Security, defense and critical infrastructure
Experimental, emerging and dual use technology sold into or alongside government. Direct experience advising across the Departments of Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security.
What makes this sector different
The problems here are structural rather than technical. Selling to an agency raises questions that never come up in a commercial deal: what rights the government acquires in technology it funds, whether you can keep commercial exclusivity while licensing to a customer who is also a regulator, and whether your own hiring plan is an export control problem before anyone ships anything.
Independently developed technology is a genuine advantage in this market and worth protecting deliberately. Technology built without prior federal funding carries no government march in exposure, which materially strengthens your position in an out licensing negotiation. The filing and disclosure strategy should be built around preserving that.
Typical matters
Patent roadmap built for federal out licensing
A filing strategy that lets you licence non exclusive rights to an agency while keeping commercial freedom, including accelerated filing tactics and classification questions.
CRADAs and federal lab collaboration
Cooperative research and development agreements that let you work with agency scientists and in licence promising lab originated technology.
Export control before the first hire
Classification under the arms and export administration regulations, and the deemed export exposure that catches teams hiring engineers who are not United States persons.
SBIR and STTR positioning
Structuring proposals and IP posture for non dilutive federal funding, and the invention reporting obligations that follow an award.
Other transaction authority and rapid acquisition
Navigating the contracting pathways that exist specifically to move faster than standard procurement, including sole source justification.
National security and dual use risk assessment
Evaluating where a technology sits against national security priorities, and the classified integration risk of pursuing certain contracts.
Most work in this sector is confidential and never named. Client identity, technology and location are withheld by default, and appear on this site only with written permission.
Services used most in this sector
Federal Government & Defense Technology Transactions
CRADAs, OTAs, SBIR/STTR, teaming agreements, dual-use IP roadmaps, and defense-to-commercial transitions.
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IP Commercialization, Investment & Policy Advisory
Federal technology transfer, SBIR and STTR positioning, and go to market strategy for government buyers.
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Tech Transactions
CRADAs, federal out licensing agreements, and the data rights clauses that decide what the government receives.
View serviceQuestions from this sector
If we licence to a federal agency, do we lose our commercial market?
Not if the licence is structured for it. Agencies frequently need only a non exclusive right for government purposes, which leaves your commercial field entirely intact. The mistake is accepting a broad grant because it appeared in the agency’s template. Field of use limits, purpose restrictions and clear carve outs are negotiable, and they are the difference between a licence that funds the company and one that ends it.
We want to hire a brilliant engineer who is not a US citizen. Is that a problem?
It can be, and this is the single most commonly missed obligation in defense adjacent startups. Under the deemed export rule, giving a foreign national access to controlled technical data inside the United States is treated as an export to their country of nationality. No shipment and no travel is required. It is far easier to address before an offer letter goes out than after, so raise it at the point you start recruiting, not at onboarding.
Does taking SBIR money mean the government owns our invention?
Generally no. Under the Bayh Dole framework a small business may elect to retain title to inventions made with federal funding, provided the disclosure and election deadlines are met. The government keeps a paid up non exclusive licence for government purposes and limited march in rights that are exercised very rarely. The real risk is administrative: miss a reporting deadline and you can lose the right to elect title at all.
Start with a 30 minute consultation.
A $50 video call covering your goals, your timeline and the documents you send ahead. The $50 is credited toward your fee when the firm takes your matter on.
