Legal Issues with Government Open Source Software

Terms, Conditions, and Licensing.  Any experienced government official understands that navigating these stormy waters can easily prevent an agency from procuring the most qualified or best fit technology for a project.  Bryan Geurts is an expert in this realm; he'll talk about his work at NASA designing the first open source license for use in a federal agency and other myriad successes ensuring that licensing pitfalls didn't become stumbling blocks for his agency's mission success.

About the Speaker:

Bryan Geurts has worked in the Office of Patent Counsel at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) since 2002 and has served as Chief Patent Counsel for GSFC since 2007.  As Chief, he is responsible for the identification, protection and strategic management of all intellectual property at GSFC, including software.

Mr. Geurts has a total of over twenty years of experience in the field of intellectual property (IP).  As a government attorney, he practices all aspects of IP law as it pertains to government rights, including in the areas of data rights procurement, software release, and patent prosecution and licensing.  In 2004, he was a member of NASA’s Open Source Legal Team that was responsible for drafting the NASA Open Source Agreement (NOSA).  The NOSA has been certified by the Open Source Initiative as compliant with the Open Source Definition and was the first certified open source license designed for use by a US federal agency.

Mr. Geurts holds Bachelor Degrees in Civil Engineering and German from the University of Utah (1986), and a Juris Doctor Degree from Brigham Young University (1989).  He was recently awarded the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal.