From Lab to Launch: Accelerating Invention Transition to the Warfighter

From Lab to Launch: Accelerating Invention Transition to the Warfighter

A pilot program to connect Department of War with valued commercial partners.

Kick-off: January 22, 2026 from 8:00 – 1:00 at SMI in Washington, DC + Virtual

The Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering (OUSW (R&E)) is hosting an industry day on January 22, 2026, to kick-off a pilot program that will provide no-fee commercial evaluation licenses (CEL) for specially curated DoW laboratory patents. A CEL is a special agreement allowing the licensee the right to assess the technical, market, and business potential of a patent along with associated scale-up challenges.

Easing this pathway is an opportunity for DoW to partner with industry in order to accelerate the commercialization of crucial technologies and processes to the warfighter and provides industry partners with unprecedented access.

Under Secretary of War (R&E) HON Emil Michael and other leadership will be in attendance to discuss the value of Intellectual Property (IP) commercialization to the Department and provide practical information on how companies can leverage DoW patents to solve military priorities through commercialization. Sessions include briefs from the Office of Technology Transfer, Transition and Commercial Partnerships (T3CP), a panel of industry leaders, and a laboratory showcase of IP and partnership opportunities, and others.

Registration details for in-person and virtual participation are here

Please register no later than Friday, January 16, 2026