I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6684 

To require the Comptroller General to submit a report on the disclosure 

process for intellectual property created under a Federal grant, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 7, 2023 

Mr. NEGUSE (for himself and Mr. FLOOD) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require the Comptroller General to submit a report on 

the disclosure process for intellectual property created 

under a Federal grant, 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 ‘‘Improving Efficiency 

5 to Increase Competition Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GAO STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF BAYH-DOLE ACT 

2 REGULATIONS ON CONTRACTORS IN THE 

3 UNITED STATES. 

4 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp6 troller General of the United States shall brief the relevant 

7 committees, with a report to follow on a mutually agreed 

8 upon date that is not later than 1 year after the date of 

9 the enactment of this Act, that reviews the implementation 

10 of chapter 18 of title 35, United States Code, (commonly 

11 referred to as the Bayh-Dole Act), specifically with regard 

12 to the requirements under that chapter and implementing 

13 regulations that a contractor under a funding agreement 

14 with the Federal Government must follow with regard to 

15 patent disclosure. The report shall include, to the extent 

16 practicable, information on the following: 

17 (1) The percentage of inventions that are not 

18 elected by contractors to retain within the time pe19 riod provided following the disclosure of an invention 

20 under part 401 of title 37, Code of Federal Regula21 tions. 

22 (2) After any automatic extension has been 

23 granted and in a case in which a contractor requests 

24 an additional extension, the number of time exten25 sions that are granted by Federal agencies for disVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Dec 27, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6684.IH H6684

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1 closure, election, and filing and the average response 

2 time by each agency for any such extension. 

3 (3) How the reporting requirements in such 

4 chapter impact the ability of a contractor to compete 

5 with foreign competitors. 

6 (4) How the Government uses Federal report7 ing under such chapter by contractors and suggested 

8 improvements to ensure there is an improved public9 private partnership. 

10 (5) Barriers that Federal reporting require11 ments create for contractors to develop inventions. 

12 (6) The time and effort institutions of higher 

13 education must use for the management and report14 ing required under such chapter, including— 

15 (A) input from contractors with various 

16 sizes, budgets, geographical positions, and spe17 cialties; 

18 (B) with respect to any institution of high19 er education included in the report, a consider20 ation of the specific research designations for 

21 such institution, including R1 and R2; and 

22 (C) how such contractors vary on the their 

23 ability to efficiently comply with the require24 ments under such chapter. 


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1 (7) Difficulties contractors encounter in using 

2 the iEdison system and recommendations to address 

3 these difficulties. 

4 (8) If any other Federal agency does not use 

5 the patent reporting system deployed by the Na6 tional Institute of Standards and Technology, com7 monly known as iEdison, whether such agency would 

8 benefit from using a singular standard Federal re9 porting system and whether such agency can effec10 tively standardize reporting requirements in order to 

11 streamline processes required by contractors. 

12 (9) The number of disclosure systems used 

13 throughout the Federal Government, listed by what 

14 system is used by each Federal agency, and the var15 ious disclosure requirements made by each such 

16 agency. 

17 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

18 (1) ABILITY.—The term ‘‘ability’’ means time, 

19 resources, staff, and any other metric determined 

20 necessary for compliance under the contract require21 ments described in the Bayh Dole Act, including any 

22 regulation issued under such Act. 

23 (2) CONTRACTOR; FEDERAL AGENCY; FUNDING

24 AGREEMENT.—The terms ‘‘contractor’’, ‘‘Federal 

25 agency’’, and ‘‘funding agreement’’ have the meanVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Dec 27, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6684.IH H6684

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1 ing given those terms in section 201 of title 35, 

2 United States Code. 

3 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

4 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

5 meaning given that term in section 101(a) of the 

6 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

7 (4) RELEVANT COMMITTEES.—The term ‘‘rel8 evant committees’’ means the following: 

9 (A) The Committee on the Judiciary of the 

10 House of Representatives. 

11 (B) The Committee on Science, Space, and 

12 Technology of the House of Representatives. 

13 (C) The Committee on Education and the 

14 Workforce of the House of Representatives. 

15 (D) The Committee on the Judiciary of the 

16 Senate. 

17 (E) The Committee on Commerce, Science, 

18 and Transportation of the Senate. 

19 (F) The Committee on Health, Education, 

20 Labor and Pensions of the Senate. 

Æ 


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