Re: government free reign on RSA -- from whence?

[smb@research.att.com]

	 This is driving me crazy. I have asked many people that refer to the
	 U.S. government's free reign on the use of patents in general and RSA
	 technology in particular. There are a lot of very respectable and
	 reputable specialists on this list and I hope they can answer my quest
	ion.

	 What *specifically* gives the government the *right* to use patents
	 developed `with public money' without licensing, or the RSA patent in
	 particular (if the two are not the same)?

My understanding -- and I've never seen the original document, so I can
be wrong -- is that the statutes providing for grants to professors
have such provisions.  That is, barring all patents developed under
such grants could be seen as stifling private initiative.  But
permitting the inventor to retain all rights is unfair, since the
government funded the work.  Hence the compromise:  patents are
permitted in such cases, but the government gets free use.

As for the ``personal use'' question -- I've never heard of such a
thing.  The law gives gives the patent holder the right to bar others
from selling, making, or *using* the protected invention.  There is a
court ruling permitting use of patented materials for experimental
purposes; some people may be extending that.

One more word on patents.  The claim that 50% of patents are thrown out
when challenged may or may not be accurate; however, it is very
time-dependent.  Such things go in cycles, depending on the makeup of
the Supreme Court.  During, say, the 1970's, there was a substantial
component on the court that opposed the concept of patents, so many
more challenges were upheld.  I need not point out that the makeup of
the court has changed substantially in recent years; during the 1980's,
many more patents were upheld.  I've seen one or two articles
indicating that the pendulum is starting to swing back, but it's harder
to say now; most patent cases these days only go as high as the Court
of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.


		--Steve Bellovin