II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1396 

To improve commercialization activities in the SBIR and STTR programs, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 2, 2023 

Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. RUBIO) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To improve commercialization activities in the SBIR and 

STTR programs, 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 ‘‘Research Advancing 

5 to Market Production for Innovators Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO COMMERCIALIZATION SELEC7 TION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9 of the Small Business 

9 Act (15 U.S.C. 638) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (g)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (4)(B)(i), by striking ‘‘1 

2 year’’ and inserting ‘‘180 days’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (16), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

4 at the end; 

5 (C) in paragraph (17), by striking the pe6 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

7 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(18) with respect to peer review carried out 

9 under the SBIR program, to the extent practicable, 

10 include in the peer review— 

11 ‘‘(A) the likelihood of commercialization in 

12 addition to scientific and technical merit and 

13 feasibility; and 

14 ‘‘(B) not less than 1 reviewer with com15 mercialization expertise who is capable of as16 sessing the likelihood of commercialization.’’; 

17 (2) in subsection (o)— 

18 (A) in paragraph (4)(B)(i), by striking ‘‘1 

19 year’’ and inserting ‘‘180 days’’; 

20 (B) in paragraph (20), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

21 at the end; 

22 (C) in paragraph (21), by striking the pe23 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

24 (D) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(22) with respect to peer review carried out 

2 under the STTR program, to the extent practicable, 

3 include in the peer review— 

4 ‘‘(A) the likelhood of commercialization in 

5 addition to scientific and technical merit and 

6 feasibility; and 

7 ‘‘(B) not less than 1 reviewer with com8 mercialization expertise who is capable of as9 sessing the likelihood of commercialization.’’; 

10 (3) in subsection (cc)— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘During fiscal years 2012 

12 through 2025, the National Institutes of 

13 Health, the Department of Defense, and the 

14 Department of Education’’ and inserting the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—During fiscal years 2024 

17 through 2029, each Federal agency with an SBIR or 

18 STTR program’’; and 

19 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The total value of awards 

21 provided by a Federal agency under this subsection 

22 in a fiscal year shall be— 

23 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph 

24 (B), not more than 10 percent of the total 

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1 grams of the Federal agency during that fiscal 

2 year; and 

3 ‘‘(B) with respect to the National Insti4 tutes of Health, not more than 15 percent of 

5 the total funds allocated to the SBIR and 

6 STTR programs of the National Institutes of 

7 Health during that fiscal year. 

8 ‘‘(3) EXTENSION.—During fiscal years 2028 

9 and 2029, each Federal agency with an SBIR or 

10 STTR program may continue phase flexibility as de11 scribed in this subsection only if the reports required 

12 under subsection (tt)(1) have been submitted to the 

13 appropriate committees.’’; 

14 (4) in subsection (hh)(2)(A)(i), by inserting 

15 ‘‘application process and requirements’’ after ‘‘sim16 plified and standardized’’; and 

17 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(yy) TECHNOLOGY COMMERCIALIZATION OFFI19 CIAL.—Each Federal agency participating in the SBIR or 

20 STTR program shall designate a Technology Commer21 cialization Official in the Federal agency, who shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) have sufficient commercialization experi23 ence; 


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1 ‘‘(2) provide assistance to SBIR and STTR 

2 program awardees in commercializing and 

3 transitioning technologies; 

4 ‘‘(3) identify SBIR and STTR program tech5 nologies with sufficient technology and commer6 cialization readiness to advance to Phase III awards 

7 or other non-SBIR or STTR program contracts; 

8 ‘‘(4) coordinate with the Technology Commer9 cialization Officials of other Federal agencies to 

10 identify additional markets and commercialization 

11 pathways for promising SBIR and STTR program 

12 technologies; 

13 ‘‘(5) submit to the Administration an annual 

14 report on the number of technologies from the SBIR 

15 or STTR program that have advanced commer16 cialization activities, including information required 

17 in the commercialization impact assessment under 

18 subsection (aaa); 

19 ‘‘(6) submit to the Administration an annual 

20 report on actions taken by the Federal agency, and 

21 the results of those actions, to simplify, standardize, 

22 and expedite the application process and require23 ments, procedures, and contracts as required under 

24 subsection (hh) and described in subsection 

25 (aaa)(1)(E); and 


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1 ‘‘(7) carry out such other duties as the Federal 

2 agency determines necessary.’’. 

3 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

4 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Small 

5 Business Administration shall submit to the Committee on 

6 Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and 

7 the Committee on Small Business of the House of Rep8 resentatives summarizing the metrics relating to and an 

9 evaluation of the authority provided under section 9(cc) 

10 of the Small Business Act, as amended by subsection (a), 

11 which shall include the size and location of the small busi12 ness concerns receiving awards under the SBIR or STTR 

13 program. 

14 SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENTS TO TECHNICAL AND BUSINESS AS15 SISTANCE; COMMERCIALIZATION IMPACT AS16 SESSMENT; PATENT ASSISTANCE. 

17 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), 

18 as amended by section 2, is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (q)— 

20 (A) in paragraph (1), in the matter pre21 ceding subparagraph (A)— 

22 (i) by striking ‘‘may enter into an 

23 agreement with 1 or more vendors selected 

24 under paragraph (2)(A)’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘shall authorize recipients of awards under 


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1 the SBIR or STTR program to select, if 

2 desired, commercialization activities pro3 vided under subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) 

4 of paragraph (2)’’; and 

5 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, cybersecurity as6 sistance’’ after ‘‘intellectual property pro7 tections’’; 

8 (B) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end 

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘(C) STAFF.—A small business concern 

11 may, by contract or otherwise, use funding pro12 vided under this section to hire new staff, aug13 ment staff, or direct staff to conduct or partici14 pate in training activities consistent with the 

15 goals listed in paragraph (1).’’; 

16 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking subpara17 graphs (A) and (B) and inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(A) PHASE I.—A Federal agency de19 scribed in paragraph (1) shall authorize a re20 cipient of a Phase I SBIR or STTR award to 

21 utilize not more than $6,500 per project, in22 cluded as part of the award of the recipient or 

23 in addition to the amount of the award of the 

24 recipient as determined appropriate by the head 


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1 of the Federal agency, for the services described 

2 in paragraph (1)— 

3 ‘‘(i) provided through a vendor se4 lected under paragraph (2)(A); 

5 ‘‘(ii) provided through a vendor other 

6 than a vendor selected under paragraph 

7 (2)(A); 

8 ‘‘(iii) achieved through the activities 

9 described in paragraph (2)(C); or 

10 ‘‘(iv) provided or achieved through 

11 any combination of clauses (i), (ii), and 

12 (iii). 

13 ‘‘(B) PHASE II.—A Federal agency de14 scribed in paragraph (1) shall authorize a re15 cipient of a Phase II SBIR or STTR award to 

16 utilize not more than $50,000 per project, in17 cluded as part of the award of the recipient or 

18 in addition to the amount of the award of the 

19 recipient as determined appropriate by the head 

20 of the Federal agency, for the services described 

21 in paragraph (1)— 

22 ‘‘(i) provided through a vendor se23 lected under paragraph (2)(A); 


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1 ‘‘(ii) provided through a vendor other 

2 than a vendor selected under paragraph 

3 (2)(A); 

4 ‘‘(iii) achieved through the activities 

5 described in paragraph (2)(C); or 

6 ‘‘(iv) provided or achieved through 

7 any combination of clauses (i), (ii), and 

8 (iii).’’; and 

9 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(5) TARGETED REVIEW.—A Federal agency 

11 may perform targeted reviews of technical and busi12 ness assistance funding as described in subsection 

13 (mm)(1)(F).’’; and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(zz) I-CORPS PARTICIPATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal agency that 

17 is required to conduct an SBIR or STTR program 

18 with an Innovation Corps (commonly known as ‘I19 Corps’) program shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) provide an option for participation in 

21 an I-Corps teams course by recipients of an 

22 award under the SBIR or STTR program; and 

23 ‘‘(B) authorize the recipients described in 

24 subparagraph (A) to use an award provided 

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1 nical assistance for participation in the I-Corps 

2 teams course. 

3 ‘‘(2) COST OF PARTICIPATION.—The cost of 

4 participation by a recipient described in paragraph 

5 (1)(A) in an I-Corps course may be provided by— 

6 ‘‘(A) an I-Corps team grant; 

7 ‘‘(B) funds awarded to the recipient under 

8 subsection (q); 

9 ‘‘(C) the participating teams or other 

10 sources as appropriate; or 

11 ‘‘(D) any combination of sources described 

12 in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C). 

13 ‘‘(aaa) COMMERCIALIZATION IMPACT ASSESS14 MENT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall co16 ordinate with each Federal agency with an SBIR or 

17 STTR program to develop an annual commercializa18 tion impact assessment report of the Federal agency, 

19 which shall measure, for the 5-year period preceding 

20 the report— 

21 ‘‘(A) for Phase II contracts— 

22 ‘‘(i) the total amount of sales of new 

23 products and services to the Federal Gov24 ernment or other commercial markets; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the total outside investment from 

2 partnerships, joint ventures, or other pri3 vate sector funding sources; 

4 ‘‘(iii) the total number of technologies 

5 licensed to other companies; 

6 ‘‘(iv) the total number of acquisitions 

7 of small business concerns participating in 

8 the SBIR program or the STTR program 

9 that are acquired by other entities; 

10 ‘‘(v) the total number of new spin-out 

11 companies; 

12 ‘‘(vi) the total outside investment 

13 from venture capital or angel investments; 

14 ‘‘(vii) the total number of patent ap15 plications; 

16 ‘‘(viii) the total number of patents ac17 quired; 

18 ‘‘(ix) the year of first Phase I award 

19 and the total number of employees at time 

20 of first Phase I award; 

21 ‘‘(x) the total number of employees 

22 from the preceding completed year; and 

23 ‘‘(xi) the percent of revenue, as of the 

24 date of the report, generated through 

25 SBIR or STTR program funding; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the total number and value of subse2 quent Phase II awards, as described in sub3 section (bb), awarded for each particular 

4 project or technology; 

5 ‘‘(C) the total number and value of Phase 

6 III awards awarded subsequent to a Phase II 

7 award; 

8 ‘‘(D) the total number and value of non9 SBIR and STTR program Federal awards and 

10 contracts; and 

11 ‘‘(E) actions taken by the Federal agency, 

12 and the results of those actions, relating to de13 veloping a simplified and standardized applica14 tion process and requirements, procedures, and 

15 model contracts throughout the Federal agency 

16 for Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III SBIR pro17 gram awards in subsection (hh). 

18 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—A commercialization im19 pact assessment report described in paragraph (1) of 

20 a Federal agency shall be— 

21 ‘‘(A) included in the annual report of the 

22 Federal agency required under this section; and 

23 ‘‘(B) published on the website of the Ad24 ministration. 

25 ‘‘(bbb) PATENT ASSISTANCE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

2 ‘‘(A) the term ‘Director’ means the Under 

3 Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property 

4 and Director of the USPTO; and 

5 ‘‘(B) the term ‘USPTO’ means the United 

6 States Patent and Trademark Office. 

7 ‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

9 shall enter into an interagency agreement with 

10 the Director under which the Director shall as11 sist recipients of an award under the SBIR or 

12 STTR program (in this paragraph referred to 

13 as ‘SBIR and STTR recipients’) relating to in14 tellectual property protection by establishing a 

15 prioritized patent examination program for 

16 SBIR and STTR recipients. 

17 ‘‘(B) PROGRAM DETAILS.—The program 

18 established by the Director under subparagraph 

19 (A) shall have the following characteristics: 

20 ‘‘(i) The program shall incorporate all 

21 existing (as of the date on which the Direc22 tor establishes the program) benefits under 

23 the procedures for prioritized examination 

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1 Smith America Invents Act (35 U.S.C. 41 

2 note). 

3 ‘‘(ii) Under the program, with respect 

4 to prioritized examination, an SBIR or 

5 STTR recipient shall not be required to 

6 pay any prioritized examination fee or 

7 processing fee otherwise required under 

8 section 11(h) of the Leahy-Smith America 

9 Invents Act (35 U.S.C. 41 note). 

10 ‘‘(iii) Under the program, the Director 

11 shall ensure that, of the total number of 

12 requests for prioritized examination accept13 ed by the USPTO in a fiscal year, the 

14 greater of the following shall be reserved 

15 for prioritized examinations for SBIR and 

16 STTR recipients: 

17 ‘‘(I) 5 percent of the total num18 ber of such requests that may be ac19 cepted during that fiscal year. 

20 ‘‘(II) 500 requests for prioritized 

21 examination. 

22 ‘‘(iv) Under the program, the Director 

23 may not grant more than 2 prioritized ex24 amination requests to any individual recipi25 ent. 


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1 ‘‘(v) Under the program, the Director 

2 may increase the number of requests for 

3 prioritized examination that may be ac4 cepted in any fiscal year (as described in 

5 section 1.102(e) of title 37, Code of Fed6 eral Regulations, or any successor regula7 tion) by the number determined under 

8 clause (iii) for that fiscal year. 

9 ‘‘(C) RULES.—The Director shall issue 

10 rules to carry out the prioritized patent exam11 ination program established under this para12 graph. 

13 ‘‘(3) OUTREACH.—The Administrator shall co14 ordinate with the Director to provide outreach re15 garding the Pro Se Assistance Program of, and 

16 scam prevention services provided by, the USPTO.’’. 

Æ 


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