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