T3CP Patent Holiday SBIR Open Topic Call - SBIR Topic OSW26BZ04-DP013
Funding Amount:
Phase I - $250,000
Direct to Phase II - $2,153,927
Deadline to Apply:
August 19th, 2026
Objective:
Develop innovative, transition-ready prototype solutions that leverage Department of War inventions made available through the T3CP Patent Holiday Initiative in the areas of Microelectronics, Advanced Materials, Energetics, Munitions, and Critical Minerals and supply-chain-enabling technologies.
Description:
The Office of Technology, Transition and Commercial Partnerships (T3CP) is seeking innovative approaches that accelerate the commercialization and dual-use transition of government funded intellectual property made available through the T3CP Patent Holiday Initiative.
Launched in January 2026, the Patent Holiday Initiative curates priority inventions from intellectual property (IP) in which the government holds either title or statutory rights of use and offers no-cost commercial evaluation licenses (CELs) to qualifying industry partners, enabling small businesses to prototype, evaluate, and commercialize products built on DoW-origin patents.
T3CP is seeking proposals that translate and mature these priority government funded inventions into prototype capabilities with clear commercial relevance and credible transition potential.
This topic is structured as a broad open topic with five sector areas.
Offerors should propose within the sector most aligned to the patent or patents they seek to commercialize, clearly identifying the target product concept, end users, integration pathway, technical approach, and measurable milestones.
Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches that enable meaningful advances in devices, components, materials, manufacturing processes, software-enabled tools, or integrated product concepts.
Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice without a credible prototype and commercialization pathway.
Sub-categories of interest under this topic include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. Microelectronics
The rapid advancement of commercial microelectronics offers significant potential for accelerating DoW capabilities in sensing, communications, positioning, and cyber-resilient systems.
T3CP is interested in technologies that leverage DoW patents to develop commercially relevant microelectronics-based products with defense and dual-use transition potential.
Sub-categories of interest under Microelectronics include, but are not limited to, the following:
Resilient communications and adaptive networking systems
Assured position, navigation, and timing; GNSS spoofing detection and timing integrity technologies
RF sensing, radar, spectrum awareness, and electronic support tools
Compact, wideband, metamaterial, or reconfigurable antenna technologies
Embedded electronics and sensing for autonomous systems or edge-deployed platforms
Secure network automation, physical-layer identification, and infrastructure resilience technologies
2. Advanced Materials
Advances in functional materials, coatings, composites, and manufacturing processes offer significant commercial and defense potential.
T3CP is interested in technologies that apply DoW patents to create innovative products in advanced materials, functional surfaces, protective textiles, and materials-enabled sensing.
Sub-categories of interest under Advanced Materials include, but are not limited to, the following:
Corrosion-resistant, thermal barrier, anti-fouling, or multifunctional coating systems
Conductive polymers, functional thin films, and stimuli-responsive material systems
Graphene, 2D materials, ALD/ALE, wide-bandgap, and semiconductor-enabling materials and processes
Protective textiles, wearables, personal protective equipment, and CBRN-resistant fabrics
Sorbent, catalytic, or reactive materials for filtration, decontamination, and chemical agent defeat
Sensing-integrated and material-embedded monitoring platforms
3. Energetics
DoW patents in energetics and energy-related systems offer broad commercial potential in areas including oxygen generation, propulsion, diagnostics, and advanced air mobility support.
T3CP is interested in technologies that apply DoW patents to develop commercially viable products with dual-use applicability.
Sub-categories of interest under Energetics include, but are not limited to, the following:
On-demand oxygen generation systems for emergency, industrial, medical, or confined-space applications
Advanced fuel, combustion, and propulsion-enabling technologies for UAV, portable power, marine, or light aircraft applications
Quantum-enabled or RF-enabled sensing and diagnostics systems
Weather, environmental hazard, or safety tools for aviation, advanced air mobility, and autonomous operations
Safer pyrotechnic, gas-generant, or controlled energy-release applications for commercial or industrial use
4. Munitions
DoW patents in munitions, armaments, launch mechanisms, projectile design, ignition, detection, and non-lethal effects offer potential for prototyping commercially relevant and defense-relevant products where a credible transition pathway exists.
Sub-categories of interest under Munitions include, but are not limited to, the following:
Propulsion-related subsystems and performance-enhancing components
Projectile, fuze, launch mechanism, sabot, obturation, and terminal effects technologies
Safe ignition, initiation, and energy transfer mechanisms for commercial or industrial applications
Explosives detection, diagnostics, and safety systems
Non-lethal, training, or controlled-effects technologies
Armament-adjacent materials or components with commercial and industrial applications
5. Critical Minerals and Supply-Chain-Enabling Technologies
Securing domestic supply chains for critical materials is a national priority.
T3CP is interested in technologies that support strategic material processing, recovery, substitution, advanced manufacturing, and supply-chain resilience, leveraging DoW patents to create commercially viable and strategically important products.
Sub-categories of interest under Critical Minerals and Supply-Chain-Enabling Technologies include, but are not limited to, the following:
Strategic material extraction, separation, refining, and recovery technologies
Battery, electrode, electrolyte, and structural energy material innovations
Process technologies that reduce reliance on scarce or foreign-controlled material inputs
Sensing, monitoring, and quality assurance technologies for materials processing and refining
Advanced manufacturing processes that improve domestic production capacity and resilience
Commercial platforms and tools that support supply-chain awareness, performance, and security
6. Biomanufacturing
Advances in commercial biomanufacturing and bioindustrial technologies offer significant potential for accelerating DoW capabilities in biodefense, biosurveillance, protection, diagnostics, and resilient domestic production of critical biological products.
T3CP is interested in technologies that leverage DoW patents to develop commercially relevant biomanufacturing- and biosystems-based products with defense and dual-use transition potential.
Sub-categories of interest under Biomanufacturing include, but are not limited to, the following:
Recombinant protein production systems, expression platforms, and cell-free synthesis methods
Enzyme-based detoxification, decontamination, and protective technologies
Biosensing, bioassay, and diagnostic platforms for detection of biological or chemical signatures
Bioaerosol detection, environmental biosurveillance, and hazard monitoring systems
Bioprocess monitoring, quality assurance, and manufacturing control technologies
Wearable, portable, or field-deployable bio-enabled systems for exposure monitoring and operational decision support
Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in devices, materials, systems, manufacturing processes, or software-enabled capabilities.
Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice.
PHASE I:
Phase I proposals will describe the selected DoW patent or patents being leveraged, the relevant sector area, the proposed product or prototype concept, the intended commercial and/or defense end use, the technical modifications required to adapt the patented invention for the target application, anticipated performance improvements or commercial value, the status of or plan to obtain a commercial evaluation license (CEL), impacts to logistics, safety, or regulatory considerations as applicable, and the proposed transition approach.
Results of Phase I will be detailed in a final technical report (Final Report).
Phase I deliverables include:
Kick-Off Briefing, due 15 days from start of Base award
Final Report, due 120 days from start of Base award
Initial Phase II Proposal, due 120 days from start of Base award
This topic is eligible for Direct to Phase II proposals.
Proposers must demonstrate Phase I-equivalent feasibility work completed prior to submission, at their own expense or through the T3CP Patent Holiday Commercial Evaluation License (CEL) process, and must hold or have applied for a royalty-bearing patent license for the DoW patent(s) underlying the proposed effort.
PHASE II:
The scope of the Phase II effort will be specific to each project but is generally expected to develop and demonstrate a functional prototype that implements the Phase I concept and achieves defined performance goals, validate the prototype in a relevant environment appropriate to the sector, mature the transition plan including manufacturability, scalability, regulatory and safety considerations, and advance commercialization including licensing progression, pilot partnerships, customer validation, and product adoption strategy.
PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:
DoW is particularly interested in dual-use applications because they can accelerate transition of DoD-origin inventions by leveraging existing commercial demand, private-sector investment, and established manufacturing capacity, while also strengthening the domestic industrial base and supply-chain resilience.
Dual-use pathways also help reduce time to fielding, expand the pool of nontraditional partners, and increase the likelihood that patented technologies will mature into sustainable products with both defense and commercial value.
The technologies developed under this topic could be used in a broad range of military and commercial applications, including secure communications, resilient networking, RF sensing, spectrum awareness, navigation assurance, cyber defense, autonomous systems, advanced manufacturing, advanced coatings and functional materials, protective textiles and CBRN protection systems, emergency oxygen and life-support systems, propulsion and power systems, advanced air mobility and UAV-enabling technologies, explosives detection and safety systems, non-lethal and training technologies, battery and energy storage innovations, strategic and critical material processing, industrial monitoring and sensing platforms, and domestic supply-chain and manufacturing resilience technologies.
Who will win?
If you can achieve the objective above better than any other company on the market, you have a very high-likelihood of success and should apply.
Who is eligible to apply?
Any company that meets the following criteria:
For-profit company
U.S.-owned and controlled.
500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)
How Can BW&CO Help?
1) End-to-end support including, strategy, writing of the full proposal, and administrative & compliance support.
2) Proposal strategy and review.
3) Administrative & compliance support.
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