Free Patents. Free Money to Develop Them. Yes, Really.
The T3CP Patent Holiday SBIR is one of the most unusual opportunities in defense R&D, and it likely won’t be around again.
If your company has two things, strong R&D capability and the ability to commercialize new technology, this program hands you a business strategy that's hard to beat:
The government gives you a patent. Then the government pays you to develop it.
Here's how it works, in four steps.
The Play in 4 Steps
Step 1: Find a government patent you could develop
The Department of War holds thousands of patents from government-funded research. The Patent Holiday Initiative curates the priority ones — in microelectronics, advanced materials, energetics, munitions, critical minerals, biomanufacturing, and other priority tech areas — and puts them on the table for industry.
You don't start from a blank page. You start from an invention the government already paid to create and patent.
Step 2: Get a license — totally free
Through the Patent Holiday, you can get a Commercial Evaluation License (CEL) at no cost. The CEL lets you evaluate the patent before committing to anything long-term:
Can this become a commercial product?
Can we adapt it into a defense-relevant prototype?
What modifications, customers, and regulatory issues are involved?
No licensing fees. No expensive diligence before you know if it's worth it.
Step 3: Apply for SBIR funding to develop it
T3CP is soliciting proposals to turn Patent Holiday IP into prototypes:
Phase I: up to $250,000 to do the feasibility work — connect the patent to a product concept, define the prototype, and map the transition path.
Phase II: up to $2,153,927 over up to 24 months to build a functional prototype, validate performance, and drive toward commercialization.
Already done the feasibility work? Direct to Phase II (D2P2) lets you skip Phase I entirely and go straight for the larger award.
Step 4: You now have a patent AND the money to develop it — all funded
Put it together and the math is remarkable:
Government patent → free evaluation license → up to $250K in Phase I funding → up to $2.15M in Phase II funding → a new product line.
Is This Right for Your Company?
This opportunity fits companies that can answer yes to two questions:
Do you have strong R&D capability to adapt and mature an existing invention?
Can you commercialize — take a technology to real customers, commercial or defense?
If so, the next moves are simple: identify which Department of War patents match your capabilities, pursue a free CEL, and build the strongest single patent-to-product case for Phase I (or D2P2).
Want help figuring out where you fit? Contact our team for a Patent Holiday SBIR fit assessment. We'll help you identify relevant patents, evaluate the business case, and map the path from free license to funded prototype.