Statement by the President Upon Receiving the Attorney General's Report on Governmental Patent Practices and Policies.

I HAVE today received from the Attorney General a comprehensive report on governmental patent practices and policies. The extensive study involved in its preparation was undertaken by the Claims Division of the Department of Justice. The report is being made public in order to obtain full and frank discussion by all individuals and organizations concerned, including private companies, educational institutions, and the interested Government departments and agencies.

The Attorney General's report is one of a series of studies relating to the wide range of problems created by the expanded role of the Federal Government in research and development. This group of inquiries, including the report submitted by Dr. Vannevar Bush to President Roosevelt in 1945, the present report by Attorney General Clark, and the studies by the President's Scientific Research Board to be completed this summer, will comprise the most thorough examination ever made of the Government's role in support of scientific research. On the basis of careful study of all aspects of this complex problem, the Government will be enabled to formulate national policies in relation to scientific research and development.