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 partn ers, 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.
