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 cooperative research 

 and development 

 agreement (CRADA) 

is a written agreement between 

a non-federal partner and 

Battelle Energy Alliance 

(BEA), the Management and 

Operating Contractor at the 

Idaho National Laboratory 

(INL), to work together on a 

project. 

Created as a result of the 

Stevenson-Wydler Technology 

Innovation Act of 1980, a 

CRADA allows the Federal 

Government and non-federal 

partners to optimize their 

resources, share technical 

expertise in a protected 

environment, share intellectual 

property emerging from the 

effort, and advance the 

commercialization of federally 

developed technology.

A CRADA contains provisions, 

which are driven primarily by 

statutes and policy. These 

provisions are also designed to 

be responsive to the needs of 

different CRADA participants 

while protecting the interests of 

the public. 

The Department of Energy 

(DOE) provides a standard 

document to begin negotiations, and the parties may 

negotiate some of the provisions to respond to the needs of 

the participant. All CRADAs 

are subject to the approval of 

the DOE. 

The following information 

provides interested parties an 

opportunity to learn more about 

INL’s CRADA provisions.

CRADA Characteristics

• In the collaborative effort, the 

 government may contribute a 

 wide variety of resources but 

 no funds.

• The government may 

 contribute personnel, 

 services, facilities, 

 equipment, intellectual 

 property, and any other 

 resources that would fall 

 under the umbrella of 

 “personnel, services and 

 property”.

• The CRADA is not a 

 procurement contract or 

 grant and should not be 

 viewed as an alternative to 

 normal procurement 

 procedures.

• With regard to licensing, all 

 CRADA cases the 

 government retains a 

 non-exclusive, 

 non-transferable, irrevocable, 

 paid-up license to inventions 

 developed under the 

 CRADA.

Statement of Work

A CRADA must include a 

description of the work to be 

performed, which is called a 

statement of work. The 

statement of work must include 

a technical description of the 

tasks, the responsible parties 

for each task, and list the 

deliverables (reports, prototypes, etc.). The statement of 

work is negotiated by the 

parties.

Funding and Costs

A CRADA must also define the 

funding arrangement between 

the parties. Funding may be 

arranged in various ways. The 

participant may fund up to 

100% of the work or the 

funding may be split between 

the BEA and the participant. 

The participant or BEA may 

provide funding through cash 

contributions or in-kind 

contributions (man 

hours, equipment, 

testing, etc.). 

However, a 

CRADA cannot be 

used as a mechanism to transfer 

Government cash for a 

participant’s services or 

Government property to the 

participant. Such arrangements 

are handled through subcontracting and procurement 

arrangements. In addition, all 

contributions by the Government are subject to available 

funding. 

Term and Termination 

The term of a CRADA may be 

negotiated by the parties. 

Generally, the term of a 

CRADA is the date upon which 

the work is expected to be 

completed. A CRADA may be 

modified if additional work or 

an extension of time is desired. 

The CRADA may also be 

terminated by advanced written 

notice by either party. 

Confidentiality

Proprietary information, such 

as trade secrets, may be 

protected. The parties may 

negotiate the provision and 

obligations for nondisclosure of 

proprietary information within 

certain limitations. In addition, 

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Cooperative Research and 

Development Agreement (CRADA)

A
A U.S. Department of Energy 

National Laboratory

Tom Harrison

208.526.1710

Thomas.Harrison@inl.gov

www.inl.gov/techtransfer

WWW.INL.GOV

For more information:

information generated as a 

result of the work performed 

under a CRADA may be 

protected from disclosure for a 

limited number of years. The 

name of the participant cannot 

be considered proprietary. 

Liability

A CRADA generally must 

include a disclaimer of express 

and implied warranties as to the 

conduct of the research. A 

CRADA must also indemnify 

the Government and BEA from 

all costs related to personal 

injury and property damage 

that may result from the 

participant’s commercialization 

and use of a product, process, 

or service that results from the 

research. 

Rights to Intellectual 

Property

As a general rule, any inventions made solely by a participant will be owned by the 

participant; any inventions 

made solely by the federal 

laboratory employees will be 

owned solely by BEA; and any 

jointly made inventions will be 

jointly owned by the collaborating party and the BEA. 

CRADA participants are 

always given an option to 

negotiate up to an exclusive 

field-of-use license to inventions made under the CRADA, 

for reasonable compensation. 

Specific terms of a license may 

be prenegotiated. 

Although rarely exercised, the 

DOE also retains “March-in 

Rights” to grant licenses to 

intellectual property in exceptional circumstances (health, 

safety, failure to comply with 

certain statutory provisions, 

etc.). The Government also 

retains a non-exclusive license 

to all inventions that result 

from the CRADA, for governmental purposes only. That is, 

the government retains a 

license to practice any inventions or to have any invention 

supplied to it by the a third 

party or the participant at a 

royalty-free rate. 

Similar rules apply to the 

allocations of rights to copyrights. Either party may assert 

copyright in any of their 

generated information or 

allocation of rights to copyrights may be negotiated. 

CRADA Benefits

• Industry partners can gain 

 access to INL’s technical 

 expertise 

• Partners are given the 

 opportunity to obtain rights to 

 commercialize the results of 

 government research and 

 development

• Partners are allowed to 

 protect certain CRADA 

 information up to five years. 

A CRADA may be as short as a 

period of a few months or may 

extend several years depending 

on the objectives of the collaboration. 

The number of transactions and 

the corresponding resource 

commitments vary considerably 

from year to year based on the 

technologies available at INL, 

the readiness of participants to 

invest in collaborations, and 

INL’s ability to identify the 

right partners and negotiate 

satisfactory business relationships. At times, successful 

CRADA relationships are 

followed by a license of INL 

patents to the participant.

How Do I Get a CRADA 

Started? 

Companies can initiate CRADA 

discussions by contacting INL’s 

Technology Transfer and 

Commercialization office. 

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