HoosierDaddy Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 About 10 years ago, our prime contractor awarded us subcontract under FAR Part 12 terms to provide a modified commercial product. The subcontract included a boilerplate provision that says that any designs that are developed under the contract and fully funded by the prime will be owned by the prime. The prime is now asserting that, on the basis of that provision, it owns the designs associated with those modifications (as well as all subsequently developed derivatives). Since the mods were clearly funded with U.S. Govt money that was awarded under the prime contract, we feel that the pirme made no investment in the mods and we are therefore disputing the prime's claim to ownership. Are we correct in this stance? I know that here are good words in the DFAR non-commercial data rights clause that prohibit a prime from exploiting a subcontractor in this way, but I've not found any FAR passage or guidance document that addresses this issue in commerical item contracts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garth Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 Can you share the clause? Typically the USG and prime contractors only request a license - not ownership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retreadfed Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 Garth, I have seen several subcontracts in which the prime contractor included a clause regqiring the sub to assigne all rights to IP developed under the subcontract to the prime. Thus, that is not an infrequent event. As for Hoosier's question, the answer will largely depend on what the parties intended when the subcontract was awarded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FAR Fetched Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 IP rights are complicated. It's really not a good idea to find a solution on a message board. You need to contact law firm that deals with IP rights, preferably one with a lot of Government contracting experience. Especially if you believe your company developed something that can be sold to other companies and/or agencies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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