35 U.S.C. § 209 — Licensing federally owned inventions

(a) A federal agency can grant an exclusive or partly exclusive license on a government-owned invention only if all of these are true: granting it is a reasonable, necessary incentive to attract the investment needed to bring the invention to practical use, or to otherwise get it into public use; the agency finds the public will be served, based on the applicant's plans and ability, and the license isn't broader than what's needed to provide that incentive; the applicant commits to actually achieving practical use within a reasonable time (which the agency can extend if a refusal would be unreasonable); the license won't substantially hurt competition or violate federal antitrust law; and, for inventions covered by a foreign patent, it will help U.S. government or industry interests in foreign trade. (b) An agency normally can only grant a license to use or sell the invention in the United States if the licensee agrees that products using the invention will be manufactured substantially in the United States. (c) Among otherwise qualified applicants, small businesses get first preference for these licenses. (d) Every license must include certain terms: the federal government keeps a free, permanent, worldwide right to use the invention itself; the licensee must periodically report on how it's using the invention, but only as much as the agency needs to check compliance, and those reports are kept confidential; and the agency can end the license if the licensee isn't living up to its commitment to bring the invention to practical use and can't show it's on track to do so, if the licensee breaks the U.S.-manufacturing promise in (b), if ending the license is needed to meet new public-use rules the licensee isn't meeting, or if a court finds the licensee violated antitrust law in connection with the license. (e) An agency generally can't grant an exclusive or partly exclusive license without first giving 15 days' public notice of its intent and considering any comments it receives. This notice requirement doesn't apply to inventions made under a cooperative research and development agreement under section 12 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980. (f) An agency can't grant a license unless the applicant has given it a plan for developing or marketing the invention; that plan is also kept confidential.