10 C.F.R. § 781.52 Exclusive and partially exclusive licenses.
Title 10 - Energy
(a) Availability of licenses. The Department may grant exclusive or partially exclusive licenses in any invention only if: (1) The invention has been published as available for licensing pursuant to §781.61 for a period of at least six (6) months; (2) It does not appear that the desired practical or commercial application has been or will be achieved on a nonexclusive basis, and that exclusive or partially exclusive licensing is a reasonable and necessary incentive to call forth the risk capital and expenses necessary to bring the invention to the point of practical or commercial application; (3) A sixty (60) day notice of a proposed exclusive or partially exclusive licensee has been provided, pursuant to §781.63(a), advising of an opportunity for a hearing; and (4) After termination of the sixty (60) day notice period, the Secretary has determined that: (i) The interests of the United States and the general public will best be served by the proposed license, in view of the license applicant's intention, plans, and ability to bring the invention to the point of practical or commercial application; (ii) The desired practical or commercial application has not been achieved, or is not likely expeditiously to be achieved, under any nonexclusive license which has been granted, or which may be granted, on the invention; (iii) Exclusive or partially exclusive licensing is a reasonable and necessary incentive to call forth the risk capital and expenses necessary to bring the invention to the point of practical or commercial application; and (iv) The proposed terms and scope of exclusivity are not substantially greater than necessary to provide the incentive for bringing the invention to the point of practical or commercial application and to permit the licensee to recoup its costs and a reasonable profit thereon; (5) Any determination pursuant to paragraph (a)(4) of this section regarding the practical or commercial application of an invention may be limited to the making, using or selling of an invention, a specific field of use, or a geographic location, provided that the grant of such license will not tend substantially to lessen competition or result in undue concentration in any section of the United States in any line of commerce to which the technology to be licensed relates. (b) Limited number of partially exclusive licenses. In appropriate circumstances, and only after compliance with the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section, the Department may offer a limited number of partially exclusive licenses under a particular invention, when limitation of the number of licenses is found to be in the public interest and consistent with the purpose of these regulations. Factors to be considered in a determination to offer a limited number of licenses under a particular invention include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) The nature of the invention; (2) the projected market size; (3) the need for limitation of licenses to attract risk capital; and (4) the need for limitation of licenses to achieve expeditious commercialization of the invention. When such a determination is made, a Notice of Intent to limit the number of licenses shall be published in the (c) Selection of exclusive licensee or partially exclusive licensee among multiple applicants. When a determination is made by the Department that grant of an exclusive license or partially exclusive license under a particular invention is a reasonable and necessary incentive, in accordance with paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, to call forth the risk capital and expenses required to bring the invention to the point of practical or commercial application, and there is more than one applicant in a particular jurisdiction seeking an exclusive license, and no applicant will accept either a nonexclusive or a partially exclusive license, the Department shall make a written determination selecting an exclusive licensee. Similarly, when a determination is made to grant a limited number of partially exclusive licenses under a particular invention and there are more applicants for such licenses than acceptable, the Department shall make a written determination selecting a limited number of partially exclusive licenses. Factors to be considered in making these determinations include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) The relative intentions, plans, and abilities of the applicants to further the technical and market development of the invention and to bring the invention to the point of practical or commercial application; (2) The projected impact on competition in the U.S.; (3) Projected market size; (4) The benefit to the U.S. Government, U.S. organizations, and the U.S. public; (5) Assistance to small business and minority business enterprises and economically depressed, low-income, and labor-surplus areas; and (6) Whether the applicant is a U.S. citizen or U.S. organization. (d) Terms of grant. Exclusive or partially exclusive licenses shall contain such terms and conditions as the Secretary may determine to be appropriate for the protection of the interests of the United States and the general public, including but not limited to the following: (1) The duration of the license will be negotiated, and the terms and scope of exclusivity shall not be substantially greater than necessary to provide the incentive for bringing the invention to the point of practical or commercial application and to permit the licensee to recoup its costs and a reasonable profit thereon. Extensions are permissible only through reapplication for an exclusive or partially exclusive license under procedures established in these regulations. The license shall be subject to any compulsory license provision required by law in a particular jurisdiction. (2) The license shall require the licensee to bring the invention to the point of practical or commercial application in the geographic area of the license, within a period of time specified in the license or such period as may be extended by the Department, upon request in writing to the General Counsel, for good cause shown. The license shall further require the licensee to continue to make the benefits of the invention reasonably accessible in the geographic area of the license. In specifying the period for bringing the invention to the point of practical or commercial application, the license shall specify the minimum sum to be expended by the licensee and/or other specific actions to be taken by it within the time periods indicated in the license. (3) The license may be granted for all or less than all fields of use of the invention and in any one or all of the countries, or any lesser geographic area thereof, in which the invention is covered by a patent or a patent application. (4) Reasonable royalties shall be charged by the Department unless the Department determines that charging of royalties would not be in the best interests of the United States and the general public. (5) In the jurisdiction of the license, the license may extend to the licensee's subsidiaries and to affiliates within the corporate structure of which the licensee is a part, if any. However, the license shall not be assignable or include the right to grant sublicenses without the approval of the Department in writing. (6) The licensee shall be required to submit written reports annually, and when specifically requested by the Department, on its efforts to bring the invention to the point of practical or commercial application and the extent to which the licensee continues to make the benefits of the invention reasonably accessible to the public. The reports shall contain information within the licensee's knowledge, or which the licensee may acquire under normal business practices, pertaining to the commercial use being made of the invention. (7) The license shall reserve at least an irrevocable, nonexclusive, paid-up license to make, use and sell the invention throughout the world by or on behalf of the United States (including any Government agency), the States, and domestic municipal governments, unless the Secretary determines that it would not be in the public interest to reserve such a license for the States and domestic municipal governments. (8) The license shall reserve in the United States the right to sublicense the licensed invention to any foreign government pursuant to any existing or future treaty or agreement, if the Secretary determines it would be in the national interest to acquire this right. (9) The license shall reserve in the Secretary the right to require the granting of a nonexclusive or partially exclusive sublicense to a responsible applicant or applicants, upon terms reasonable under the circumstances, (i) to the extent that the invention is required for public use by governmental regulations, (ii) as may be necessary to fulfill health, safety, or energy needs, or (iii) for such other purposes as may be stipulated in the license. (10) The license shall reserve in the Secretary the right to terminate such license, in whole or in part, subject to the notice and appeal provisions of §§781.64 and 781.65, unless the licensee demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary that he has taken effective steps, or within a reasonable time thereafter is expected to take such steps, necessary to accomplish substantial utilization of the invention. (11) The license shall reserve in the Secretary the right, commencing three years after the grant of the license, to terminate the license, in whole or in part, subject to the provisions of §781.66 and following a publicly-noticed hearing, initiated pursuant to a petition by an interested person justifying such hearing— (i) If the Secretary determines, upon review of such material as he deems relevant and after the licensee or other interested person has had the opportunity to provide such relevant and material information as the Secretary may require, that such license has tended substantially to lessen competition or to result in undue concentration in any section of the United States in any line of commerce to which the technology relates; or (ii) If the licensee fails to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Secretary at such hearing that he has taken effective steps, or within a reasonable time thereafter is expected to take such steps, necessary to accomplish substantial utilization of the invention.
Title 10: Energy
PART 781—DOE PATENT LICENSING REGULATIONS
Types of Licenses and Conditions for Licensing
§ 781.52 Exclusive and partially exclusive licenses.
