June 1999

Inventors: TIO, patent review are a must

The Intellectual Property, or IP, section of the ORNL Office of General Counsel wishes to emphasize to all LMER employees that information relating to research at ORNL must not be made available to the public or a subset of the public without going through the ORNL document clearance process. All information originating under the LMER contract with the Department of Energy for the operation of ORNL must be cleared through the ORNL Technical Information Office prior to any dissemination of such information.

The IP section further emphasizes that managers at all levels and in all organizations at ORNL must not waive patent review of documents that do not fall into recognized categories listed in the 1996 procedure. The internal Web page, www-internal.ornl.gov/ORNL/pubsreg/waiver.html, includes a revised procedure to be followed for proper patent review of ORNL documents. This procedure is in effect immediately.

“These revised procedures prevent the premature disclosure of patentable technologies,” says ORNL Supervisory Patent Agent Joe Marasco. “Waiving patent clearance and publishing information on patentable technologies can prevent researchers from receiving those patents, and that has happened.”

      

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