Aerospace and Defense

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Aerospace and defense companies get legal counsel on export controls, government contracting, and IP protection within a tightly regulated environment, from attorneys with the technical background to understand advanced defense and aviation technology.

Aerospace and defense pair demanding technology with some of the strictest regulation in any industry. You may build aircraft, defense systems, or the components and software inside them, and a single export or contracting misstep carries real consequences. Our attorneys trained as engineers, so technical programs are not a mystery to us. We help contractors, manufacturers, and their technology suppliers protect their work and operate cleanly under federal rules.

Defense IP and Controlled Information

Protecting innovation here happens inside unusual constraints. We build patent strategies for defense and aerospace technology, safeguard classified and controlled information, and advise on the government IP rights that attach when public money funds development. When ownership or licensing of technical data is contested, we handle the dispute. We also account for international considerations so your protection holds up across the programs and partners you work with.

ITAR, EAR, and CFIUS

Defense technology faces hard limits on where it can go and who can touch it. We counsel on ITAR and EAR compliance, work through CFIUS reviews on foreign investment, and address technology transfer restrictions and deemed export issues that arise when foreign nationals access controlled information. Because we follow the underlying technology, we can tell which items and data actually fall under control rather than treating every line as restricted by default.

Government Contracting

Most defense work runs through government contracts with their own rulebook. We advise on FAR and DFARS compliance, small business and set-aside requirements, security obligations, and teaming arrangements between primes and subs. When a contract dispute or claim arises, we represent your position. The aim is to keep you eligible, compliant, and competitive without letting administrative requirements quietly eat the margin on your programs.

Frequently asked questions

Defense articles and related technical data are generally controlled under ITAR and administered by the State Department, while many dual-use items fall under the EAR administered by Commerce. Getting the classification right determines registration, licensing, and who you can share technology with, and the rules treat disclosing controlled technical data to a foreign person as an export even inside the U.S. Misclassification carries serious civil and criminal penalties, so classify before you market, hire, or share designs.

It depends on funding and the contract clauses, especially the data rights provisions. For inventions made with federal funding, the Bayh-Dole framework often lets the contractor retain title while the government keeps a license, but technical data and software rights turn on whether development was funded by the government, by you, or mixed. Carefully mark proprietary data and track funding sources, because unmarked deliverables can give the government broader rights than you intended.

Defense contracts carry flow-down clauses covering cybersecurity, supply-chain restrictions, cost accounting, and quality requirements, and these apply down to your subcontractors. Cybersecurity expectations under DFARS and CMMC require protecting controlled unclassified information and reporting incidents. Building a compliance program early matters because noncompliance can lead to lost awards, False Claims Act exposure, or suspension and debarment.

Use the contract's data rights markings to limit how the government and competitors can use your information, and keep privately funded developments clearly separated from government-funded work. Trade secrets and limited or restricted rights legends can protect commercially valuable technology if applied correctly and consistently. The discipline is documenting what was developed at private expense, because that record is what supports your right to restrict use later.

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