Intellectual Property issues are raised in nearly every Federal procurement, and are critical and foundational in high-tech acquisition. Most recently, we have witnessed a significant spike in the pace and significance of statutory and regulatory changes to the rules for acquiring IP, and understanding this evolution will be a focus area in the 2022 virtual class series. A key aspect of understanding how the game is changing, and what is likely to come next, is to understand the regulatory framework as it exists today, and understanding the rules for Government use of private IP when it has not previously acquired license rights. Session 1 lays the foundation for that understanding—not only to assist in keeping up with the ongoing regulatory changes, but also to help you prepare for and manage IP issues as they are coming up in your practice today. An overview of topics covered:
- Do the FAR and DFARS differ in the treatment of intellectual property under government contracts?
- How does the treatment of IP differ at the subcontract level?
- How do the rules and policies differ when dealing with commercial IP?
- Does the government have the right to use patents to which it has no rights?
- Does the government give its contractors the right to use patents to which it has no rights?
- When the government or its contractors use patents to which they have no rights, must the government compensate the patent owner?