Where should the government license rights statement be placed in a patent application?

This page is an FAQ based on guidance from the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. It is provided as guidance, with links to the ground truth sources. This is information only: it is not legal advice.

The placement of the government license rights statement in a patent application depends on whether there are references to related applications:

• If there are references to related applications in the first sentence(s) of the specification following the title, the government license rights statement should appear as the second paragraph of the specification.
• If there are no references to related applications, the government license rights statement should appear as the first paragraph of the specification.

This placement is specified in 37 CFR 1.77(b)(1)-(3).