FLC Washington DC Office
Gary K. Jones
FLC DC Representative
FLC MW Regional Meeting
“White House Lab to Market”
“View From DC”
Indianapolis, IN
August 20, 2014
Overview
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Administration Actions
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White House Lab to Market
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Miscellaneous Initiatives
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R&D Budget (2015 & 2016)
Congressional & Judicial Actions
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General
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DOE-focused
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Alice v. CLS Bank
FLC Initiatives
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FLC Bus, AT, Virtual Mtg
Presidential Memorandum Update
Accelerating Technology Transfer and Commercialization of Federal
Research in Support of High-Growth Businesses (Oct 2011)
 Establishing Goals and Measuring Progress
 Streamline Tech Transfer and Commercialization Process
 Enhance Local and Regional Partnerships
Status (see all 13 reports here) (NIST web site)
Executive Summary of Agency Reports
Opportunities to Substantially Increase Technology Transfer - identifies
opportunities and consolidates recommendations from the IAWGTT for
innovative approaches to T2 proposed by agencies in their plans.
Revised Technology Transfer Metrics - outlines proposed changes to the
set of T2 metrics that are reported annually by the Department of Commerce,
in conjunction with the IAWGTT, in the Federal Laboratory Technology Transfer
Summary Report to the President and the Congress.
L2M: Overview
(From L2M Summit to CAP Goals)
■ Lab-To-Market Summit (May 2013)
■ Lab-To-Market Initiative (May 2013 - Present and ongoing)
“To significantly accelerate and improve technology transfer by
streamlining administrative processes, facilitating partnerships with
industry, evaluating impact, and opening Federal R&D assets as a
platform for innovation and economic growth” (L2M CAP Vision)
■ White House Cross Agency Priority Goals
(President’s Management Agenda)
- CAP Goal #7: Lab to Market
L2M: Action Plan
(From Vision to CAP Goal Action Plan)
“This action plan is a flexible framework, calling on agencies to tailor
and prioritize Lab-to-Market activities specific to their missions,
capabilities, and authorities.” (See performance.gov and
L2M Action Plan and Status)
L2M CAP Action Plan Overview:
■ Developing Human Capital
■ Empowering Effective Collaborations
■ Opening R&D Assets
■ Fueling Small Business Innovations
■ Evaluating Impact
L2M AP: Developing Human Capital
■ Expand number of individuals with private-sector experience
working in tech transfer within research agencies
■ Establish guidance and policies that enable federal
researchers to work outside government for limited periods
■ Provide opportunities for widespread experiential
entrepreneurship education
▪ Working with Office of Government Ethics (OGE) to obtain
clear guidelines for waivers for entrepreneurial activities
▪ New regulations under 15 USC 3712 (personnel exchange) will
help broadly implement successes
▪ Expanding I-Corps program
▪ Agencies are identifying programs to launch or expand
L2M AP: Empower Effective Collaborations
■ Increase priority level of R&D commercialization activities
and outcomes at federal labs
■ Optimize T2 authorities and best practices across labs
■ Fully utilize existing authority for research agencies to co-fund
projects between agencies and leverage charitable gifts to
advance R&D commercialization
▪ Expect recommendations on:
• Best language, management plans, etc. for GOGO and GOCO labs
• Most effective mechanisms, uses of collaborations and gifts
• Barriers to joint project funding across agencies
▪ Addressing working on getting micro-entity or small entity status
for federal labs to avoid conferring large entity rqts on partners
L2M AP: Open R&D Assets
■ Agencies are to make comprehensive IP and R&D facility data
sets available in open and machine-readable format on
www.data.gov
■ Increase utilization of facilities and equipment by external
entrepreneurs and innovators
■ Reduce cost/complexity of executing licenses
▪ FLC launched its Available Technologies search – expanding
▪ Next up: FLCBusiness, a tool for businesses to find facilities ,etc.
▪ Making recommendations for IP licensing programs that support
easier access by startups and small businesses, and for R&D facility
and equipment use policies.
L2M AP: Fueling Small Business
Innovation
■ SBIR managers are:
• Launching a unified and comprehensive Federal search tool across
all open SBIR/STTR solicitations
• Analyzing lead times, best practices, accounting procedures across
agencies
• Creating an interagency playbook for commercialization best
practices
■ Each agency is to implement plans to:
• Reduce lead times
• Align more solicitation topics with cross-agency R&D priorities
• Streamline accounting and reporting requirements and allow
flexibility for small businesses to adapt their performance
benchmarks based on new commercialization pathways
discovered during the performance period
L2M AP: Evaluating Impact
■ Report on metrics that capture R&D commercialization inputs
and outputs
■ Develop outcome metrics that capture longer-term economic
impact, in collaboration with the research community
▪ Look at technical areas in patents, b/o CRADAs and licenses by
small business v. large business, etc.
▪ Maybe measure start-ups
▪ Develop studies on higher order research questions
▪ Cite other peer reviewed studies, etc.
▪ Other
Other Administration Initiatives
(With FLC Engagement)
Patents for Humanity is an awards competition for aiding the
less fortunate, by rewarding the use of patented technologies to
solve global challenges
WIPO-Green is an interactive marketplace that promotes
innovation and diffusion of green technologies by connecting
technology and service providers with those seeking innovative
solutions.
Accelerating green technology transfer to impact American lives
highlights the FLC Available Technologies search tool (and
many examples of ‘green’ tech transfer). (White House blog
post; Paul Zielinski, FLC Chair, co-author)
Federal R&D Budget
(FY 2015 Proposed)
OSTP FY 2015 S&T Budget Documents
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FY 2014 Budget proposes $135.4 billion for Federal R&D, an
increase of $1.7 billion or 1.2 percent over the 2014 enacted*
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Federal research portfolio—comprising basic and applied
research—would total $64.7 billion, up $251 million or 0.4 percent
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Non-defense R&D would rise 0.7 percent ($477 million) to $65.9 billion;
Defense (DOD & DOE) R&D would rise 1.7 percent ($1.2 billion) to $69.5
billion
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Increases: DOE (8.4%), USGS (5.5%), NOAA (4.1%), NIST (3.4%),
DOT (1.4%), USDA (1.2%), DOD (0.9%), NIH (0.7%)
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Decreases: NASA (-1.0%), DHS (-15.1%)
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Flat: NSF, EPA
Status: House 6 of 12 Passed House
(late July) Senate: None passed Senate
* Comparison are all to FY 2014 enacted
Source: AAAS
Federal R&D Budget
(FY 2015 Proposed)
“[Speaker] Boehner told reporters that the House will pass a short-term
continuing resolution to keep the government open sometime in
September, avoiding a government shutdown that would otherwise
occur on the last day of the month. The legislation would likely expire in
early December, he said, punting decisions about the nation's
spending to a lame-duck Congress just after the midterm election.”
National Journal Daily, 7/25/14
Federal R&D Budget
(OMB 2016 S&T Budget Guidance)
FY 2016 S&T Budget Priorities (July 18)
“The priorities covered in this memo require investments in R&D; support
for activities, such as [STEM] education, technology transfer, R&D
facilities, and scientific data collection and management, that enable a
robust science and technology enterprise; and cooperation among
multiple Federal agencies.”
Multi-agency Priorities:
Advanced manufacturing
Clean energy
Earth observations
Global Climate Change
IT and high-perf computing
National and homeland security
R&D for informed policy-making
Federal R&D Budget
(OMB Management Agenda: CAP Goals and 2016 Budget)
Management Agenda Priorities for FY 2016 Budget (July 18)
“The President's Management Agenda seeks to improve the way that
Government works and delivers for citizens. It is guided by four pillars:
efficiency, effectiveness, economic growth, and people and culture. The
Management Agenda is being executed through eight distinct
Management Cross-Agency-Priority Goals that fall under these four
pillars. …. For each selected goal, we have identified targeted areas
for additional information that agencies should address in their
budget submissions.”
CAP#7: Economic Growth - Lab to Market: “Increase the
economic impact of Federally-funded research and development
by accelerating and improving the transfer of new technologies
from the laboratory to the commercial marketplace”
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Congressional Actions
(113th Congress)
Multiple proposals potentially affecting tech transfer activities (related to STTR
and tech commercialization, DOE tech transfer, use of prize competitions, tech
commercialization pilot program at NSF, other).
Title
Number
Date
Status
DOE Mod Act
HR 5120
7/14
Passed House (to S.)
EINSTEIN Act
HR 4869
6/14
Ref. House SST
ATTAIN Act
S 2129
3/14
Ref. Senate ENR
INNOVATES Act
S 1973
1/14
Ref. Senate ENR
TRANSFER Act
HR 2981
8/13 (amended)
Ref. House SST&SB
CRADA Act
HR 1711
4/13
Ref. House SST
Congressional Actions
(DOE-centric proposals)
Common Components (partly derived from ITIF Turning the
Page report (2013):
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Reorganization (creating new UnderSec for Science and Energy or creating
new Office of Advanced Research, Tech Transfer, and Innovation in Energy OARTTIE) with tech transfer responsibilities;
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Est. commission to review T2 program and make recommendations;
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Carry out an Agreements for Commercializing Technology (ACT) pilot
based on program developed in 2011
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Delegate signature authority to lab directors for agreements under $1M.
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Allow lab directors to use funds for early-stage and pre-commercial
demonstration activities to demonstrate commercial potential of technologies
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Allow DOE-funded researchers to participate in I-Corp (NSF) or establish a
DOE T2-Corps (modeled on I-Corps)
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Other
Congressional Actions
(TRANSFER Act of 2013)
Technology and Research Accelerating National Security and Future
Economic Resiliency (TRANSFER) Act of 2013 (H. 2981)
“‘Each Federal agency required … to establish an STTR program shall carry out a
grant program to support innovative approaches to technology transfer at
institutions of higher education, non-profit research institutions and Federal
Laboratories in order to accelerate the commercialization of federally funded
research and technology by small business concerns, including new businesses.”
Use of Funds:
early-stage proof of concept funding,
identifying research and technologies for commercialization,
tech maturation funding, tech validation, market research,
clarifying IP rights, mentoring and education
Amounts:
$1M to institution ($150K from institution to individual)
Introduced:
Amended:
8/2/13; House SB Cmte and House SS&T Cmte.
12/5/13 House SST
Strongly supported by the university community
Judicial Actions
(Software patentability)
Alice Corporation v. CLS Bank International
June 19th (SC Decision) “The question presented is whether these claims are
patent eligible under 35 U. S. C. §101, or are instead drawn to a patent-ineligible
abstract idea. We hold that the claims at issue are drawn to the abstract idea of
intermediated settlement, and that merely requiring generic computer
implementation fails to transform that abstract idea into a patent-eligible
invention.”
June 19th (IPWatchdog blog) “On first read I don’t see how any software patent
claims written as method or systems claims can survive challenge.”
June 25th (USPTO Guidance issued) Preliminary Examination Instructions in
View of the SC Decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International
July 25th (Patently-O blog) “Based on info from several sources, it appears that
the USPTO is now taking a more aggressive stance on subject matter eligibility …
It appears that applications whose inventive features are found in software or
information processing will now have a difficult time being patented.”
Judicial Actions
(Software patentability - continued)
Alice Corporation v. CLS Bank International
August 5th (Peggy Focarino, USPTO Commissioner for Patents)
“[T]the USPTO has applications that were indicated as allowable prior to Alice
Corp., but that have not yet issued as patents. Given our duty to issue patents in
compliance with existing case law, we have taken steps to avoid granting patents
on those applications containing patent ineligible claims in view of Alice Corp. To
this end, our primary examiners and supervisory patent examiners (SPEs)
promptly reviewed the small group of such applications that were most likely to be
affected by the Alice Corp. ruling.”
“We withdrew notice of allowances for some of these applications due to
the presence of at least one claim having an abstract idea and no more than
a generic computer to perform generic computer functions. After withdrawal,
the applications were returned to the originally assigned examiner for further
prosecution. Over the past several days, our examiners have proactively notified
those applicants whose applications were withdrawn. …..”
Resources on FLC Web Site
(www.federallabs.org)
 Points of Contact (Agency TTOs,
>300 Lab TTOs)
 Locate Technologies and
Capabilities (Tech Locator
Service, Available Technologies
Search, FLC Business Resource
(coming soon))
 Training and Education
(Courses, Materials, etc.)
 Reference Materials (Green
Book, Desk Reference,
Mechanisms Database, etc.)
 News & General Information
Youtube demo for FLC Available Technologies Search Tool
Lab Reps Contact:
Denise Wainer
dwainer@utrs.com
April 28 – 30, 2015
FLC Washington DC
Representative
Gary Jones
Phone: 240-444-1383
gkjones.ctr@federallabs.org
www.federallabs.org