(a) One of the primary missions of the Department of Energy is the use of its procurement process to ensure the conduct of research, development, and demonstration leading to the ultimate commercialization of efficient sources of energy. To accomplish its mission, DOE must work in cooperation with industry in the development of new energy sources and in achieving the ultimate goal of widespread commercial use of those energy sources. To this end, Congress has provided DOE with the authority to invoke an array of incentives to secure the commercialization of new technologies developed for DOE. One such important incentive is provided by the patent system.

(b) Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 2182 and 42 U.S.C. 5908, DOE takes title to all inventions conceived or first actually reduced to practice in the course of or under contracts with large, for-profit companies, foreign organizations, and others not beneficiaries of Pub. L. 96-517. Regulations dealing with Department's authority to waive its title to subject inventions, including the relevant statutory objectives, exist at 10 CFR part 784. Pursuant to that section, DOE may waive the Government's patent rights in appropriate situations at the time of contracting to encourage industrial participation, foster commercial utilization and competition, and make the benefits of DOE activities widely available to the public. In addition to considering the waiver of patent rights at the time of contracting, DOE will also consider the incentive of a waiver of patent rights upon the reporting of an identified invention when requested by such entities or by the employee-inventor with the permission of the contractor. These requests can be made whether or not a waiver request was made at the time of contracting. Waivers for identified inventions will be granted where it is determined that the patent waiver will be a meaningful incentive to achieving the development and ultimate commercial utilization of inventions. Where DOE grants a waiver of the Government's patent rights, either at the time of contracting or after an invention is made, certain minimum rights and obligations will be required by DOE to protect the public interest.

(c) Another major DOE mission is to manage the nation's nuclear weapons and other classified programs, where research and development procurements are directed toward processes and equipment not available to the public. To accomplish DOE programs for bringing private industry into these and other special programs to the maximum extent permitted by national security and policy considerations, it is desirable that the technology developed in these programs be made available on a selected basis for use in the particular fields of interest and under controlled conditions by properly cleared industrial and scientific research institutions. To ensure such availability and control, the grant of waivers in these programs may necessarily be more limited, either by the imposition of field of use restrictions or national security measures, than in other DOE programs.

(a) Except for contracts with organizations that are beneficiaries of Public Law 96-517, the United States, as represented by DOE, shall normally acquire title in and to any invention or discovery conceived or first actually reduced to practice in the course of or under the contract, allowing the contractor to retain a nonexclusive, revocable, paid-up license in the invention and the right to request permission to file an application for a patent and retain title to any ensuing patent in any foreign country in which DOE does not elect to secure patent rights. DOE may approve the request if it determines that such approval would be in the national interest. The contractor's nonexclusive license may be revoked or modified by DOE only to the extent necessary to achieve expeditious practical application of the invention pursuant to any application for and the grant of an exclusive license in the invention to another party.

(b) In contracts having as a purpose the conduct of research, development, or demonstration work and in certain other contracts, DOE may need to require those contractors that are not the beneficiaries of Public Law 96-517 to license background patents to ensure reasonable public availability and accessibility necessary to practice the subject of the contract in the fields of technology specifically contemplated in the contract effort. That need may arise where the contractor is not attempting to take the technology resulting from the contract to the commercial marketplace, or is not meeting market demands. The need for background patent rights and the particular rights that should be obtained for either the Government or the public will depend upon the type, purpose, and scope of the contract effort, impact on the DOE program, and the cost to the Government of obtaining such rights.

(c) Provisions to deal specifically with DOE background patent rights are contained in paragraph (k) of the clause at 952.227-13. That paragraph may be modified with the concurrence of Patent Counsel in order to reflect the equities of the parties in particular contracting situations. Paragraph (k) should normally be deleted for contracts with an estimated cost and fee or price of $250,000 or less and may not be appropriate for certain types of study contracts; for planning contracts; for contracts with educational institutions; for contracts for specialized equipment for in-house Government use, not involving use by the public; and for contracts the work products of which will not be the subject of future procurements by the Government or its contractors.

(d) The Assistant General Counsel for Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property shall:

(1) Make the determination that whether reported inventions are subject inventions under the patent rights clause of the contract;

(2) Determine whether and where patent protection will be obtained on inventions;

(3) Represent DOE before domestic and foreign patent offices;

(4) Accept assignments and instruments confirmatory of the Government's rights to inventions; and

(5) Represent DOE in patent, technical data, and copyright matters not specifically reserved to the Head of the Agency or designee.

(a) In solicitations and contracts for experimental, research, developmental, or demonstration work (but see (FAR) 48 CFR 27.304-3 regarding contracts for construction work or architect-engineer services), the contracting officer shall include the clause:

(1) At 952.227-13, Patent Rights Acquisition by the Government, in all such contracts other than those described in paragraphs (a)(2) and (a)(3) of this section;

(2) At 952.227-11, Patent Rights by the Contractor (Short Form), in contracts in which the contractor is a domestic small business or nonprofit organization as defined at (FAR) 48 CFR 27.301, except where the work of the contract is subject to an Exceptional Circumstances Determination by DOE; and

(3) At 970.5227-10, 970.5227-11, or 970.5227-12, as discussed in 970.27, Patent, Data, and Copyrights, in contracts for the management and operation of DOE laboratories and production facilities.

(b) DOE shall not use the clause at (FAR) 48 CFR 52.227-12 except in situations where patent counsel grants a request for advance waiver pursuant to 10 CFR part 784 and supplies the contracting officer with that clause with appropriate modifications. Otherwise, in instances in which DOE grants an advance waiver or waives its rights in an identified invention pursuant to 10 CFR part 784, contracting officers shall consult with patent counsel for the appropriate clause.

(c) Any contract that has as a purpose the design, construction, operation, or management integration of a collection of contracts for the same purpose, of a Government-owned research, development, demonstration or production facility must accord the Government certain rights with respect to further use of the facility by or on behalf of the Government upon termination of the contract. The patent rights clause in such contracts must include the following facilities license paragraph:

[Insert appropriate paragraph no.] Facilities License. In addition to the rights of the parties with respect to inventions or discoveries conceived or first actually reduced to practice in the course of or under this contract, the Contractor agrees to and does hereby grant to the Government an irrevocable, nonexclusive, paid-up license in and to any inventions or discoveries regardless of when conceived or actually reduced to practice or acquired by the Contractor at any time through completion of this contract and which are incorporated or embodied in the construction of the facility or which are utilized in the operation of the facility or which cover articles, materials, or products manufactured at the facility (1) to practice or have practiced by or for the Government at the facility, and (2) to transfer such license with the transfer of that facility. Notwithstanding the acceptance or exercise by the Government of these rights, the Government may contest at any time the enforceability, validity or scope of, title to, any rights or patents herein licensed.

(End of paragraph)

Where the contract contains the clause at 952.227-11 and the contractor does not elect to retain title to a subject invention, DOE may consider and, after consultation with the contractor, grant requests for retention of rights by the inventor subject to the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 200 et seq. This statement is in lieu of (FAR) 48 CFR 27.304-1(c).