
proval of licenses from a government agency would be a sig- 
nificant deterrent to research and development activities — 
even those financed by HEW. 
In conclusion, while I recognize that the list 
of horribles which can result from recombinant DNA research 
is probably inexhaustible, I am basically a pessimist about 
the possibility of preventing the occurrence of any such 
horrible through government control of patents and patent 
licensing or through government regulation of the research 
activities. I suggest that, perhaps, the most defensible 
course of action which the Department can take might be to 
get out of the business of funding such research and attempt 
to control the research process by regulation. 
meeting . 
I look forward to seeing you again at the December 
Very truly yours, 
/ 
Jule M. Hannaford ^ 
JMH : DAV 
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