INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON RECOMBINANT DNA RESEARCH 
Minutes of Meeting 
March 29, 1977 
National Institutes of Health 
Bethesda, Maryland 
The sixth meeting of the Interagency Committee took place on March 29 
from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. , at the National Institutes of Health. The 
meeting was chaired by Dr. Donald Fredrickson, Director of the NIH. 
The two agenda items considered were: (a) the Commerce Department Order 
providing for the accelerated processing of patent applications for 
inventions related to recombinant DNA activities and (b) Committee review 
of the draft legislation prepared by the Office of the General Counsel, 
DHEW. 
REVIEW OF COMMERCE DEPARTMENT ORDER ON 
ACCELERATED PROCESSING OF PATENT APPLICATIONS 
The Department of Commerce published in the Federal Register on January 13, 
1977, an Order concerning accelerated processing of patent applications 
for recombinant DNA inventions. 
In response to expressions of concern by members of the Congress about the 
Order, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Joseph A. Califano, Jr., 
requested Secretary of Commerce Juanita Kreps to withdraw the Order pending 
review by the Interagency Committee.. In a notice filed in the Federal 
Register on March 9, 1977, the Commerce Department announced suspension 
of the Order (except for applications relating to safety of research in 
this field, which would continue to receive expedited processing). The 
suspension was ordered so that the Interagency Committee could consider 
recommendations concerning research in this field by the private sector. 
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