A patent grants the owner the right to exclude others from making, using or selling whatever is covered by the claims in the patent. Of course, the enforceability of any patent is subject to payment of maintenance fees during its patent term. Any patent that has expired for failure to pay a maintenance fee or by virtue of full patent term expiration is dedicated to the public. The government, like any other patent owner, has the same rights to exclude others. The owner of a patent has the right to enforce its patent rights, but there is no obligation to do so. Finally, the covered inventions of government owned patents are not free for use by any American citizen simply by virtue of your having paid taxes if that is your implication. You would be well-advised to seek a license under the patent and it is likely that government held patents may be licensed.
Answered on Mar 08th, 2013 at 2:59 PM