Another fear voiced by sources in the University and on Capitol Hill is that upon returning on November 12 for the added session, the Senate will avoid addressing the patent legislation altogether by concentrating solely on appropriations before adjourning. The 97th session would then have to reintroduce the issue and begin the entire legislative process from scratch.

Waiting Game

"There is really nothing we can do except watch," Atkinson said. "The Senate certainly handled the problem well, by carefully considering each part of the proposal independently and not closing out the idea of legislating for large corporations," he added, declining to comment on the House's treatment of the measure.

"A lot of people (in the Senate) were a little disconcerted when the whole bill came down from the House in one big piece after we passed our version so carefully in separate pieces," the Senate Judiciary aide said. The White House has consistently backed the more comprehensive House version.

To Be Continued

In related activity, the Faculty Council last week began discussing whether Harvard should take a more active role in adapting the patents it owns for commercial use, a practice that could yield large financial rewards. The Council will continue the discussion at this week's meeting and at the full Faculty meeting on October 21.

Whatever changes might result from possible Congressional action will not immediately wipe out Harvard's existing patent agreements with individual federal agencies, Coddington said. "We will continue to deal individually with the agencies, and we will renew our agreements as that becomes necessary, taking into account any new laws."

Before 1975, Harvard prohibited researchers from patenting discoveries resulting from federally funded research