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Federal Agencies' Policies and Practices Are in Accordance With Patent and Trademark Amendments of 1980

RCED-85-94 Published: Aug 29, 1985. Publicly Released: Aug 29, 1985.
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Highlights

As required by the Patent and Trademark Amendments of 1980, GAO reviewed federal agency actions to implement the act's guidelines which establish a uniform patent policy for assigning titles to inventions of small businesses and nonprofit organizations under federally sponsored research projects. In 1983, the President directed federal agencies, to the extent permitted by laws, to adopt the same policies for all contractors as well as for small businesses and nonprofit organizations. In addition, the Department of Commerce was made responsible for reviewing exceptional circumstance determinations and informing agency heads if any determination was contrary to the act.

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