Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has said that his department has been in contact with top universities to create "deals" that would give the government patents for their research and inventions.

Lutnick told President Donald Trump , along with the Cabinet and the press, that the government would be receiving the patents in return for the "tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars" spent in grants each year.

Newsweek has contacted the White House for more information via email.

Why It Matters

The statement came shortly after Trump announced a deal with Intel that would give the federal government a 10 percent stake in the computer chip-producing company. It marks another government intervention into private business practices, which is a shift from typical conservative eco

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