How can federally funded research be patentable? Why wouldn’t this be in the public domain?
Thanks,
Rob
Federal government’s getting with the program and going corporate.
The Federal Government patents their inventions all the time. At the lab where I work, they have 2 patent lawyers working (not terribly busy but there) full-time.
In today’s world, many patents are simply intended to preserve the right to use the technology. Ideas are patented multiple times with just enough differences to make them ‘unique’. Having your own patent on a technology is an effective way to keep the patent trolls at bay. With your patent the patent office has already determined that your technology is different from their technology. So at least you aren’t an easy mark.
I think you are confusing patents with copyrights. Federal law requires that intellectual property produced by the federal government not be copyrighted. But there is no such prohibition for patents. Various agencies of the federal government file thousands of patents every year.