32 CFR § 746.4 - Definitions.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t32/s746.4"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "32 CFR § 746.4 - Definitions."
title_number: 32
title_name: "National Defense"
section_number: "746.4"
section_name: "Definitions."
chapter_name: "DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY"
subchapter_number: "D"
subchapter_name: "PROCUREMENT, PROPERTY, PATENTS, AND CONTRACTS"
part_number: "746"
part_name: "LICENSING OF GOVERNMENT INVENTIONS IN THE CUSTODY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "5 U.S.C. 301; 10 U.S.C. 5031; 40 U.S.C. 486(c); and 41 CFR 101-4.1."
regulatory_source: "41 FR 55712, Dec. 22, 1976, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "746"
---


# 746.4 Definitions.

(a) *Government invention* means an invention covered by a domestic patent or patent application that is vested in the United States and in the custody of the Department of the Navy, and is designated by the Chief of Naval Research as appropriate for the grant of an express non-exclusive or exclusive license.

(b) *To the point of practical application* means to manufacture in the case of a composition or product, to practice in the case of a process, or to operate in the case of a machine, under such conditions as to establish that the invention is being worked and that its benefits are reasonably accessible to the public.