Implementation of NATO Guidelines on Intellectual Property Rights. Revision.

摘要

Increased standardization and interoperability of of NATO weapons is now a major goal of DoD. The success of the cooperative programs necessary to achieve this goal will in large measure depend on the extent to which defense industries in the United States and other NATO countries can agree to share their Intellectual Property (IP). IP covers a broad range of technical knowledge and expertise, much of which companies consider to be private information that alone distinguishes them from their competitors. In early 1978, the Council of National Armaments Directors promulgated a set of guidelines for transfer of IP under NATO cooperative programs. LMI was asked to suggest actions that DoD could take to implement the guidelines and to make cooperative programs generally more attractive to industry. The guidelines require the United States and other NATO governments to be able to ensure transfer of IP among themselves and/or their designated contractors. In our view this requirement can best be satisfied not by the U.S. Government itself acquiring and transferring IP, but rather by international company-to-company transfers subject to Government oversight and review. This report recommends four actions that DoD, with the cooperation of other NATO countries, can take to facilitate IP transfers in NATO cooperative programs.