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6 U.S.A.F. JAG Bull. 28 (1964)
Patent Licensing within the Manufacturer's Aircraft Association (MAA)

handle is hein.journals/airfor6 and id is 178 raw text is: PATENT LICENSING WITHIN THE MANUFACTURER'S AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION (MAA) Lt Colonel Harry T. Dykman Since the new patent policy of the U.S. Government includes a compulsory licensing provision, it is interesting to examine an Association which has as a basic policy a system of voluntary licensing, which, within the Association, is an effective substitute for compulsory licensing.' Consonant with the philosophy of a duty flowing from the Government to the tax- payer to share Government assets such as TVA, Rural Electrification, Social Security, etc., the new patent policy has a general goal which follows the guide lines laid down in the President's Patent Policy Statement of 10 October 1963.2 The goal is stated as follows: Essentially the goal of the Statement of Government Patent Policy is to promote the development of inventions resulting from Federally sponsored research, so that the public can benefit from early civilian use of such inventions. Therefore, since inven- tions in scientific and technological fields re- sulting from work performed under Gov- ernment contracts constitute a valuable na- tional resource,3 the new policy dictates that the sooner they are launched into the The author, now retired, was formerly the As- sistant SJA, Hq AFLC, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. He held an LL.B from New York University and is a member of the New York Bar. I Through the courtesy of the management of the Association, several articles concerning the MAA were made available for study: Report of the Federal Aviation Commission, 74th Congress, 1st Session, Senate Document #15. Janu- ary 30th, 1935, pp 219-224 inc; Fortune Magazine, Vol. XXXIV, No. 8, August 1942, pp 102-105 inc; and pp. 132, 134, 136, 138 and 141. Free Enterprise In Our Time-The Closed Patent Pool-note pp 105 and 136; Air Affairs Magazine, in American Quar- terly, Autumn 1949, Vol. 3, No. 1 pp 211-217 inc; Journal of the Patent Office Society XIX pp 578- 596; 646-670. 228 Fed. Reg. 10943 (1963). 3 Sec IX; Part I, ASPR (Revision 5, dated May 1964). commercial stream the better; or the very least, they should be made available to any- one desiring commercially to exploit them if the contractor has not brought the inven- tion to the point of practical application or otherwise licensed it upon reasonable terms.4 Thus the old concept that a patent owner has plenary rights in his invention no longer is recognized, at least so far as inventions made by a contractor in Government contracts. Now the public has a vested interest that will not be denied. To this end, compulsory licensing is provided for in the new Patent Section (Part 1, Sec. IX) of the Armed Serv- ices Procurement Regulation. The record of the development of the MAA with its volun- tary licensing provisions is interesting when the new policy regarding Government spon- sored patents is kept in mind. During 1916 and culminating in January 1917, the Government was made aware of a vexing problem that simply would not solve itself. The early aeroplane manufacturers not only were the most courageous of Ameri- can entrepreneurs, they were first class in- ventors. They also were like our present day farmers, highly individualistic-meaning they were completely self-made and intended to stay that way-by themselves. Hence, any inventions made by these poineers were con- sequently not offered for use by others on anything nearly approaching a royalty-free basis. The Assistant Secretary of the Navy, during January of 1917 (The Honorable Franklin D. Roosevelt), created a committee to confer with the aeroplane patent owners and manufacturers to arrange a solution to the problem of these patent owners indulging in the well-known Mexican Stand-Off under which the Government could only lose. No one would license the other under anything 4 Sec IX, Part I, ASPR (Revision 5, dated May 1964). Vol. VI, No. 5

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