[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 48, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 48CFR27.201-1]

[Page 490-491]
 
            TITLE 48--FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM
 
                CHAPTER 1--FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION
 
PART 27--PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS--Table of Contents
 
                          Subpart 27.2--Patents
 
Sec. 27.201-1  General.

    (a) In those cases where the Government has authorized or consented 
to the manufacture or use of an invention described in and covered by a 
patent of the United States, any suit for infringement of the patent 
based on the manufacture or use of the invention by or for the United 
States by a contractor (including a subcontractor at any tier) can be 
maintained only against the Government in the U.S. Claims Court and not 
against the contractor or subcontractor (28 U.S.C. 1498). To ensure that 
work by a contractor or subcontractor under a Government contract may 
not be enjoined by reason of patent infringement, the Government shall 
give authorization and consent in accordance with this regulation. The 
liability of the Government for damages in any such suit

[[Page 491]]

against it may, however, ultimately be borne by the contractor or 
subcontractor in accordance with the terms of any patent indemnity 
clause also included in the contract, and an authorization and consent 
clause does not detract from any patent indemnification commitment by 
the contractor or subcontractor. Therefore, both a patent indemnity 
clause and an authorization and consent clause may be included in the 
same contract.
    (b) The contracting officer shall not include in any solicitation or 
contract--
    (1) Any clause whereby the Government expressly agrees to indemnify 
the contractor against liability for patent infringement; or
    (2) Any authorization and consent clause when both complete 
performance and delivery are outside the United States, its possessions, 
and Puerto Rico.