Legal Definitions - march-in rights

March-in rights refer to a specific power held by the U.S. government concerning inventions that were developed using federal funding. If an entity (such as a company, university, or research institution) receives government money to create an invention and then obtains a patent for it, the government retains the right to "march in." This means if the patent holder or their licensee fails to adequately develop, produce, or make the invention available to the public within a reasonable timeframe, the government can intervene. Its intervention can involve granting new licenses to other companies to produce the invention or even revoking the existing license, thereby ensuring the public benefits from the federally funded research.

Here are some examples of how march-in rights might apply:

• Pharmaceutical Drug: A pharmaceutical company receives substantial grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a groundbreaking drug for a rare and life-threatening disease. After successful development and patenting, the company prices the drug so exorbitantly that it is inaccessible to most patients who need it, or it fails to produce enough of the drug to meet the existing demand. In this scenario, the drug was developed with federal funding (NIH grants). If the company is not making the drug adequately available or accessible to the public, the government could exercise its march-in rights to allow other manufacturers to produce generic versions or license the technology, ensuring wider patient access to the federally funded innovation.

• Renewable Energy Technology: A university research team, funded by a significant grant from the Department of Energy (DOE), invents a highly efficient and cost-effective battery technology for electric vehicles. A large corporation licenses the patent from the university but then intentionally delays its commercialization for several years, perhaps to protect its existing, less advanced battery lines or to prevent competitors from gaining an advantage. Here, the battery technology was federally funded (DOE grant). If the corporation is not adequately developing or applying the invention by deliberately withholding it from the market, the DOE could invoke march-in rights. This would allow the government to grant licenses to other companies willing to produce and commercialize the advanced battery technology, ensuring the public benefits from the innovation in renewable energy.