Click here to experience the presentation This multimedia presentation is a component of the June 1999 (vol. 51, no. 6) JOM. To best experience this presentation, you should employ the latest version of RealPlayer. As the audio plays, images from the presentation will automatically load in the window to the right

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Patrick Ziarnik

Editor's Note: Under the auspices of JOM, this presentation was recorded March 1st at the 1999 TMS Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, during the symposium Professional Development: Collaboration, Research, and Professional Skills. Sponsored by the TMS Young Leaders Committee, the symposium was organized by Elliot Schwartz, Gillette Company, and Livia Racz, Tufts University. Other papers from this symposium may be experienced by visiting June issue's table of contents.

Since the National Cooperative Research Act was passed in 1984, many organizations have been formed to take advantage of pre-competitive collaborative research and development among competing laboratories and companies. In the more than fifteen years since the law passed, initial investment in this new experiment in manufacturing R&D has grown tremendously. But when companies and independent laboratories realize their standard practices for protecting their intellectual property rights are inadequate, issues arise on the best practices for handling this new experiment. Some organizations have refused to get involved with research initiatives that require collaboration with others who are also willing to pool talent and share risks. This presentation will address a number of models for handling intellectual property under precompetitive R&D. Also addressed will be issues related to acamedia concerns, government rights, national laboratory initiatives, and private industry concerns as related to intellectual property ownership. Rather than avoid opportunities in R&D that is growing at an increasing rate, organizations need to arm themselves with the tools needed to participate in this new arena.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Patrick Ziarnik is vice president and chief legal officer of the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences.