DC Dispatch
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May 8, 2015
Senate Judiciary Cmte Introduces Another Patent Bill
(Revision to earlier bill from prior session)
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have introduced: another (bipartisan) Senate
bill focused on patent reform. From a summary of the bill by Patently-O, “[T]he
PATENT Act is a revised version of prior proposed legislation that addresses some of the
most severe criticisms of those proposals. It’s also well situated to move forward, as it’s
supported by leaders from both parties.” Patently-O provides a full list of the bill’s
sections. See a video of the bill’s introduction here and a link to the text of the bill here.
I believe the bill will eventually become S. 1137 and status for this bill will be found
here. IP-Watchdog has provided a summary of the 4 (maybe 5 eventually) patent reform
proposals now before Congress – see it here. (Original Sources: Senate Judiciary Cmte
web site, Patently-O blog, IP-Watchdog blog)
House Cmte Passes America COMPETES Reauth Bill
(Along party lines … as anticipated)
The House Science, Space and Technology Committee just passed: their version of the
reauthorization for the America COMPETE’s Act. From a summary by AIP, “Last
week’s approval by the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee of a
reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act was fully expected. Expected too – with
only minor exception – were the straight party line recorded votes on unsuccessful
amendments to the bill and its final passage sending it to the House floor. … H.R. 1806
follows action the Science Committee took in 2014 and 2015 on authorization bills for
the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the
Department of Energy’s Office of Science. There was considerable controversy
surrounding provisions of these earlier bills, most notably regarding NSF’s grant making
process. None of the bills advanced to the House floor, dying when the last Congress
adjourned in early January. … The [current] 189-page bill is expansive, with 102 sections
setting funding limits and policy for NSF, NIST, some programs of the Department of
Energy, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and STEM education. The
spending limits – or authorization levels – apply to FY 2016 and FY 2017. Throughout
the hours-long markup session the Democratic members offered more than 20
amendments, of which three were accepted by voice vote. All but one of the other
amendments were defeated, most by roll call votes that were almost always cast by party
line. The tenor of the markup was amicable, but the differences were obvious between
the 22 Republican and 17 Democratic committee members.” You can find the bill here,
although the text may not yet reflect the latest changes. (Original Sources: AIP web site)
Contact:
Gary K. Jones, FLC DC Representative, gkjones.ctr@federallabs.org
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New from GAO
Small Business Research Programs: Challenges Remain in Meeting Spending and
Reporting Requirements, found “[SBA’s] ability to fully determine compliance with
spending requirements for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small
Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs for fiscal year 2013 is limited because
most agencies submitted incorrect data. Nevertheless, analyzing agency data submitted
to SBA suggests that 9 of the 11 agencies participating in the SBIR program and 4 of the
5 agencies participating in the STTR program complied with spending requirements for
fiscal year 2013. Specifically, agencies are required to submit the actual amount
obligated for extramural research or research and development (R&D)—which is
generally conducted by nonfederal employees outside of federal facilities—and these
obligations are the basis for calculating the agencies' spending requirements. However,
most agencies submitted budget data instead.” (Original Sources: GAO web site)
Speaking of SBA and SBIR/STTR …
SBA has recently launched: their new SBIR web site, and a crowdsource competition to
develop the new logo. See the press release here. (Original Sources: SBA web site)
New from NSF
Full-Time Graduate Enrollment in Science and Engineering Rose in 2013, Fueled by a
Large Increase in Foreign Graduate Enrollment notes “[T]he number of full-time
graduate students enrolled in science and engineering (S&E) programs rose by 2.4% in
2013 after remaining relatively flat for the past 2 years. This increase was largely due to
a 7.9% increase in full-time enrollment of foreign students on temporary visas. In 2013,
full-time S&E foreign graduate enrollment reached an all-time high of 168,297 students,
and they now represent 39.6% of all full-time S&E graduate students, up from 35.9% in
2008. In contrast, full-time S&E graduate enrollment of U.S. citizens and permanent
residents declined for the third year in a row.” (Original Sources: NSF web site)
Majority of Federally Funded R&D Centers Report Declines in R&D Spending in FY
2013 notes “[T]he nation's 40 federally funded R&D centers (FFRDCs) spent $16.9
billion on research and development in FY 2013…. The majority of the FFRDCs (24
centers) reported declines from FY 2012, and 17 reported two straight years of declines
between FY 2011 and FY 2013. FFRDCs are privately operated R&D organizations that
are exclusively or substantially financed by the federal government. Federal funding has
consistently accounted for over 96% of FFRDC's total R&D expenditures since 200, but
these federally funded expenditures have been declining since a high of $18 billion
reported in FY 2010. This high corresponded to the peak of award spending from the
one-time American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which topped $1
billion in FY 2010. By FY 2013, most of the funding from ARRA had been spent,
leaving only $170 million in ARRA-funded expenditures, 1% of the federally funded
total.” See also the FFRDC Research and Development Survey and the latest Master List
of FFRDCs. (Original Sources: NSF web site)
Contact:
Gary K. Jones, FLC DC Representative, gkjones.ctr@federallabs.org
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MIT Report on Potential U.S. Innovation Deficit
(From a declining investment in basic research)
THE FUTURE POSTPONED: Why Declining Investment in Basic Research
Threatens a U.S. Innovation Deficit “provides a number of tangible examples of underexploited areas of science and likely consequences in the form of an innovation deficit,
including: 1) opportunities with high potential for big payoffs in health, energy, and hightech industries; 2) fields where we risk falling behind in critical strategic capabilities such
as supercomputing, secure information systems, and national defense technologies; 3)
areas where national prestige is at stake, such as space exploration, or where a lack of
specialized U.S research facilities is driving key scientific talent to work overseas.” They
note the benefits of investing in basic research in helping shape and maintain U.S.
economic power, but also point to how basic research is often misunderstood due to its
lack of immediate payoff. The report provides a sector-by-sector analysis of the potential
benefits of expanding basic research in these important scientific areas. (Original
Sources: MIT web site)
NAS 2015 Award Recipients Announced
(NIH NCI represented)
The National Academy of Sciences has identified: it 2015 award winners. See the list
here. I notice at least one federal lab member (from the National Cancer Institute).
Congrats to all! (Original Sources: NAS web site)
Just for Fun
Students win competition: by building a car that gets …. 3,421 MPG! As reported in
Fast Co Exists, “[E]very year, the Shell Eco-Marathon Americas [competition
challenges] high school and university students to build insanely fuel efficient vehicles.
The winners often achieve over 100 times the miles per gallon of a typical car. It's a little
burst of hope for the future of transportation—if these kids can build these cars, imagine
what will happen when they're actually part of the auto industry. This year's big winner
was the University of Toronto, which got 3,421 miles per gallon for their gasolinepowered vehicle on a track in Detroit. (Original Sources: Fast Co Exists web site)
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Note: The DC Dispatch is a periodic update of selected items of interest to the FLC and
technology transfer community -- i.e., current legislation, trends, reports, policy and other
developments potentially affecting technology transfer or related activities -- designed to
keep the community informed of relevant issues on a timely basis. Information is
gleaned directly from a variety of sources (newsletters, email alerts, web sites, direct
participation at events from the FLC DC Representative’s office, etc.) -- with original
sources, contacts and links provided.
Contact:
Gary K. Jones, FLC DC Representative, gkjones.ctr@federallabs.org
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