During at least part of the time he worked for SAIC, Herman was working on his doctoral
dissertation - the work for SAIC being related to his dissertation work (ff 19). Barnes, a
NASA employee, was one of Herman's dissertation advisors, and the two apparently
worked together on the NASA project. On 12 March 1998, Herman alone conceived of
the invention using his own resources (ff 21). Herman told Barnes of his idea on 18
March 1998, At that time, Barnes provided Herman with Sellmeir coefficients to use in
calculations of the invention (ff 30). Some unspecified time later, Herman approached
NASA with his idea to get funding for his invention. He presented NASA with a NASA
Disclosure of Invention form (NDI). A NASA representative, Ms. Johnson, told Herman
that unless he added Barnes to the NDI, NASA would not be interested (ff 36). Feeling
as if he had no choice, Herman added Barnes to the NDI. Herman also drafted an
invention disclosure for SAIC (referred to as SID) which is apparently the same as the
NDL Herman did so with the hopes that SAIC would compensate him for his invention
(ffs 38 and 39). The NDI and SID were forwarded to patent counsel, who apparently
relied on the same to draft a patent application that ultimately issued as the Barnes patent.
The application for patent was filed 15 January 1999. On 1 March 1999, the day
that Herman and Barnes executed the joint declaration for patent application, Herman
told Barnes that he did not think that Barnes was an inventor (ff 46). Nevertheless,
Herman and Barnes signed the declaration, declaring themselves joint inventors (ff 45).
Herman was to be compensated by SAIC for profits emanating from the Barnes patent.
SAIC changed its inventor compensation package after the Barnes patent application was
filed and after the joint declaration was executed, such that Herman would receive
substantially less money for his invention (ff 47). Frustrated, Herman filed the involved
Herman application on 21 January 2000, naming himself sole inventor.
The facts surrounding Herman's story are troubling. Assuming the story is true, Herman
has demonstrated a willingness to lie, when it is convenient for him to do so. Herman admitted
that he signed a joint declaration, wherein the penalties of willfully making a false statement are
17
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