How to Complete DD Form 882: Report of Inventions and Subcontracts

DD Form 882, the Report of Inventions and Subcontracts, is the document that Department of Defense contractors and subcontractors use to disclose inventions made during contract performance and to list any subcontracts that carry a patent rights clause. You file it with your Contracting Officer on a recurring basis during the contract and again at closeout, even when there is nothing to report. The current fillable PDF is published by the DoD Executive Services Directorate through the Washington Headquarters Services website.¹

Who Has to File It

The filing obligation flows from the patent rights clauses written into your contract. If your contract incorporates FAR 52.227-11 (small businesses and nonprofits) or DFARS 252.227-7038 (large businesses), you are required to report subject inventions and patent-rights-bearing subcontracts on this form.² DFARS 252.227-7039 is the clause that specifically mandates the interim and final reports the form satisfies.³

A “subject invention” is any invention of the contractor conceived or first actually reduced to practice during contract performance, provided it is patentable or otherwise protectable under Title 35 of the U.S. Code.² The definition also extends to plant varieties protectable under the Plant Variety Protection Act. Processes, devices, and compositions of matter developed or refined by your team while performing the contract typically qualify.

The form is a periodic summary, not a substitute for individual disclosure. Each subject invention must also be disclosed in writing to the Contracting Officer within two months after the inventor reports it to your patent personnel, with enough technical detail to convey a clear understanding of the invention, the inventors, and the contract involved.²

When It Is Due

Interim Reports

Interim reports are due at least every 12 months from the date the contract was awarded. Each one has to list any subject inventions made during the period, certify that you followed your invention identification and disclosure procedures, and identify any subcontracts containing a patent rights clause that have not been reported previously.¹ The Contracting Officer can authorize a longer interval, but the 12-month cycle applies unless you have that approval in writing.³

Final Report

The final report is due after contract work is completed. Small businesses and domestic nonprofit organizations get six months. All other contractors get three months.¹ It must list every reportable subject invention and every patent-clause subcontract awarded under the contract. File it even if the answer to both is nothing. Write “None” in the relevant sections. Timely submission is generally a prerequisite for final payment and formal closeout.

How to Fill Out the Form

The current version, updated April 2026, uses header blocks followed by three numbered sections.¹

Header Blocks: Items 1 Through 4

Item 1 identifies you, the contractor or subcontractor: company name, address with ZIP, contract number, and award date in YYYYMMDD format. If your contract number is the same as the government prime number, write “Same.”

Item 2 identifies the government prime contractor. If you are the prime, write “Same” as Item 1.a. Item 2.c takes the Procurement Instrument Identification number per DFARS 204.7003, and 2.d takes the prime contract award date.

Item 3 asks whether the report is interim or final. Item 4 gives the start and end dates of the reporting period, both in YYYYMMDD format.

Section I: Subject Inventions

Item 5 is the core of the form. Write “None” if there is nothing to report. Otherwise, for each invention:

5.a: inventor name(s), last name first.
5.b: title of the invention.
5.c: disclosure number, patent application serial number, or patent number.
5.d: whether you elected to file a patent application in the United States and/or foreign countries.
5.e: whether you forwarded a confirmatory instrument or assignment to the Contracting Officer.
5.f: for any inventor not employed by your company or subcontractor, list the inventor’s name, employer’s name, and employer’s address. The government needs this because its rights may extend beyond your contract’s patent rights clause.
5.g: for inventions where you elected foreign protection, list the title and the countries where you plan to file. If filing under the Patent Cooperation Treaty or European Patent Convention, note “PCT” or “EPC” after the country name.

Section II: Subcontracts

Item 6 covers subcontracts you awarded that contain a patent rights clause. Write “None” if there are none. Otherwise, for each subcontract, give the subcontractor name and address, subcontract number, the specific FAR patent rights clause number and its date (from FAR 52.227), a description of the work, and the award and estimated completion dates.

Section III: Certification

Item 7 is a signed certification that the report is complete and accurate. It requires the authorized official’s name, title, signature, and date. Small businesses and domestic nonprofit organizations are exempt from the certification.¹ If that is you, mark the appropriate box at the top of Section III and leave the signature block blank.

Where to Send It

The form instructs you to return it to your Contracting Officer, not to the Washington Headquarters Services address printed on the form.¹ Your contract should specify whether that means email, an agency-specific electronic portal, or mail. Some federal agencies use the NIST iEdison system for invention reporting, but DoD contracts generally route DD Form 882 directly through the Contracting Officer.⁴ If you cannot tell from the contract, ask the Contracting Officer or the Administrative Contracting Officer named in it.

What Happens If You Miss a Deadline

Skipping a report or filing late can cost you the technology. Under FAR 52.227-11 and DFARS 252.227-7038, the government can require you to assign title to any subject invention you failed to disclose or failed to elect title to within the required window.² The government has 60 days after learning of the failure to make that request, and once it does, the assignment is mandatory.⁵

The consequences do not stop at title. If you miss a disclosure deadline, you also forfeit the nonexclusive royalty-free license you would otherwise keep in inventions where the government takes ownership.² You could lose both ownership and the right to use an invention your own team created. For large business contractors under DFARS 252.227-7038, missing patent filing windows triggers the same forfeiture in any country where the deadline slipped.⁵

Related Deadlines You Have to Track

The DD Form 882 filings sit alongside a set of individual invention deadlines. Missing any of them gives the government the right to take title in the relevant jurisdiction:

Written disclosure to the Contracting Officer within two months after the inventor reports the invention to your patent staff.²
Written notice electing to retain title within two years after disclosure to the agency under FAR 52.227-11, or within eight months for large businesses under DFARS 252.227-7038.⁵
A provisional or nonprovisional patent application within one year after electing title. If provisional, the nonprovisional must follow within 10 months.⁵
Foreign filings within 10 months of the first patent application, or within six months after a secrecy order is lifted.

Confidentiality of What You Report

Information you place on DD Form 882 is not automatically public. Under 35 U.S.C. § 205, federal agencies may withhold invention disclosures from public release for a reasonable time so that a patent application can be filed, and agencies cannot be compelled to release documents that form part of a pending patent application, whether filed domestically or abroad.⁶ That protection is why reporting to the government does not destroy your ability to patent. Mark sensitive disclosures appropriately, and coordinate with the Contracting Officer on any timing concerns around public use or publication that could affect the one-year statutory bar.

1
Washington Headquarters Services. DD Form 882 – Report of Inventions and Subcontracts
2
Acquisition.GOV. FAR 52.227-11 Patent Rights-Ownership by the Contractor
3
GovInfo. DFARS 252.227-7039 Patents – Reporting of Subject Inventions
4
National Institute of Standards and Technology. iEdison Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
5
eCFR. 48 CFR 252.227-7038 – Ownership by the Contractor (Large Business)
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 35 USC 205 – Confidentiality