Overview
FAR 27.304 establishes the administrative framework and specific procedures for managing patent rights, including the process for requesting "greater rights," handling interagency contract requirements, and ensuring proper flow-down of patent clauses to subcontractors. It outlines the due process requirements agencies must follow when making determinations that affect a contractor's or inventor's interest in subject inventions.
Key Rules
- Verification of Status: Agencies may require evidence of a contractor’s nonprofit status or file a size protest if they question a contractor's small business standing regarding patent rights.
- Greater Rights Determinations: Contractors (or inventors) may request title to inventions even when the government initially holds it; the Contracting Officer grants this if it promotes invention utilization and serves the public interest.
- Inventor Rights: If a contractor chooses not to retain title, the individual inventor may request to retain rights, subject to agency consultation and specific conditions.
- License Revocation: Before revoking or modifying a contractor's license to an invention, the agency must provide written notice and a minimum of 30 days for the contractor to show cause why the action should not be taken.
- Interagency Procedures: In "work-for-others" scenarios, the requesting agency’s specific patent clauses typically govern, particularly if the work is non-severable or funded by the requesting agency.
- Subcontracting Protections: Patent policies apply to all tiers, and prime contractors are strictly prohibited from using their economic leverage to acquire rights in a subcontractor’s inventions.
- Appeals and Due Process: Agencies must provide written justifications for adverse patent decisions (such as refusing a waiver or demanding title) and must maintain formal appeal procedures that include administrative due process.
Practical Implications
- Protection for Subcontractors: The regulation prevents large prime contractors from "poaching" intellectual property from smaller subcontractors as a condition of awarding work.
- Contractual Recourse: Contractors have clear procedural pathways and appeal rights to challenge agency decisions regarding invention disclosures, title demands, and license revocations.