Clauses · DFARS · Data rights
DFARS 252.227-7039 Patents—Reporting of Subject Inventions
Does the regulation require it to flow down?
No
No flowdown paragraph in the text. It reaches the sub because the prime, when flowing the patent rights clause into the R&D subcontract, attaches the 7039 to standardize the reporting calendar the DoD requires.
A clause can reach your subcontract without a mandate. Once it is in your document, it is a contract term all the same. The missing mandate is a fact about the regulation. It is not a ruling on your order.
Checked against acquisition.gov on 2026-08-11 · edition APR 1990 · base v0.9.3 Read the text ↗
What it makes you produce
3 items for your checklist, slowest first.
Something you write3
Days to weeks, and nobody outside your company has to agree to it.
- 252.227-7039(a)
An interim report listing the subject inventions of the period, or stating that there were none
Owed when every twelve months from the date of the contract, or on the longer cycle the contracting officer sets
- 252.227-7039(b)
A final report listing every subject invention, or stating that there were none
Owed when within three months after the contracted work is complete — it is due whether or not anything was invented
- 252.227-7039(c)
The filing date, serial number and title, a copy of the application, and the patent number and issue data
Owed when the Government asks, for a subject invention you retained title to
When it is used
Prescribed at 227.303(1): it accompanies FAR 52.227-11 (small business/nonprofit patent rights) in DoD contracts, adding the DoD's reporting regime. If your R&D subcontract carries the 52.227-11, the 7039 likely comes with it.
Read closely
Paragraph (d) can also require an irrevocable power to inspect and make copies of the patent application file, which is a wider access than the reports themselves.
The 6 templates that name it, with the line
Source: acquisition.gov, DFARS 252.227-7039. CODIFIED REGIME, read 2026-08-11 on the part-252 page at DFARS Change 5/7/2026: "As prescribed in 227.303(1), use the following clause:" with designation (APR 1990). DEVIATION REGIME, read 2026-08-11 in acquisition.gov/sites/default/files/page_file_uploads/DoD_RFO_Deviation_Part-27.pdf (1125972 bytes, 117 pages, DARS Tracking Number 2026-O0036, "Effective February 1, 2026, contracting officers shall use"): 227.303(1) reads "Insert the clause at 252.227-7039, Patents—Reporting of Subject Inventions, in solicitations and contracts containing the clause at FAR 52.227-11, Patent Rights—Ownership by the Contractor.", and the clause head reads "As prescribed in 227.303(1), use the following clause:" with the same designation (APR 1990). THE TWO REGIMES AGREE on number, prescription and designation. TO RE-DERIVE WITHOUT REDOING THE RESEARCH: fetch that PDF, run pdftotext -layout over it, and grep for 252.227-7039 — 2 occurrences on 2026-08-11, poppler pdftotext. (verified 2026-08-11)
This is research, not legal advice. It states what the regulation says about this clause and cites the paragraph behind it. It does not rule on your order, and it does not rule on whether a prime's markings are correct.