MPEP Section 310, Government License Rights to Contractor-Owned Inventions Made Under Federally Sponsored Research and Development

Executive summary:

This document contains Section 310 ("Government License Rights to Contractor-Owned Inventions Made Under Federally Sponsored Research and Development") of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (the "M.P.E.P."), Eighth Edition, Seventh Revision (July 2008). This page was last updated in November 2009. You may return to the section index to find a particular section. Alternatively, you may search the MPEP using the search box that appears on the left side of every page of BitLaw--you may restrict your search to the MPEP on the search results page.

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310 Government License Rights to Contractor-Owned Inventions Made Under Federally Sponsored Research and Development [R-3]

Where a Government contractor retains U.S. domestic patent rights, the contractor is under an obligation by virtue of 35 U.S.C. 202(c)(6) to include the following statement at the beginning of the application and any patents issued thereon:

"The U.S. Government has a paid-up license in this invention and the right in limited circumstances to require the patent owner to license others on reasonable terms as provided for by the terms of (contract No. or Grant No.) awarded by (Agency)."

If reference is made in the first sentence>(s)< of the *>specification following the title< to prior copending applications of the applicant ** ( 37 CFR 1.78(a) and MPEP § 201.11), ** the above "Government License Rights" statement should follow immediately as the second paragraph of the specification.

If there is no reference to an earlier application, the "Government License Rights" statement should appear as the first paragraph of the specification. See 37 CFR 1.77.