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Patents As a Defense in the Customs Office

By Howard M. Gitten
October 07, 2003

The shortage of key personnel in cutting-edge technology industries has been a bane to technology companies that for the last decade have found themselves relying more and more on imported brainpower. This problem has particularly affected smaller companies that are less able to pay the highest salaries in order to attract employees. U.S. companies often find themselves turning to Europe, India and the Far East to import key technical staff. To hire a foreign national, appropriate government approval, in the form of an H-1B visa, is required. However, H-1B visas last only 3 years and can be renewed for only one additional three-year term. Thus, these employees often return to their home countries once their visas expire.

Regulation of Export of Technical Information


The United States export regulations prohibit the export of certain technologies. Most companies believe this only applies to the sale of products to rogue nations or the sale of products, such as weaponry, which are vital to the nation's security. What many companies do not realize is that the U.S. Customs Office, which enforces export regulations, considers the departure of these workers from the United States, with the knowledge they have retained from their work, to be an export of technical information, potentially in violation of U.S. export statutes. Accordingly, the Customs Office may prevent companies from hiring foreign nationals.

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