Office of the Assistant General Counsel for Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property

The Office of the Assistant General Counsel for Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property is responsible for providing legal counsel to Departmental elements on all matters relating to intellectual property (including patents, trademarks, copyrights, and technical data) and transfer of those rights from Department laboratories to the private sector in accordance with established legal authorities. The Office is also responsible for investigating and disposing of copyright and patent infringement actions against the Department. Among its duties, the Office obtains, administers, and licenses intellectual property (inventions) owned by the Government that arise from Department sponsored research and development. Inventions made at most DOE laboratories are owned by the contractor operating the laboratory and are licensed by the contractor directly to the private sector. Transfer of this technology to the private sector is done through a variety of legal instruments, from technical assistance agreements to solve a specific problem, user agreements, licensing of patents and software, exchange of personnel, work for others agreements and cooperative research and development agreements.