[Federal Register: April 21, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 76)]
[Notices]               
[Page 19548]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21ap99-62]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

United States Geological Survey

 
Prospective Grant of Exclusive Patent License

    This is notice in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209(c)(1) and 37 CFR 
404.7(a)(1)(i) that the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Department 
of the Interior, is contemplating the grant of an exclusive license in 
the United States to practice the invention embodied in U.S. Patent 
Application Serial Number 9-015,214 entitled ``Automated Groundwater 
Monitoring System and Method,'' to Systems Management, Inc. of Hunt 
Valley, MD 21031.
    The prospective exclusive license will be royalty-bearing and will 
comply with the terms and conditions of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7. 
The prospective exclusive license may be granted unless, within 60 days 
from the grant of this published notice, USGS receives written evidence 
and argument which establishes that the grant of a license would not be 
consistent with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7.
    The present invention is a method of monitoring the quality of 
water at a ground water sampling site without human intervention. Waste 
at the sampling site is purged until at least one preselected purge 
criterion is satisfied. At least one water quality attribute is 
automatically measured at the sampling site, and quality of water at 
the site is determined based on the measured water quality attribute. 
The method is performed by a system including a control unit which, in 
accordance with a computer program, controls the taking of water 
quality attribute measurements at the sampling site. The control unit 
may be equipped with a port for downloading data to a technician on 
site and with a transceiver for communicating data to a base station 
via a communications network.
    The availability of the invention for licensing has been announced 
on the USGS' website (www.usgs.gov/tech-transfer), on a inventor's 
website
(http://ma.water.usgs.gov/automo/), and at industry exhibits appearing 
more than a year ago.
    A copy of the cited patent application is available, for those with 
a licensing interest, from the USGS Technology Enterprise Office. It 
may be requested by phone at (703) 648-4450 or by e-mail at 
rgraves@usgs.gov.
    Inquiries, comments and other materials relating to the 
contemplated license must be submitted by regular mail to Neil L. Mark, 
Technology Enterprise Office, U.S. Geological Survey, 211 National 
Center, Reston, VA 20192 or by email at nmark@usgs.gov.
    Properly filed competing applications received by the USGS in 
response to this notice will be treated as objections to the grant of 
the contemplated license.
Anton L. Inderbitzen,
Director, Technology Enterprise Office.
[FR Doc. 99-9968 Filed 4-20-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-Y7-M