What are the contractor’s obligations regarding government license rights in patent applications?
According to MPEP 310, a Government contractor who retains U.S. domestic patent rights has the following obligations:
- Include the government license rights statement at the beginning of the patent application and any issued patents.
- Specify the contract under which the invention was made.
- Identify the Federal agency that awarded the contract.
- Acknowledge that the government has certain rights in the invention.
These obligations stem from 35 U.S.C. 202(c)(6), which mandates the inclusion of this information in the patent application and any resulting patents.
Topics:
MPEP 300 - Ownership and Assignment,
MPEP 310 - Government License Rights to Contractor - Owned Inventions Made Under Federally Sponsored Research and Development,
Patent Law,
Patent Procedure