Are you a defense contractor who has created software with commercial applications, but is part of a deliverable for a DOD contract?  How do you retain rights in a software delivered as part of a defense contract?  This post will focus on how to make sure that you retain the rights to any software that is a deliverable in a defense contract.  The Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations or DFARs define the government’s rights in noncommercial software.  Specifically DFAR 252.227-7014 defines three levels of rights the government obtains in noncommercial software; 1) unlimited rights, 2) government purpose rights, and 3) restricted rights.  The government’s rights in the software are most limited under the “restricted rights” section.  According to DFAR 252.227-7014(b)(3)(i) the government has restricted rights in noncommercial software required to be delivered or otherwise provided to the government under the contract that was “developed exclusively at private expense.”  Developed exclusively at private expense is defined in DFAR 252.227-7014(7) as: