Government patents

[quicknick]

What is the name of your state? CO

Hello, not sure if this is the correct forum, but I'll try anyway. I am a biologist with a government agency and have discovered novel compounds for pest control and methods for their use. The govt. patented these products and uses on my behalf and therefore they technically own the patent. I am entitled to royalties if these are ever developed commercially. My question is: can I form a company to develop these products and license the products from the government? Currently, there are no licensing agreements on these products. I would like to form a company that could turn these products into commercially available products. I don't know if as the inventor I can legally do this. Any info on this would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[seniorjudge]

You need a good patent lawyer.

Don't take advice you get on this internet forum about patents (unless it is from divgradcurl).

 

[quicknick]

Thanks, that is probably good advice. I was hoping to avoid the expense.

 

[divgradcurl]

You should consult a lawyer even if divgradcurl does opine on your question...

Basically, you are not entitled to royalties unless you have a contract in place with the entity that owns the patent -- and that's true regardless of whether you work for the government, a university, a company, or your best friend -- only the owner of the patent (not the inventor, unless the inventor and owner are one in the same) is entitled to license, sell, or otherwise benefit from the patent.

As an employee, the benefits you received as an employee while working on the invention are essentially your "royalties."

All that said, there is no reason you couldn't license the patent and try and commercialize the invention yourself (unless the patent is related to national security, atomic energy, certain types of weapons, or certain areas in cryptography), your agency might very well have a technology transfer office, or at least be able to point you inthe right direction. The government itself rarely commercializes its inventions, and is generally pretty open about licensing patents to industry.

 

[quicknick]

Thank you for your input. I am currently contacting the TTO office to try to find some more information, but you know the govt. it take forever to get and answer.