DC Dispatch
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July 10, 2015
DOE Inspector General Report on ACT Pilot Program
The Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General has issued: an audit report on
“the Agreements for Commercializing Technology (ACT) pilot, [a program designed to]
enable the private sector to utilize the laboratories' research capabilities by removing
barriers that hindered access to the laboratories and the commercialization of
technology.” From the audit report, “[T]he ACT pilot was implemented through the
addition of a new contract clause titled ‘Non-Federal Agreements for Commercializing
Technology,’ which established semiannual reporting requirements and ensured that the
laboratory contractor protected the Government's interests and assets. From the inception
of the ACT pilot to May 2014, 4 of the 8 participating laboratories had a total of 73 ACT
proposals approved by the Department with a total value of over $60 million. Given the
importance of providing mechanisms for accessing the laboratories and advancing the
development and commercialization of the research, we initiated this audit to determine
whether the Department was effectively managing the implementation of the ACT pilot.
… We found that the ACT pilot, as envisioned, provided private industry with increased
access to the Department's laboratories and a new mechanism to facilitate the transfer of
laboratory knowledge and capabilities. However, our review identified opportunities to
improve the effectiveness of the Department's management of the ACT pilot. While we
detected no specific harm to the Department, we did note that many of the ACT
agreements were for unique laboratory services that had low potential for the
development and commercialization of technology. We also identified issues with the
review and reporting process in areas such as identifying foreign ownership or control
and the use of Federal funds.” (Original Sources: DOE web site)
USPTO and JPO Announce PCT Agreement
The USPTO and the Japan Patent Office (JPO) have implemented: an agreement under
which “JPO will act as an available International Searching Authority (ISA) and
International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) for certain international
applications filed with the USPTO as the Receiving Office (RO/US), under the Patent
Cooperation Treaty (PCT). The agreement will take effect on July 1, 2015.” From the
USPTO press release, “[T]he addition of JPO as an available ISA/IPEA will allow
applicants additional flexibility in choosing an international authority based on the
technology disclosed in the international application. ‘This latest collaboration between
USPTO and JPO exemplifies the cooperative spirit between our Offices and benefits
applicants by providing an additional option for examination of their international
applications directed to green technology,’ said Under Secretary of Commerce for IP and
Director of the USPTO Michelle Lee.” (Original Sources: USPTO web site)
Contact:
Gary K. Jones, FLC DC Representative, gkjones.ctr@federallabs.org
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NIH OTT Annual Report and Reorganization Plan
The NIH Office of Technology Transfer has issued: its 2014 annual report. In addition to
the information highlighting the offices accomplishments over the past FY, is an
explanation of the ongoing reorganization plans for the office. As noted in the Message
from the Director, “[A]fter passage of the Federal Technology Transfer Act in 1986, the
NIH established, within the Office of Intramural Research (OIR), the OTT as a
centralized group with primary responsibility for patent and license matters for all of the
NIH Institutes and Centers as well as the FDA. Non-license transactional agreements
have been handled in IC Tech Transfer Offices or serviced by NIH IC Tech Transfer
‘Servicing Centers’. Over the last 25 years, no significant changes have been made to the
organizational structure of technology transfer between the agency level office and the IC
offices, while there were significant changes at many of the ICs in the personnel and
types of services offered by the IC tech transfer offices. This static process and
organizational infrastructure showed the stress fractures as the rate of change in science,
technologies, innovations and the marketplace continued at greater and greater speed. In
2013 an outside review panel of technology transfer experts was convened at the request
of Dr. Michael Gottesman the NIH Director of the Division of Intramural Research and
tasked with conducting a review of the OTT. A recommendation of this committee, and
a subsequent recommendation from the NIH Tech Transfer Steering Committee, was to
place the authority and responsibility for the implementation and execution of patenting
and licensing throughout the NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) — aligning Technology
Transfer expertise with the science and the mission of the institutes and centers that
generate the research materials and innovations with subsequent licensing and patenting.
The reorganization is underway and will be fully in effect as of October 1, 2015.” See
the report for more details. (Original Sources: NIH web site)
Senate Seeks Input for New COMPETES Bill
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation announced: plans
yesterday [July 8] “to develop a reauthorization bill for the America COMPETES Act.”
[See Dispatches 6-5-15 and 5-22-15] From a summary by AIP, “[I]n contrast to
counterpart legislation written by the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee,
the announcement discussed the Senate committee’s intention that ‘seeks a bipartisan
path’ in crafting the legislation, and is actively requesting input from ‘members of the
public and interested groups.’ … Yesterday’s press release from the Senate committee
indicates that senators will be taking a different approach than that used in the
House. ‘The Commerce Committee seeks a bipartisan path for reauthorizing federal
research and development programs carried out by agencies last authorized by the
COMPETES Act’ said Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD), Committee Ranking
Member Bill Nelson (D-FL), and Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness
Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX). They announced that Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) and
Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) will convene a series of meetings and briefings that will, the
release states, ‘gather input from the U.S. science and research community and other
interested parties on federal research and development (R&D) policy
priorities.’” (Original Sources: AIP web site)
Contact:
Gary K. Jones, FLC DC Representative, gkjones.ctr@federallabs.org
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New From NSF
Federal Funds for Research and Development: Fiscal Years 2013–15 provides “detailed
tabular data on the research and development obligations and outlays of federal agencies.
Obligations are provided by character of work (basic research, applied research,
development, and R&D plant), agency, field of science or engineering (for research
only), geographic area, and performer.” (Original Sources: NSF web site)
Science and Engineering Degrees: 1966-2012 provides “information on the number and
types of bachelor's, masters and doctoral degrees awarded by U.S. institutions in science
and engineering fields. It also provides information on the numbers of male and female
degree recipients.” (Original Sources: NSF web site)
Survey of State Government Research and Development: FYs 2012 and 2013 presents
“FY 2012 and FY 2013 data for the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico on
total R&D expenditures, intramural and extramural performers, basic research activities,
source of funds, and type of R&D by state and department or agency.” (Original Sources:
NSF web site)
Federal Science and Engineering Obligations to Universities and Colleges Drop by 6% in
FY 2013 notes that “[I]n FY 2013, federal agencies obligated $29 billion to 995 academic
institutions for science and engineering (S&E) activities. This represents a 6% decrease
in current dollars from the $31 billion obligated to 1,073 academic institutions in FY
2012. This is the third year in a row of declining S&E funding to academic institutions.”
(Original Sources: NSF web site)
Kauffman Awarding $2M to Help Entrepreneurs
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation will award: $2 million in grants “to expand
successful nonprofit programs to help entrepreneurs.” From the SSTI web site, “[T]he
foundation is seeking scalable programs at nonprofit organizations to receive grants
between $250,000 and $500,000, paid over two years. Awardees will be selected for
their demonstrated record of supporting entrepreneurs, geographic diversity and
scalability. Applications are due July 31, 2015.” You can find the announcement here.
(Original Sources: SSTI web site, Kauffman 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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