I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2981 

To support innovative approaches to technology transfer, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 2, 2013 

Mr. COLLINS of New York (for himself, Mr. KILMER, Mr. SMITH of Texas, 

Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. BUCSHON, and Mr. LIPINSKI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Small Business, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, 

and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To support innovative approaches to technology transfer, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Technology and Re5 search Accelerating National Security and Future Eco6 nomic Resiliency Act of 2013’’ or the ‘‘TRANSFER Act 

7 of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO TECHNOLOGY 

2 TRANSFER. 

3 Section 9(jj) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

4 638(jj)) is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(jj) INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO TECHNOLOGY

6 TRANSFER.— 

7 ‘‘(1) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal agency 

9 required by subsection (n) to establish an 

10 STTR program shall carry out a grant program 

11 to support innovative approaches to technology 

12 transfer at institutions of higher education (as 

13 defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Edu14 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)), non15 profit research institutions and Federal labora16 tories in order to accelerate the commercializa17 tion of federally funded research and technology 

18 by small business concerns, including new busi19 nesses. 

20 ‘‘(B) AWARDING OF GRANTS AND

21 AWARDS.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal 

23 agency required by subparagraph (A) to 

24 participate in this program, shall award, 

25 through a competitive, merit-based process, 

26 grants, in the amounts listed in subparaVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:47 Aug 09, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2981.IH H2981

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1 graph (C) to institutions of higher edu2 cation, technology transfer organizations 

3 that facilitate the commercialization of 

4 technologies developed by one or more such 

5 institutions of higher education, Federal 

6 laboratories, other public and private non7 profit entities, and consortia thereof, for 

8 initiatives that help identify high-quality, 

9 commercially viable federally funded re10 search and technologies and to facilitate 

11 and accelerate their transfer into the mar12 ketplace. 

13 ‘‘(ii) USE OF FUNDS.—Activities sup14 ported by grants under this subsection 

15 may include— 

16 ‘‘(I) providing early-stage proof 

17 of concept funding for translational 

18 research; 

19 ‘‘(II) identifying research and 

20 technologies at recipient institutions 

21 that have the potential for accelerated 

22 commercialization; 

23 ‘‘(III) technology maturation 

24 funding to support activities such as 

25 prototype construction, experiment 


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1 analysis, product comparison, and col2 lecting performance data; 

3 ‘‘(IV) technical validations, mar4 ket research, clarifying intellectual 

5 property rights position and strategy, 

6 and investigating commercial and 

7 business opportunities; and 

8 ‘‘(V) programs to provide advice, 

9 mentoring, entrepreneurial education, 

10 project management, and technology 

11 and business development expertise to 

12 innovators and recipients of tech13 nology transfer licenses to maximize 

14 commercialization potential. 

15 ‘‘(iii) SELECTION PROCESS AND AP16 PLICATIONS.—Qualifying institutions seek17 ing a grant under this subsection shall 

18 submit an application to a Federal agency 

19 required by subparagraph (A) to partici20 pate in this program at such time, in such 

21 manner, and containing such information 

22 as the agency may require. The application 

23 shall include, at a minimum— 

24 ‘‘(I) a description of innovative 

25 approaches to technology transfer, 


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1 technology development, and commer2 cial readiness that have the potential 

3 to increase or accelerate technology 

4 transfer outcomes and can be adopted 

5 by other qualifying institutions, or a 

6 demonstration of proven technology 

7 transfer and commercialization strate8 gies, or a plan to implement proven 

9 technology transfer and commer10 cialization strategies, that can achieve 

11 greater commercialization of federally 

12 funded research and technologies with 

13 program funding; 

14 ‘‘(II) a description of how the 

15 qualifying institution will contribute 

16 to local and regional economic devel17 opment efforts; and 

18 ‘‘(III) a plan for sustainability 

19 beyond the duration of the funding 

20 award. 

21 ‘‘(iv) PROGRAM OVERSIGHT

22 BOARDS.— 

23 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Successful 

24 proposals shall include a plan to as25 semble a Program Oversight Board, 


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1 the members of which shall have tech2 nical, scientific, or business expertise 

3 and shall be drawn from industry, 

4 start-up companies, venture capital, 

5 technical enterprises, financial institu6 tions, and business development orga7 nizations. 

8 ‘‘(II) PROGRAM OVERSIGHT

9 BOARDS RESPONSIBILITIES.—Pro10 gram Oversight Boards shall— 

11 ‘‘(aa) establish award pro12 grams for individual projects; 

13 ‘‘(bb) provide rigorous eval14 uation of project applications; 

15 ‘‘(cc) determine which 

16 projects should receive awards, in 

17 accordance with guidelines estab18 lished under subparagraph 

19 (C)(ii); 

20 ‘‘(dd) establish milestones 

21 and associated award amounts 

22 for projects that reach mile23 stones; 


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1 ‘‘(ee) determine whether 

2 awarded projects are reaching 

3 milestones; and 

4 ‘‘(ff) develop a process to re5 allocate outstanding award 

6 amounts from projects that are 

7 not reaching milestones to other 

8 projects with more potential. 

9 ‘‘(C) GRANT AND AWARD AMOUNTS.— 

10 ‘‘(i) GRANT AMOUNTS.—Each Federal 

11 agency required by subparagraph (A) to 

12 carry out a grant program may make 

13 grants to a qualifying institution for up to 

14 $1,000,000 per year for up to 3 years. 

15 ‘‘(ii) AWARD AMOUNTS.—Each quali16 fying institution that receives a grant 

17 under subparagraph (B) shall provide 

18 awards for individual projects of not more 

19 than $150,000, to be provided in phased 

20 amounts, based on reaching the milestones 

21 established by the qualifying institution’s 

22 Program Oversight Board. 

23 ‘‘(D) AUTHORIZED EXPENDITURES FOR

24 INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO TECHNOLOGY

25 TRANSFER GRANT PROGRAM.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) PERCENTAGE.—The percentage 

2 of the extramural budget each Federal 

3 agency required by subsection (n) to estab4 lish an STTR program shall expend on the 

5 Innovative Approaches to Technology 

6 Transfer Grant Program shall be— 

7 ‘‘(I) 0.05 percent for each of fis8 cal years 2014 and 2015; and 

9 ‘‘(II) 0.1 percent for each of fis10 cal years 2016 and 2017. 

11 ‘‘(ii) TREATMENT OF EXPENDI12 TURES.—Any portion of the extramural 

13 budget expended by a Federal agency on 

14 the Innovative Approaches to Technology 

15 Transfer Grant Program shall apply to16 wards the agency’s expenditure require17 ments under subsection (n). 

18 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM EVALUATION AND DATA COL19 LECTION AND DISSEMINATION.— 

20 ‘‘(A) EVALUATION PLAN AND DATA COL21 LECTION.—Each Federal agency required by 

22 paragraph (1)(A) to establish an Innovative Ap23 proaches to Technology Transfer Grant Pro24 gram shall develop a program evaluation plan 

25 and collect annually such information from 


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1 grantees as is necessary to assess the Program. 

2 Program evaluation plans shall require the col3 lection of data aimed at identifying outcomes 

4 resulting from the transfer of technology with 

5 assistance from the Innovative Approaches to 

6 Technology Transfer Grant Program, such as— 

7 ‘‘(i) specific follow-on funding identi8 fied or obtained, including follow-on fund9 ing sources, such as Federal sources or 

10 private sources; 

11 ‘‘(ii) number of projects which result 

12 in a license to a start-up company or an 

13 established company with sufficient re14 sources for effective commercialization 

15 within 5 years of receiving an award under 

16 paragraph (1); 

17 ‘‘(iii) invention disclosures and pat18 ents; 

19 ‘‘(iv) number of projects supported by 

20 qualifying institutions receiving a grant 

21 under paragraph (1) that secure Phase I 

22 or Phase II SBIR or STTR awards; 

23 ‘‘(v) available information on revenue, 

24 sales or other measures of products that 


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1 have been commercialized as a result of 

2 projects awarded under paragraph (1); 

3 ‘‘(vi) number and location of jobs cre4 ated resulting from projects awarded under 

5 paragraph (1); and 

6 ‘‘(vii) other data as deemed appro7 priate by a Federal agency required by this 

8 subparagraph to develop a program evalua9 tion plan. 

10 ‘‘(B) EVALUATIVE REPORT TO CON11 GRESS.—The head of each Federal agency that 

12 participates in the Innovative Approaches to 

13 Technology Transfer Grant Program shall sub14 mit to the Committee on Science, Space, and 

15 Technology and the Committee on Small Busi16 ness of the House of Representatives and the 

17 Committee on Small Business and Entrepre18 neurship of the Senate an evaluative report re19 garding the activities of the program. The re20 port shall include— 

21 ‘‘(i) a detailed description of the im22 plementation of the program; 

23 ‘‘(ii) a detailed description of the 

24 grantee selection process; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) an accounting of the funds used 

2 in the program; and 

3 ‘‘(iv) a summary of the data collected 

4 under subparagraph (A). 

5 ‘‘(C) DATA DISSEMINATION.—For the pur6 poses of program transparency and dissemina7 tion of best practices, the Administrator shall 

8 include on the public database under subsection 

9 (k)(1) information on the Innovative Ap10 proaches to Technology Transfer Grant Pro11 gram, including— 

12 ‘‘(i) the program evaluation plan re13 quired under subparagraph (A); 

14 ‘‘(ii) a list of recipients of awards 

15 under paragraph (1); and 

16 ‘‘(iii) information on the use of grants 

17 under paragraph (1) by recipient institu18 tions.’’. 

Æ 


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