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1 safety of the Nation as a whole, hereby finds and declares

2 that:

(1) The United States has recently experienced a decline in the process of industrial innovation and productivity which is integrally related to, and adversely impacts upon, domestic productivity, the rate of economic growth, the level of employment, the balance of trade, and the attainment of other national goals.

(2) The national support of scientific and technological research and development is indispensable to sustained growth and economic stability, and it is in the national interest to maximize the benefits to the general public from such investment.

(3) Scientific and technological developments and discoveries resulting from work performed with Government contracts constitute a valuable national re

source which should be developed in a manner consist

ent with the public interest and the equities of the re

spective parties.

(4) Current Federal policy with respect to the allocation of rights to the results of federally sponsored research and development deters contractor participation in Government contracts, delays technological progress, and stifles the innovative process.

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(5) The present United States system for the ac

quisition of intellectual property rights resulting from

3 privately funded research and development, while fundamentally sound, is in need of modifications to diminish the existing uncertainty and the high costs incurred in enforcing proprietary rights.

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(6) There is a need for the establishment and implementation of a flexible Government-wide policy for the management and utilization of the results of federally funded research and development. This policy

should promote the progress of science and the useful arts, encourage the efficient commercial utilization of technological developments and discoveries, guarantee the protection of the public interest, and recognize the equities of the contracting parties.

16 SEC. 102. PURPOSE.

It is the purpose of this Act to

(1) establish and maintain a Federal policy for the management and use of the results of federally sponsored science and technology research and development; and

(2) insure the effective implementation of the provisions of this Act, and to monitor on a continuing basis the impact of Federal science and technology

policies on innovation and technology development.

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1 SEC. 103. DEFINITIONS.

As used in this Act the term

(1) "contract" means any contract, grant, agreement, commitment, understanding, or other arrangement entered into between any Federal agency and any person where a purpose of the contract is the conduct of experimental, developmental, or research work. Such term includes any assignment, substitution of parties, or subcontract of any type entered into or executed for the conduct of experimental, developmental, or research work in connection with the performance of that contract;

(2) "contractor" means any person or other entity that is a party to the contract;

(3) "disclosure" means a written statement sufficiently complete as to technical detail to convey to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains a

clear understanding of the nature, purpose, operation,

and as the case may be, physical, chemical, or electrical characteristics of the invention;

(4) "Federal agency" means an "executive agency" as defined by section 105 of title 5, United

States Code, and the military departments as defined

by section 102 of title 5, United States Code;

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(5) "Federal employees" means all employees as defined in section 2105 of title 5, United States Code,

and members of the uniformed services;

(6) "Government" means the Government of the

United States of America;

(7) "invention" means any invention, discovery, innovation, or improvement which is or may reasonably be patentable subject matter as defined in title 35, United States Code;

(8) "inventor" means any person, other than a contractor, who has made an invention under a contract but who has not agreed to assign his rights in such invention to the contractor;

(9) "made under the contract" or "made under a contract" when used in relation to any invention means the conception or first actual reduction to prac

tice of such invention in the course of any work under the contract or under a contract, respectively;

(10) "nonprofit organization" means universities and other institutions of higher education or an organi

zation of the type described in section 501(c)(3) of the

Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (26 U.S.C. 501(c)) and

exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of the Inter

nal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 501(a));

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(11) "person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, institution, or other entity;

(12) "practical application" means to manufacture in the case of a composition or product, to practice in the case of a process or method or to operate in the case of a machine or system, and, in each case, under such conditions as to establish that the invention is

being worked and that its benefits are available to the

public either on reasonable terms or through reasonable licensing arrangements; and

(13) "qualified technology transfer program", when used in relation to a nonprofit organization,

means a program which includes—

(i) an established patent policy which is consistent with the policy set forth in this Act and is administered on a continuous basis by an officer

or entity responsible to the nonprofit organization;

(ii) agreements with employees requiring them to assign either to the organization, its designee, or the Government any invention conceived or first actually reduced to practice in the course of or under Government contracts or assurance

that such agreements are obtained prior to the assignment of personnel to Government-supported research and development projects;