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If it was developed for the CIA, why aren't the resulting patents owned by the government?
by jackowayed 12y ago
If it was developed for the CIA, why aren't the resulting patents owned by the government?
- rosser 12y agoThey were probably acquired by VirnetX, like so many NPEs' portfolios are built.
- deciplex 12y agoBecause if Big Government owned those patents then Job Producers wouldn't be able to make so many jobs for Hard-Working Americans. (speculation)
- lutorm 12y agoIt's not clear if this particular "invention" was developed for CIA, but there are also different types of government contracts, some of which assign IP to the government, some of which do not.
- brudgers 12y ago[IANAL] My understanding is that the US Federal government cannot be sued for patent infringement. If correct, there would be no value for it to acquire patent rights and if the technology was to be controlled, classifying the design would be better than filing patents.
- maaku 12y ago1) yes, you can sue the government or contractors fir patent infringement. 2) the government can issue secret patents IANAL, but I was a government contractor for many years.
- Peaker 12y agoSecret patents that can be accessed by anyone with a high-enough classification? It seems to defeat the original purpose of patents, which was to promote openness of inventions rather than secrecy.