
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 42USC2457]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
                   CHAPTER 26--NATIONAL SPACE PROGRAM
 
                    SUBCHAPTER I--GENERAL PROVISIONS
 
Sec. 2457. Property rights in inventions


(a) Exclusive property of United States; issuance of patent

    Whenever any invention is made in the performance of any work under 
any contract of the Administration, and the Administrator determines 
that--
        (1) the person who made the invention was employed or assigned 
    to perform research, development, or exploration work and the 
    invention is related to the work he was employed or assigned to 
    perform, or that it was within the scope of his employment duties, 
    whether or not it was made during working hours, or with a 
    contribution by the Government of the use of Government facilities, 
    equipment, materials, allocated funds, information proprietary to 
    the Government, or services of Government employees during working 
    hours; or
        (2) the person who made the invention was not employed or 
    assigned to perform research, development, or exploration work, but 
    the invention is nevertheless related to the contract, or to the 
    work or duties he was employed or assigned to perform, and was made 
    during working hours, or with a contribution from the Government of 
    the sort referred to in clause (1),

such invention shall be the exclusive property of the United States, and 
if such invention is patentable a patent therefor shall be issued to the 
United States upon application made by the Administrator, unless the 
Administrator waives all or any part of the rights of the United States 
to such invention in conformity with the provisions of subsection (f) of 
this section.

(b) Contract provisions for furnishing reports of inventions, 
        discoveries, improvements, or innovations

    Each contract entered into by the Administrator with any party for 
the performance of any work shall contain effective provisions under 
which such party shall furnish promptly to the Administrator a written 
report containing full and complete technical information concerning any 
invention, discovery, improvement, or innovation which may be made in 
the performance of any such work.

(c) Patent application

    No patent may be issued to any applicant other than the 
Administrator for any invention which appears to the Under Secretary of 
Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States 
Patent and Trademark Office (hereafter in this section referred to as 
the ``Director'') to have significant utility in the conduct of 
aeronautical and space activities unless the applicant files with the 
Director, with the application or within thirty days after request 
therefor by the Director, a written statement executed under oath 
setting forth the full facts concerning the circumstances under which 
such invention was made and stating the relationship (if any) of such 
invention to the performance of any work under any contract of the 
Administration. Copies of each such statement and the application to 
which it relates shall be transmitted forthwith by the Director to the 
Administrator.

(d) Issuance of patent to applicant; request by Administrator; notice; 
        hearing; determination; review

    Upon any application as to which any such statement has been 
transmitted to the Administrator, the Director may, if the invention is 
patentable, issue a patent to the applicant unless the Administrator, 
within ninety days after receipt of such application and statement, 
requests that such patent be issued to him on behalf of the United 
States. If, within such time, the Administrator files such a request 
with the Director, the Director shall transmit notice thereof to the 
applicant, and shall issue such patent to the Administrator unless the 
applicant within thirty days after receipt of such notice requests a 
hearing before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences on the 
question whether the Administrator is entitled under this section to 
receive such patent. The Board may hear and determine, in accordance 
with rules and procedures established for interference cases, the 
question so presented, and its determination shall be subject to appeal 
by the applicant or by the Administrator to the United States Court of 
Appeals for the Federal Circuit in accordance with procedures governing 
appeals from decisions of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences 
in other proceedings.

(e) False representations; request for transfer of title to patent; 
        notice; hearing; determination; review

    Whenever any patent has been issued to any applicant in conformity 
with subsection (d) of this section, and the Administrator thereafter 
has reason to believe that the statement filed by the applicant in 
connection therewith contained any false representation of any material 
fact, the Administrator within five years after the date of issuance of 
such patent may file with the Director a request for the transfer to the 
Administrator of title to such patent on the records of the Director. 
Notice of any such request shall be transmitted by the Director to the 
owner of record of such patent, and title to such patent shall be so 
transferred to the Administrator unless within thirty days after receipt 
of such notice such owner of record requests a hearing before the Board 
of Patent Appeals and Interferences on the question whether any such 
false representation was contained in such statement. Such question 
shall be heard and determined, and determination thereof shall be 
subject to review, in the manner prescribed by subsection (d) of this 
section for questions arising thereunder. No request made by the 
Administrator under this subsection for the transfer of title to any 
patent, and no prosecution for the violation of any criminal statute, 
shall be barred by any failure of the Administrator to make a request 
under subsection (d) of this section for the issuance of such patent to 
him, or by any notice previously given by the Administrator stating that 
he had no objection to the issuance of such patent to the applicant 
therefor.

(f) Waiver of rights to inventions; Inventions and Contributions Board

    Under such regulations in conformity with this subsection as the 
Administrator shall prescribe, he may waive all or any part of the 
rights of the United States under this section with respect to any 
invention or class of inventions made or which may be made by any person 
or class of persons in the performance of any work required by any 
contract of the Administration if the Administrator determines that the 
interests of the United States will be served thereby. Any such waiver 
may be made upon such terms and under such conditions as the 
Administrator shall determine to be required for the protection of the 
interests of the United States. Each such waiver made with respect to 
any invention shall be subject to the reservation by the Administrator 
of an irrevocable, nonexclusive, nontransferable, royalty-free license 
for the practice of such invention throughout the world by or on behalf 
of the United States or any foreign government pursuant to any treaty or 
agreement with the United States. Each proposal for any waiver under 
this subsection shall be referred to an Inventions and Contributions 
Board which shall be established by the Administrator within the 
Administration. Such Board shall accord to each interested party an 
opportunity for hearing, and shall transmit to the Administrator its 
findings of fact with respect to such proposal and its recommendations 
for action to be taken with respect thereto.

(g) Repealed. Pub. L. 96-517, Sec. 7(b), Dec. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 3027

(h) Protection of title

    The Administrator is authorized to take all suitable and necessary 
steps to protect any invention or discovery to which he has title, and 
to require that contractors or persons who retain title to inventions or 
discoveries under this section protect the inventions or discoveries to 
which the Administration has or may acquire a license of use.

(i) Administration as defense agency

    The Administration shall be considered a defense agency of the 
United States for the purpose of chapter 17 of title 35.

(j) Definitions

    As used in this section--
        (1) the term ``person'' means any individual, partnership, 
    corporation, association, institution, or other entity;
        (2) the term ``contract'' means any actual or proposed contract, 
    agreement, understanding, or other arrangement, and includes any 
    assignment, substitution of parties, or subcontract executed or 
    entered into thereunder; and
        (3) the term ``made'', when used in relation to any invention, 
    means the conception or first actual reduction to practice of such 
    invention.

(k) Objects intended for launch, launched, or assembled in outer space

    Any object intended for launch, launched, or assembled in outer 
space shall be considered a vehicle for the purpose of section 272 of 
title 35.

(l) Use or manufacture of patented inventions incorporated in space 
        vehicles launched for persons other than United States

    The use or manufacture of any patented invention incorporated in a 
space vehicle launched by the United States Government for a person 
other than the United States shall not be considered to be a use or 
manufacture by or for the United States within the meaning of section 
1498(a) of title 28, unless the Administration gives an express 
authorization or consent for such use or manufacture.

(Pub. L. 85-568, title III, Sec. 305, July 29, 1958, 72 Stat. 435; Pub. 
L. 96-517, Sec. 7(b), Dec. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 3027; Pub. L. 97-96, 
Sec. 7, Dec. 21, 1981, 95 Stat. 1210; Pub. L. 97-164, title I, 
Sec. 162(3), Apr. 2, 1982, 96 Stat. 49; Pub. L. 98-622, title II, 
Sec. 205(c), Nov. 8, 1984, 98 Stat. 3388; Pub. L. 106-113, div. B, 
Sec. 1000(a)(9) [title IV, Sec. 4732(b)(20)], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 
1536, 1501A-585.)


                               Amendments

    1999--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 106-113 substituted ``Under Secretary of 
Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States 
Patent and Trademark Office (hereafter in this section referred to as 
the `Director')'' for ``Commissioner of Patents'' and substituted 
``Director'' for ``Commissioner'' wherever appearing.
    Subsecs. (d), (e). Pub. L. 106-113, Sec. 1000(a)(9) [title IV, 
Sec. 4732(b)(20)(B)], substituted ``Director'' for ``Commissioner'' 
wherever appearing.
    1984--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 98-622, Sec. 205(c)(1), substituted ``the 
Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences'' for ``a Board of Patent 
Interferences'' and ``the Board of Patent Interferences''.
    Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 98-622, Sec. 205(c)(2), substituted ``the Board 
of Patent Appeals and Interferences'' for ``a Board of Patent 
Interferences''.
    1982--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 97-164 substituted ``United States Court 
of Appeals for the Federal Circuit'' for ``Court of Customs and Patent 
Appeals''.
    1981--Subsecs. (k), (l). Pub. L. 97-96 added subsecs. (k) and (l).
    1980--Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 96-517 repealed subsec. (g) which related 
to license regulations.


                    Effective Date of 1999 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 106-113 effective 4 months after Nov. 29, 1999, 
see section 1000(a)(9) [title IV, Sec. 4731] of Pub. L. 106-113, set out 
as a note under section 1 of Title 35, Patents.


                    Effective Date of 1984 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 98-622 effective three months after Nov. 8, 
1984, see section 207 of Pub. L. 98-622 set out as a note under section 
41 of Title 35, Patents.


                    Effective Date of 1982 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 97-164 effective Oct. 1, 1982, see section 402 
of Pub. L. 97-164, set out as a note under section 171 of Title 28, 
Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.


                    Effective Date of 1980 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 96-517 effective July 1, 1981, but implementing 
regulations authorized to be issued earlier, see section 8(f) of Pub. L. 
96-517, set out as a note under section 41 of Title 35, Patents.


Emergency Relief From Postal Situation Affecting National Space Program 
                                  Cases

    Excusal of delayed fees or actions affected by postal situation 
beginning on Mar. 18, 1970, and ending on or about Mar. 30, 1970, see 
Pub. L. 92-34, June 30, 1971, 85 Stat. 87, set out as a note under 
section 111 of Title 35, Patents.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 2458, 2459b of this title; 
title 35 section 210.
