War Department Offers No-Fee Patent Licenses Through Patent Holiday Initiative to Accelerate Technology from Lab to the Warfighter

WASHINGTON, D.C – Jan. 22, 2026 – The Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering (OUSW(R&E)) has launched a pilot program providing no-fee commercial evaluation licenses (CEL) for a curated selection of patents from War Department laboratories. This initiative maximizes the value of the Department’s $3.5 billion annual research investment by easing the licensing pathway, helping industry partners accelerate the commercialization of innovative technologies for the American warfighter.

“If we truly want the War Department to operate with the speed and efficiency of the private sector, we must apply lessons learned from industry—one being that our intellectual property is one of our most valuable assets,” said Emil Michael, the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering.

“We want to provide the innovators in industry a clear path to move technology from the lab into the hands of the American warfighter and the American consumer,” said Michael. “This ‘Patent Holiday’ program is the start of a new era of collaboration.”

A CEL is a special agreement that allows a licensee to assess the technical, market, and business potential of a patent, along with any scale-up challenges. The program provides a two-year window that includes access to full, no-fee licenses, allowing partners to “try before you buy” without the usual upfront costs.

This initiative coincides with the War Department’s newly restructured innovation ecosystem, which is designed to provide industry with a clearer, more direct path to partner with the Department and rapidly transition breakthrough technology into the hands of the fighting force. The pilot program is a groundbreaking effort by the OUSW(R&E) to ensure the nation’s investment in innovative research realizes its full value, transferring intellectual property from defense laboratories to the American public or back to the warfighter for operational use.