§2356 Patents and Technical Information

Summary

Allows owners to sue the U.S. government for money if, because of assistance under this chapter, a U.S. patent is used in the United States without the owner's permission, or if the government or its workers disclose protected information held under the owner's restrictions. The owner’s only option is to sue the United States for full and fair payment in the federal district court where the owner lives or in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. The suit must start within six years after the problem begins. Time when the government holds a written claim under subsection (b) before sending a denial does not count toward that six-year limit. The government may raise the same defenses a private person could, and the last paragraph of 28 U.S.C. 1498(a) also applies. Before a suit starts, the head of the responsible agency may settle and pay a claim, but the payment is final only if the claimant accepts it as full settlement. Money spent under this chapter cannot be used to buy a drug made outside the United States if making that drug in the United States would use or be covered by an unexpired U.S. patent that has not been finally held invalid, unless the patent owner expressly allows the manufacture.