"Well, he's a patent attorney. Maybe his tie is pending."

It's about 1.5 years since "Big Bang" aired "The Application Deterioration" on March 10, 2016.

Having come up with an idea for patenting, the characters learn from the university patent attorney that the university will get 75% of the total proceeds from their idea. Howard, as a NASA (federal) employee will get nothing.

link: http://bigbangtheory.wikia.com/wiki/The_Application_Deterioration

See previous IPBiz posts on the Sibley tent, reaching a different conclusion about federal employees and patents