[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 136 (Tuesday, July 16, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42531-42532]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-16950]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Prospective Grant of Exclusive License: Ophthalmic Diagnostic 
Devices

AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This is notice, in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 
part 404, that the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS), is contemplating the grant of a 
worldwide exclusive start-up patent license, to practice the inventions 
embodied in U.S. Patent 8,132,911 (HHS Ref. No. E-279-2006/0) to 
OptoBiometrics Designs, Inc., a company incorporated under the laws of 
the State of California having its headquarters in Pleasant Hill, 
California. The United States of America is the assignee of the rights 
of the above inventions. The contemplated exclusive license may be 
granted in a field of use limited to ocular fundus examination devices 
and systems.

DATES: Only written comments and/or applications for a license received 
by the NIH Office of Technology Transfer on or before July 31, 2013 
will be considered.

ADDRESSES: Requests for a copy of the patent application, inquiries, 
comments and other materials relating to the contemplated license 
should be directed to: Michael A. Shmilovich, Esq., CLP, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health, 6011 Executive 
Boulevard, Suite 325, Rockville, MD 20852-3804; Telephone: (301) 435-
5019; Facsimile: (301) 402-0220; Email: [email protected]. A signed 
confidentiality nondisclosure agreement will be required to receive 
copies of any patent applications that have not been published by the 
United States Patent and Trademark Office or the World Intellectual 
Property Organization.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The issued patent covers an optical system 
that permits targeted photo-stimulation of the retina by positioning a 
stimulus location under visual guidance through a fundus camera. The 
instant system is designed to elicit, under direct infrared (IR) visual 
control of stimulus size and position in the retina, electroretinograms 
(ERGs) in response to photo-stimulation from selected regions of the 
retina, as well as to present small light stimuli to a selected area to 
explore visual sensitivity properties. For example, the detected ERGs 
can be the basis for diagnosing or characterizing patient retina with 
early stage retinal disease versus healthy retina from the opposite 
eye. The system can be mounted on commercially available fundus cameras 
that have IR capabilities (or would accept IR bandpass filtering of

[[Page 42532]]

their retinal illumination output) and will accept a near IR CCD camera 
connected to a TV mounted on the photographic-camera port.
    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 part 
404. The prospective exclusive license may be granted unless, within 
fifteen (15) days from the date of this published notice, NIH receives 
written evidence and argument that establishes that the grant of the 
license would not be consistent with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 209 
and 37 CFR part 404.
    Properly filed competing applications for a license filed in 
response to this notice will be treated as objections to the 
contemplated license. Comments and objections submitted in response to 
this notice will not be made available for public inspection, and, to 
the extent permitted by law, will not be released under the Freedom of 
Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552.

    Dated: July 9, 2013.
Richard U. Rodriguez,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 2013-16950 Filed 7-15-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P