To: Carnage Matey!
It works both ways. Although this is a minor point I would suggest you check out the wing tip fences used on many Airbus aircraft. Boeing designed them under a NASA contract. The reason Airbus uses them is that NASA gave them the rights to use them in their wing design. The reason they are not used on American aircraft is that NASA would charge a huge licensing fee for their use. So, in a small way the United States Government has subsidized Airbus.
