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placed under an order of secrecy or the issuance of a patent should be otherwise delayed under pertinent U.S. statutes or regulations.

(c) Where the subject matter of this contract is classified for reasons of security, the Contractor shall not file, or cause to be filed in any country, other than in the United States as provided in (a) and (b) of this clause, an application or registration for a patent containing any of said subject matter without first obtaining written approval of the Contracting Officer.

(d) When filing any patent application coming within the scope of this clause, the Contractor shall observe all applicable security regulations covering the transmission of classified subject matter, and shall also promptly furnish to the Contracting Officer the serial number, filing date, and name of country of any such patent application. When transmitting the application to the U.S. Patent Office, the Contractor shall by separate letter identify by agency and number the contract or contracts which require security classification markings to be placed on the application.

(e) The substance of this clause shall be included in all subcontracts which cover or are likely to cover classified subject matter. [32 F.R. 522, Jan. 1, 1967, as amended at 35 F.R. 6832, Apr. 30, 1970; 36 F.R. 21152, Nov. 4, 1971]

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(a) Upon receipt from the contractor of a patent application, not yet filed, which has been submitted by the contractor in compliance with paragraphs (a) or (b) of the clause in § 9.106, the contracting officer shall ascertain the proper security classification of the patent application. Upon a determination that the application contains classified material, the contracting officer shall inform the contractor of any instructions deemed necessary or advisable relating to transmittal of the application to the United States Patent Office in accordance with procedures in the Department of Defense Industrial Security Manual for Safeguarding Classified Security Information. If the material is classified "Secret" or higher, the contracting officer shall make every effort to notify the contractor of the determination within 30 days pursuant to paragraph (a) of the clause.

(b) In the case of all applications filed under the provisions of this section, the contracting officer, upon receiving the application serial number, the filing date, and the information furnished by the contractor under paragraph (d) of the clause, shall promptly submit that information to personnel having cognizance of patent matters in order that

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§ 9.107

Patent rights under contracts for research and development.

[29 F.R. 9754, July 21, 1964]

§ 9.107-1 Introduction.

On October 10, 1963, the President promulgated a Statement of Govern.ment Patent Policy applicable to all Executive Departments and Agencies (28 F.R. 10943-10946, October 12, 1963). This Statement is set forth almost verbatim in §§ 9.107-2 and 9.107-3. Essentially, the goal of the Statement of Government Patent Policy is to promote the development of inventions resulting from Federally sponsored research, so that the public can benefit from early civilian use of such inventions. The Statement identifies three categories of procurement situations in which the use of three different patent rights clauses will best serve this goal. In a first category of procurement situations, the goal of the Policy will be best served by the Government acquiring title to the inventions. In the second category, where the contractor has demonstrated a technical competence in the area and an ability to commercialize his inventions, the Policy Statement calls for the contractor or grantee to obtain title to the resulting patent, subject to a license in the Government. In such a situation, the normal incentives provided by the patent system are sufficient guarantee that the inventions will be exploited and developed for civilian use. In the third and final category, the division of patent

rights is deferred until the invention is disclosed. This may be necessary where the commercial interests of the contractor are not sufficiently established to give title to the contractor at the time of contracting. This brief general summary of the Policy Statement does not attempt, of course, to define the categories with precision; and, in any event, exceptions to the general rules are provided by the Policy for special situations. [29 F.R. 9754, July 21, 1964]

General.

§ 9.107-2 (a) Basic considerations. (1) The Government expends large sums for the conduct of research and development which results in a considerable number of inventions and discoveries.

(2) The inventions in scientific and technological fields resulting from work performed under Government contracts constitute a valuable national resource.

(3) The use and practice of these inventions and discoveries should stimulate inventors, meet the needs of the Government, recognize the equities of the contractor, and serve the public interest.

(4) The public interest in a dynamic and efficient economy requires that efforts be made to encourage the expeditious development and civilian use of these inventions. Both the need for incentives to draw forth private initiatives to this end and the need to promote healthy competition in industry must be weighed in the disposition of patent rights under Government contracts. Where exclusive rights are acquired by the contractor, he remains subject to the provisions of the antitrust laws.

(5) The public interest is also served by sharing of benefits of Governmentfinanced research and development with foreign countries to a degree consistent with our international programs and with the objectives of United States foreign policy.

(6) There is growing importance attaching to the acquisition of foreign patent rights in furtherance of the interest of United States industry and the Government.

(7) The prudent administration of Government research and development calls for a Government-wide policy on the disposition of inventions made under Government contracts reflecting com

mon principles and objectives, to the extent consistent with the missions of the respective agencies. The policy must recognize the need for flexibility to accommodate special situations.

(b) Availability of Government-owned patents. Government-owned patents shall be made available and the technological advances covered thereby brought into being in the shortest time possible through dedication or licensing and shall be listed in official Government publications or otherwise.

(c) Definitions. As used in §§ 9.1079.107-9, the stated terms are defined as follows:

(1) "Invention or invention or discovery" includes any art, machine, manufacture, design or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, or any variety of plant, which is or may be patentable under the Patent Laws of the United States of America or any foreign country;

(2) "Contractor" means any individual, partnership, public or private corporation, association, institution, or other entity which is a party to the contract:

(3) "Contract" means any actual or proposed contract, agreement, grant, or other arrangement, or subcontract entered into with or for the benefit of the Government where a purpose of the contract is the conduct of experimental, developmental, or research work;

(4) "Made," when used in relation to any invention or discovery, means the conception or first actual reduction to practice of such invention in the course of or under the contract;

(5) "Governmental purpose" means the right of the Government of the United States (including any agency thereof, state, or domestic municipal government) to practice and have practiced (make or have made, use or have used, sell or have sold) throughout the world by or on behalf of the Government of the United States.

(6) "To the point of practical application" means to manufacture in the case of a composition or product, to practice in the case of a process, or to operate in the case of a machine or system and, in each case, under such conditions as to establish that the invention is being worked and that its benefits are reason. ably accessible to the public. [29 F.R. 9755, July 21, 1964]

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shall normally acquire or reserve the right to acquire the principal or exclusive rights throughout the world in and to any inventions made in the course of or under a contract where:

(1) A principal purpose of the contract is to create, develop or improve products, processes, or methods which are intended for commercial use (or which are otherwise intended to be made available for use) by the general public at home or abroad, or which will be required for such use by governmental regulations; or

(2) A principal purpose of the contract is for exploration into fields which directly concern the public health or public welfare; or

(3) The contract is in a field of science or technology in which there has been little significant experience outside of work funded by the Government, or where the Government has been the principal developer of the field, and the acquisition of exclusive rights at the time of contracting might confer on the contractor a preferred or dominant position; or

(4) The services of the contractor are (i) For the operation of a Government-owned research or production facility; or

(ii) For coordinating and directing the work of others.

In exceptional circumstances, the contractor may acquire greater rights than a nonexclusive license at the time of contracting, where the Secretary certifies that such action will best serve the public interest. Greater rights than a nonexclusive license may be acquired by the contractor after the invention has been identified, where the invention when made in the course of or under the contract is not a primary object of the contract: Provided, The acquisition of such greater rights is consistent with the intent of this section and is a necessary incentive to call forth private risk capital and expense to bring the invention to the point of practical application.

(b) Category II. In other situations, where the purpose of the contract is to build upon existing knowledge or technology to develop information, products, processes, or methods for use by the Government, and the work called for by

the contract is in a field of technology in which the contractor has acquired technical competence (demonstrated by factors such as know-how, experience, and patent position) directly related to an area in which the contractor has an established nongovernmental commercial position, the contractor shall normally acquire the principal or exclusive rights throughout the world in and to any resulting inventions, subject to the Government's acquiring at least an irrevocable nonexclusive royalty-free license throughout the world for governmental purposes.

(c) Category III. Where the commercial interests of the contractor are not sufficiently established to be covered by the criteria specified in paragraph (b) of this section, the final determination of rights shall be made by the contracting officer after the invention has been identified, in a manner deemed most likely to serve the public interest as expressed in this Policy Statement (see § 9.107-2 and other paragraphs of this section), taking particularly into account the intentions of the contractor to bring the invention to a point of commercial application and the guidelines of paragraph (a) of this section: Provided, That in the special situations set forth in § 9.107-4(c) (2), the contractor may acquire at the time of contracting greater rights than a nonexclusive license. In any case, the Government shall acquire at least a nonexclusive royalty-free license throughout the world for Governmental purposes.

(d) In the Category II and Category III situations, when two or more potential contractors are judged to have presented proposals of equivalent merit, willingness to grant the Government principal or exclusive rights in resulting inventions will be an additional factor in the evaluation of the proposals. In no event will contractors be asked to state their willingness to grant the Government principal or exclusive patent rights prior to a determination that proposals of equivalent merit have been presented.

(e) Where the principal or exclusive (except as against the Government) rights in an invention remain in the contractor, he should agree to provide written reports at reasonable intervals, when requested by the Government, on the commercial use that is being made or is

intended to be inade of inventions made under Government contracts.

(f) Where the principal or exclusive (except as against the Government) rights in an invention remain in the contractor, unless the contractor, his licensee, or his assignee has taken effective steps within three years after a patent issues on the invention to bring the invention to the point of practical application or has made the invention available for licensing royalty-free or on terms that are reasonable in the circumstances, or can show cause why he should retain the principal or exclusive rights for a further period of time, the Government shall have the right to require the granting of a license to an applicant on a nonexclusive royalty-free basis.

(g) Where the principal or exclusive (except as against the Government) rights to an invention are acquired by the contractor, the Government shall have the right to require the granting of a license to an applicant royalty-free or on terms that are reasonable in the circumstances to the extent that the invention is required for public use by governmental regulations or as may be necessary to fulfill health needs, or for other public purposes stipulated in the contract.

(h) Where the Government may acquire the principal rights and does not elect to secure a patent in a foreign country, the contractor may file and retain the principal or exclusive foreign rights subject to retention by the Government of at least a royalty-free license for governmental purposes and on behalf of any foreign government pursuant to any existing or future treaty or agreement with the United States.

[29 F.R. 9755, July 21, 1964, as amended at 30 F.R. 6003, Apr. 29, 1965] § 9.107-4 Procedures.

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making of this determination. The Preaward Patent Rights Documentation Checklist set forth in paragraph (h) of this section may be used in determining the appropriate Patent Rights clause to be incorporated in a request for proposals in procurements involving experimental, developmental, or research work. If the contracting officer determines that the Patent Rights (Title) clause (§ 9.1075(a)) is applicable, that clause shall be the only Patent Rights clause used. If it is determined that the Patent Rights (Title) clause (§ 9.107-5(a)) is not applicable, the contracting officer shall include both the Patent Rights (License) (§ 9.107-5(b)) and Patent Rights (Deferred) (§ 9.107-5 (c)) clauses in the request for proposals together with the statement: "The contracting officer will determine during negotiation which of these two patent rights clauses will be used in the contract, and the determination will be made in accordance with the guidelines set forth in ASPR 9-107." Except where the Patent Rights (Title) clause is applicable, DD Form 1564, "Preaward Patent Rights Documentation", may be included in each request for proposal. In the case of an unsolicited proposal, the contractor may be requested to complete that DD Form. The Checklist and the DD Form, if used, shall be made a part of the contract file.

(b) Category I-Where the contracting officer determines that proposed experimental, developmental, or research work falls within Category I set forth in § 9.107-3(a), the Patent Rights (Title) clause set forth in § 9.107-5(a) shall be included in the contract. When said determination is based on § 9.107-3 (a) (3) notice to that effect will be included in the solicitation. If the contractor to whom the award is to be made challenges the applicability of this provision, the contracting officer will review the basis for his determination and provide the contractor with the reason for his conclusion. If the contracting officer and the contractor cannot then resolve the issue, the contracting officer will promptly forward the problem to the Head of the Procuring Activity for resolution. If award of the contract cannot be delayed, the contracting officer may proceed with the procurement pending resolution of the issue, provided the contract contains the Patent Rights (Title) clause set forth in § 9.107-5 (a), accompanied by

the following statement: "Contractor agrees to accept the Patent Rights Clause which is ultimately determined, in accordance with departmental procedures, to be the appropriate one." The contracting officer shall consider the following in making his determination:

(1) In the situation in Category I(i) in § 9.107-3 (a), a principal purpose of the contract or a series of related contracts must be research or development work on an end item (a product or process) either (i) intended for use in the civilian economy, or (ii) which the general public will be required by governmental regulation to use. End items of this nature would most likely be found in the field of Civil Defense.

(2) In the situation in Category I(ii) in § 9.107-3 (a), a principal purpose of the contract must be directly concerned with the public health or public welfare (e.g., drugs, medical instruments, water desalinization, and weather modification or control), and not solely items of only military application.

(3) Under Category I(3) in § 9.107-3 (a), the contract must be for an end product in a field of science or technology in which, at the time the contract is entered into, there has been little or no significant experience except for work funded by the Government or where the Government has been the principal developer. If the contracting officer determines that the proposed contract is in such a field of science or technology, he then shall determine whether the contractor would likely get a preferred or dominant commercial position in that field if he were permitted to acquire title to inventions made under the contract. It would be inequitable to other commercial manufacturers or sources to permit a contractor to acquire such a preferred or dominant commercial position based principally upon work funded by the Government. When said determination is based on § 9.107–3(a) (3), notice to that effect will be included in the solicitation. If the contractor to whom the award is to be made challenges the applicability of this provision, the contracting officer will review the basis for his determination and provide the contractor with the reason for his conclusion. If the contracting officer and the contractor cannot then resolve the issue, the contracting officer will promptly forward the problem to the head of the procuring activity for resolu

tion. If award of the contract cannot be delayed, the contracting officer may proceed with the procurement pending resolution of the issue, provided the contract contains the Patent Rights (Title) clause set forth in § 9.107-5(a), accompanied by the following statement: "Contractor agrees to accept the Patent Rights Clause which is ultimately determined, by the head of the procuring activity, to be the appropriate one."

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(4) Under Category I(iv) (A) § 9.107-3(a), a contract for the operation of a Government-owned production facility must call for experimental, developmental, or research work at such a facility. In Category I(iv) (B) the words "coordinating and directing the work of others" do not refer to the normal prime contractor-subcontractor relationship, but refer instead to a relationship in which a potential organizational conflict-of-interest exists. See § 1.113-2. Notwithstanding any determination in accordance with this paragraph, in exceptional circumstances the contractor may acquire greater rights than a nonexclusive license at the time of contracting if the Secretary certifies that such action will best serve the public interest.

(c) Category II: Where the contracting officer determines that proposed experimental, developmental, or research work does not fall within Category I but does fall within Category II set forth in § 9.107-3(b) or within the special situations set forth in subparagraph (2) of this paragraph, the Patent Rights (License) clause set forth in § 9.107-5(b) shall be included (except when greater rights are acquired by the Government pursuant to § 9.107-3(d)).

(1) In determining whether such work fails within Category II, the contracting officer shall first determine whether the work is in a field of technology directly related to an area in which the contractor has an "established nongovernmental commercial position." In making this determination, the contracting officer should recognize that the ultimate goal of the policy is to move inventions into the stream of commerce through domestic sales or exports or through domestic and foreign licensing programs. A nongovernmental commercial position can be based upon sales or licensing of military or nonmilitary items to foreign governments, multinational organizations,

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