A NIST scientists research is paid for by the public and is important to industry. Why would any of NISTs information be proprietary?
An important part of NIST’s mission is to strengthen the competitiveness of U.S. industry. To this end, NIST encourages the use of its research results. In some cases, obtaining patent protection provides a needed incentive to encourage implementation of NIST’s research results by U.S. industry. The Nondisclosure Agreement preserves NIST’s ability to file for a patent. Disclosure of the technology before the patent is filed eliminates the possibility of filing for foreign patent protection. Public disclosure also initiates the one year time limit on filing the U. S. patent application. Further, it is NIST policy for reasons of fairness that, if a technology is made known to one company, its availability has to be made known to the industry at large through established procedures.
