EconDefense
ACQ-29 / Intellectual property and technology transfer

Buy patents, copyrights, software, technical data and infringement releases

Acquire ownership/licensing rights, technical/design/process data and software useful to military-department supplies or processes, including releases for past infringement.

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At a glance

Possible toolACQ-29 · Licensing & IP
Legal basis10 U.S.C. §3793

Authority holder: Military-department authorities spending eligible supply-procurement funds

Licensing & IP

Mechanism tags describe the source text; they do not expand the authority.

Availability and verification

Express statutory pathway; award-specific appropriations, available balances, delegations, implementation and approvals not independently verified.

Requirements and limits

Eligibility & prerequisites

  • Acquisition relates to supplies/processes produced, used or useful to the military department.
  • Negotiate precise data, patent, copyright and software rights needed.

Limits & exclusions

  • Buying an item does not automatically buy its IP, source code or manufacturing data.
  • Release of past claims is distinct from unrestricted future commercial exploitation.

Funding conditions

  • Appropriations available for making or procuring supplies may be used.

Read the funding and execution guide

Who contributes what

Need & planning

  • Operational requirement owner; Service/component portfolio acquisition executive and program manager

Resources

  • Sponsoring Service/component appropriations manager and comptroller

Approval

  • Service/component acquisition executive and authorized contracting authority, at applicable threshold

Execution

Partners & review

  • User command
  • Counsel, fiscal, engineering, testing, logistics and security staff as applicable

Office links are editorial matches to the original role text, not verified delegations. Composite labels and unmatched actors are preserved.

Coordination pathway

Program defines rights/deliverables → Service IP counsel and contracting officer → valuation/licensing negotiation → funded agreement.

Actor and execution-role sources

Legal basis

  • 10 U.S.C. §3793Primary statutory text; primary GovInfo baseline and amendment audit identified in research narrative.

What this research establishes

Legal powerSource and conditions recorded
EligibilityProject-specific check needed
Available fundsBalances not verified
DelegationValid signature authority must be checked
ExecutionOffice capacity and approvals must be checked

Confidence: High on express authority and cited conditions; execution assignment is illustrative unless statute expressly names it.

Currentness: GovInfo 2024 Code (includes FY2025 NDAA, P.L. 118-159) read in full for cited provision; targeted FY2026 NDAA P.L. 119-60 amendment/repeal sweep. No claim of complete legislative currency through 2026-10-02; remaining 2026 delta needs counsel validation. OLRC indexed §3793 text dated 2026-09-27.

Research target: October 2, 2026. A record-specific last-review date is not supplied. Publication date is not legal-currentness certification.

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