H. R. 209
One Hundred Sixth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
the twenty-fourth day of January, two thousand
An Act
To improve the ability of Federal agencies to license federally owned inventions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Technology Transfer Commer-
cialization Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) the importance of linking our unparalleled network
of over 700 Federal laboratories and our Nation’s universities
with United States industry continues to hold great promise
for our future economic prosperity;
(2) the enactment of the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980 was a
landmark change in United States technology policy, and its
success provides a framework for removing bureaucratic bar-
riers and for simplifying the granting of licenses for inventions
that are now in the Federal Government’s patent portfolio;
(3) Congress has demonstrated a commitment over the
past 2 decades to fostering technology transfer from our Federal
laboratories and to promoting public/private sector partner-
ships to enhance our international competitiveness;
(4) Federal technology transfer activities have strengthened
the ability of United States industry to compete in the global
marketplace; developed a new paradigm for greater collabora-
tion among the scientific enterprises that conduct our Nation’s
research and development—government, industry, and univer-
sities; and improved the quality of life for the American people,
from medicine to materials;
(5) the technology transfer process must be made ‘‘industry
friendly’’ for companies to be willing to invest the significant
time and resources needed to develop new products, processes,
and jobs using federally funded inventions; and
(6) Federal technology licensing procedures should balance
the public policy needs of adequately protecting the rights
of the public, encouraging companies to develop existing govern-
ment inventions, and making the entire system of licensing
government technologies more consistent and simple.
SEC. 3. COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS.
Section 12(b)(1) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation
Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a(b)(1)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or,
subject to section 209 of title 35, United States Code, may grant
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a license to an invention which is federally owned, for which a
patent application was filed before the signing of the agreement,
and directly within the scope of the work under the agreement,’’
after ‘‘under the agreement,’’.
SEC. 4. LICENSING FEDERALLY OWNED INVENTIONS.
(a) AMENDMENT.—Section 209 of title 35, United States Code,
is amended to read as follows:
‘‘§ 209. Licensing federally owned inventions
‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—A Federal agency may grant an exclusive
or partially exclusive license on a federally owned invention under
section 207(a)(2) only if—
‘‘(1) granting the license is a reasonable and necessary
incentive to—
‘‘(A) call forth the investment capital and expenditures
needed to bring the invention to practical application; or
‘‘(B) otherwise promote the invention’s utilization by
the public;
‘‘(2) the Federal agency finds that the public will be served
by the granting of the license, as indicated by the applicant’s
intentions, plans, and ability to bring the invention to practical
application or otherwise promote the invention’s utilization by
the public, and that the proposed scope of exclusivity is not
greater than reasonably necessary to provide the incentive for
bringing the invention to practical application, as proposed
by the applicant, or otherwise to promote the invention’s utiliza-
tion by the public;
‘‘(3) the applicant makes a commitment to achieve practical
application of the invention within a reasonable time, which
time may be extended by the agency upon the applicant’s
request and the applicant’s demonstration that the refusal of
such extension would be unreasonable;
‘‘(4) granting the license will not tend to substantially
lessen competition or create or maintain a violation of the
Federal antitrust laws; and
‘‘(5) in the case of an invention covered by a foreign patent
application or patent, the interests of the Federal Government
or United States industry in foreign commerce will be enhanced.
‘‘(b) MANUFACTURE IN UNITED STATES.—A Federal agency shall
normally grant a license under section 207(a)(2) to use or sell
any federally owned invention in the United States only to a licensee
who agrees that any products embodying the invention or produced
through the use of the invention will be manufactured substantially
in the United States.
‘‘(c) SMALL BUSINESS.—First preference for the granting of any
exclusive or partially exclusive licenses under section 207(a)(2) shall
be given to small business firms having equal or greater likelihood
as other applicants to bring the invention to practical application
within a reasonable time.
‘‘(d) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—Any licenses granted under sec-
tion 207(a)(2) shall contain such terms and conditions as the
granting 
agency 
considers 
appropriate, 
and 
shall 
include
provisions—
‘‘(1) retaining a nontransferrable, irrevocable, paid-up
license for any Federal agency to practice the invention or
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have the invention practiced throughout the world by or on
behalf of the Government of the United States;
‘‘(2) requiring periodic reporting on utilization of the inven-
tion, and utilization efforts, by the licensee, but only to the
extent necessary to enable the Federal agency to determine
whether the terms of the license are being complied with,
except that any such report shall be treated by the Federal
agency as commercial and financial information obtained from
a person and privileged and confidential and not subject to
disclosure under section 552 of title 5 of the United States
Code; and
‘‘(3) empowering the Federal agency to terminate the
license in whole or in part if the agency determines that—
‘‘(A) the licensee is not executing its commitment to
achieve practical application of the invention, including
commitments contained in any plan submitted in support
of its request for a license, and the licensee cannot other-
wise demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Federal agency
that it has taken, or can be expected to take within a
reasonable time, effective steps to achieve practical applica-
tion of the invention;
‘‘(B) the licensee is in breach of an agreement described
in subsection (b);
‘‘(C) termination is necessary to meet requirements
for public use specified by Federal regulations issued after
the date of the license, and such requirements are not
reasonably satisfied by the licensee; or
‘‘(D) the licensee has been found by a court of com-
petent jurisdiction to have violated the Federal antitrust
laws in connection with its performance under the license
agreement.
‘‘(e) PUBLIC NOTICE.—No exclusive or partially exclusive license
may be granted under section 207(a)(2) unless public notice of
the intention to grant an exclusive or partially exclusive license
on a federally owned invention has been provided in an appropriate
manner at least 15 days before the license is granted, and the
Federal agency has considered all comments received before the
end of the comment period in response to that public notice. This
subsection shall not apply to the licensing of inventions made
under a cooperative research and development agreement entered
into under section 12 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innova-
tion Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a).
‘‘(f ) PLAN.—No Federal agency shall grant any license under
a patent or patent application on a federally owned invention unless
the person requesting the license has supplied the agency with
a plan for development or marketing of the invention, except that
any such plan shall be treated by the Federal agency as commercial
and financial information obtained from a person and privileged
and confidential and not subject to disclosure under section 552
of title 5 of the United States Code.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The item relating to section
209 in the table of sections for chapter 18 of title 35, United
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
‘‘209. Licensing federally owned inventions.’’.
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SEC. 5. MODIFICATION OF STATEMENT OF POLICY AND OBJECTIVES
FOR CHAPTER 18 OF TITLE 35, UNITED STATES CODE.
Section 200 of title 35, United States Code, is amended by
striking ‘‘enterprise;’’ and inserting ‘‘enterprise without unduly
encumbering future research and discovery;’’.
SEC. 6. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS TO BAYH-DOLE ACT.
Chapter 18 of title 35, United States Code (popularly known
as the ‘‘Bayh-Dole Act’’), is amended—
(1) by amending section 202(e) to read as follows:
‘‘(e) In any case when a Federal employee is a coinventor
of any invention made with a nonprofit organization, a small busi-
ness firm, or a non-Federal inventor, the Federal agency employing
such coinventor may, for the purpose of consolidating rights in
the invention and if it finds that it would expedite the development
of the invention—
‘‘(1) license or assign whatever rights it may acquire in
the subject invention to the nonprofit organization, small busi-
ness firm, or non-Federal inventor in accordance with the provi-
sions of this chapter; or
‘‘(2) acquire any rights in the subject invention from the
nonprofit organization, small business firm, or non-Federal
inventor, but only to the extent the party from whom the
rights are acquired voluntarily enters into the transaction and
no other transaction under this chapter is conditioned on such
acquisition.’’; and
(2) in section 207(a)—
(A) by striking ‘‘patent applications, patents, or other
forms of protection obtained’’ and inserting ‘‘inventions’’
in paragraph (2); and
(B) by inserting ‘‘, including acquiring rights for and
administering royalties to the Federal Government in any
invention, but only to the extent the party from whom
the rights are acquired voluntarily enters into the trans-
action, to facilitate the licensing of a federally owned inven-
tion’’ after ‘‘or through contract’’ in paragraph (3).
SEC. 7. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS TO THE STEVENSON-WYDLER TECH-
NOLOGY INNOVATION ACT OF 1980.
The Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 is
amended—
(1) in section 4(4) (15 U.S.C. 3703(4)), by striking ‘‘section
6 or section 8’’ and inserting ‘‘section 7 or 9’’;
(2) in section 4(6) (15 U.S.C. 3703(6)), by striking ‘‘section
6 or section 8’’ and inserting ‘‘section 7 or 9’’;
(3) in section 5(c)(11) (15 U.S.C. 3704(c)(11)), by striking
‘‘State of local governments’’ and inserting ‘‘State or local
governments’’;
(4) in section 9 (15 U.S.C. 3707), by—
(A) striking ‘‘section 6(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 7(a)’’;
(B) striking ‘‘section 6(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 7(b)’’;
and
(C) striking ‘‘section 6(c)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘section
7(c)(3)’’;
(5) in section 11(e)(1) (15 U.S.C. 3710(e)(1)), by striking
‘‘in cooperation with Federal Laboratories’’ and inserting ‘‘in
cooperation with Federal laboratories’’;
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(6) in section 11(i) (15 U.S.C. 3710(i)), by striking ‘‘a gift
under the section’’ and inserting ‘‘a gift under this section’’;
(7) in section 14 (15 U.S.C. 3710c)—
(A) in subsection (a)(1)(A)(i), by inserting ‘‘, other than
payments of patent costs as delineated by a license or
assignment agreement,’’ after ‘‘or other payments’’;
(B) in subsection (a)(1)(A)(i), by inserting ‘‘, if the inven-
tor’s or coinventor’s rights are assigned to the United
States’’ after ‘‘inventor or coinventors’’;
(C) in subsection (a)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘succeeding fiscal
year’’ and inserting ‘‘2 succeeding fiscal years’’;
(D) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘Government-oper-
ated laboratories of the’’; and
(E) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘inventon’’ and
inserting ‘‘invention’’; and
(8) in section 22 (15 U.S.C. 3714), by striking ‘‘sections
11, 12, and 13’’ and inserting ‘‘sections 12, 13, and 14’’.
SEC. 8. REVIEW OF COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
AGREEMENT PROCEDURES.
(a) REVIEW.—Within 90 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, each Federal agency with a federally funded laboratory
that has in effect on that date of the enactment one or more
cooperative research and development agreements under section
12 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980
(15 U.S.C. 3710a) shall report to the Committee on National Secu-
rity of the National Science and Technology Council and the Con-
gress on the general policies and procedures used by that agency
to gather and consider the views of other agencies on—
(1) joint work statements under section 12(c)(5)(C) or (D)
of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980
(15 U.S.C. 3710a(c)(5)(C) or (D)); or
(2) in the case of laboratories described in section
12(d)(2)(A) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act
of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a(d)(2)(A)), cooperative research and
development agreements under such section 12,
with respect to major proposed cooperative research and develop-
ment agreements that involve critical national security technology
or may have a significant impact on domestic or international
competitiveness.
(b) PROCEDURES.—Within 1 year after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Committee on National Security of the National
Science and Technology Council, in conjunction with relevant Fed-
eral agencies and national laboratories, shall—
(1) determine the adequacy of existing procedures and
methods for interagency coordination and awareness with
respect to cooperative research and development agreements
described in subsection (a); and
(2) establish and distribute to appropriate Federal
agencies—
(A) specific criteria to indicate the necessity for gath-
ering and considering the views of other agencies on joint
work statements or cooperative research and development
agreements as described in subsection (a); and
(B) additional procedures, if any, for carrying out such
gathering and considering of agency views with respect