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Clauses · FAR · Data rights

FAR 52.227-11 Patent Rights-Ownership by the Contractor

Does the regulation require it to flow down?

Yes

(k)(1): 'include the substance of this clause, including this paragraph (k), in all subcontracts for experimental, developmental, or research work to be performed by a small business concern or nonprofit organization'; (k)(2): the other R&D subs get the subpart 27.3 clause

Form
substance
Reaches
all tiers

Checked against acquisition.gov on 2026-08-04 · edition MAY 2014 (Basic; Alt I–V) · base v0.9.3 Read the text ↗

What it makes you produce

4 items for your checklist, slowest first.

  1. Something you write3

    Days to weeks, and nobody outside your company has to agree to it.

    • A written disclosure of the subject invention to the buyer

      Owed when an inventor reports it in writing to whoever handles patent matters in your company — two months from that report

      52.227-11(c)(1)
    • Written agreements binding your technical employees to report promptly what they invent

      Owed when you employ anyone other than clerical and nontechnical staff on the work

      52.227-11(e)(2)
    • Utilization reports on a subject invention

      Owed when they are requested, no more often than annually

      52.227-11(f)

  2. Something you fill in and send back

    Hours, once you know which one is missing.

    • A written election saying whether ownership stays with you

      Owed when a subject invention has been disclosed to the agency — two years from that disclosure

      52.227-11(c)(2)

When it is used

Goes into contracts for experimental, developmental, or research work with a small business or nonprofit (prescription 27.303(b)(1)). Flows down via (k)(1) to every R&D subcontract performed by a small business or nonprofit; (k)(2) sends the appropriate subpart 27.3 patent clause to the other R&D subs.

Read closely

The patent application follows within a year of the election ((c)(3)). Ownership stays with you and the Government keeps a royalty-free license and march-in rights; what runs is the calendar, and the two-month clock starts inside your own company rather than at the buyer.

Alternates

  • Alt I · JUN 1989

    FAR 27.303(b)(3).

    Alternate I adds to the Government's license the power to sublicense foreign governments and international organizations under named treaties. It widens the license; the disclosures, the election and the reports are the parent's.

  • Alt II · DEC 2007

    FAR 27.303(b)(4).

    Alternate II reserves a right to amend the contract later to identify specific treaties, effective for inventions made after the amendment. It changes the license terms rather than the paperwork.

The 12 templates that name it, with the line
143CORPDOC 3A — FAR/DFARS Flowdown Provisions for Fixed Price Non-Commercial Items under a DoD Prime ContractLockheed Martinline 220155CORPDOC 4A — FAR/DFARS Flowdown Provisions for Cost-Reimbursement/T&M Subcontracts under a DoD Prime ContractLockheed Martinline 237233RTX Flowdown of U.S. Government Contract Clauses Under U.S. Government ContractsRTXline 37105Raytheon TC-002 — Supplement 1: Government Contract Provisions from the FARRTXline 94166Northrop Grumman CTM-P-ST-001 — U.S. Government Firm Fixed Price Order (Not for Commercial Products and Services)Northrop Grummanline 2321166Northrop Grumman CTM-P-ST-003 — U.S. Government T&M Order (Not for Commercial Products and Services)Northrop Grummanline 2262168Northrop Grumman CTM-P-ST-004 — U.S. Government Cost Reimbursement Order (Not for Commercial Products and Services)Northrop Grummanline 2353255GD Mission Systems SCM-TMP-005 — General Provisions, Firm Fixed Price PO under U.S. Government Contract (Non-Commercial)General Dynamicsline 1059243GD Mission Systems SCM-TMP-048 — T&M Purchase Orders for Non-Commercial Items in Support of a U.S. Government ContractGeneral Dynamicsline 1981240L3Harris LGL-50.F1 — General T&C and Flowdown Clauses for Other Than Commercial Products/Services under a U.S. Government ContractL3Harrisline 2036273BAE Systems Inc. USGOVA — FAR/DFARS Flow Down Provisions for Subcontracts/Purchase Orders under a U.S. Government (DoD) Prime ContractBAE Systemsline 594178AAR Component Services NY — U.S. Government Contract FAR and DFARS Clauses Incorporated by ReferenceAAR Corpline 1121

Source: acquisition.gov, FAR 52.227-11 and 27.303(b)(1) (verified 2026-08-04)

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.