Background patent
Background patent means a domestic patent covering an invention or discovery which is not a Subject Invention and which is owned or controlled by the Contractor at any time through the completion of this contract:
(i) Which the Contractor, but not the Government, has the right to license to others without obligation to pay royalties thereon, and
(ii) Infringement of which cannot reasonably be avoided upon the practice of any specific process, method, machine, manufacture or composition of matter (including relatively minor modifications thereof) which is a subject of the research, development, or demonstration work performed under this contract.