Bradley, you have a good idea, but something like that will likely never happen. Governments have way too much red tape to get through in order to spend money like that. I could only imagine the negotiating process between the US government and a firm like 3D Systems on how much their patents are worth.

The other issue is, once the government buys them, would they only make them open to their residents, or the world. You would think they would have to make them open to the world. If a patent is available to everyone in the States, then it would be nearly impossible to enforce their limitations outside the county. Politicians would have a field day with this, arguing, "why should we pay for these only to have other countries take advantage."