What are March-In Rights?

The U.S. Government has the right to “march-in” and grant licenses to additional companies under federally funded patents. The two main reasons March-In rights are used are if there are public safety concerns or if a patent owner has not made an effort to execute the patent.

In 1980, the Bayh-Dole Act put academic institutions and small businesses in charge of patenting and licensing their inventions they have made that were supported partly by federal funding. On average, three new start-up companies and two new products every day of the year are created under Bayh-Dole.