Small Business Innovation Research Program and Small Business Technology Transfer Program Policy Directive, 20483-20522 [2016-07817]
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Vol. 81
Thursday,
No. 67
April 7, 2016
Part III
Small Business Administration
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Small Business Innovation Research Program and Small Business
Technology Transfer Program Policy Directive; Notice
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SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
RIN 3245–AG64
Small Business Innovation Research
Program and Small Business
Technology Transfer Program Policy
Directive
Small Business Administration.
Notice of Proposed
Amendments to SBIR and STTR Policy
Directives.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
This document proposes to
revise the Small Business Innovation
Research (SBIR) and Small Business
Technology Transfer (STTR) program
Policy Directives. Specifically, the
Small Business Administration
proposes to combine the two directives
into one document, clarify the data
rights and Phase III preference afforded
to SBIR and STTR small business
awardees, add definitions relating to
data rights, and clarify the benchmarks
for progress towards commercialization.
DATES: You must submit your comments
on or before June 6, 2016.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by RIN: 3245–AG64, by any of
the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail, Hand Delivery/Courier: Edsel
Brown, Assistant Director, Office of
Innovation, U.S. Small Business
Administration, 409 Third Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20416.
SBA will post all comments to this
proposed rule on www.regulations.gov.
If you wish to submit confidential
business information (CBI) as defined in
the User Notice at www.regulations.gov,
you must submit such information to
Edsel Brown, or send an email to
technology@sba.gov. Highlight the
information that you consider to be CBI
and explain why you believe SBA
should hold this information as
confidential. SBA will review your
information and determine whether it
will make the information public.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Edsel Brown, Assistant Director, Office
of Innovation, at (202) 401–6365 or
technnology@sba.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
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I. Executive Summary
The purpose of the Small Business
Innovation Research (SBIR) program is
to stimulate innovation in the US
economy by engaging innovative small
business concerns (SBCs) in Federallyfunded research and research and
development (R/R&D). Similarly, the
purpose of the Small Business
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Technology Transfer (STTR) program is
to foster partnerships of ideas and
technologies between innovative SBCs
and research institutions through
Federally-funded R/R&D. Federal
agency awards to SBCs pursuant to the
SBIR program and awards to SBCs for
cooperative R/R&D efforts with research
institutions pursuant to the STTR
program assist the small business and
research communities by
commercializing innovative
technologies.
Both programs use a phased process,
uniform throughout the Federal
Government, to solicit proposals and
award funding agreements for R/R&D to
meet stated agency needs or missions.
To stimulate and foster scientific and
technological innovation, including
increasing commercialization of Federal
R/R&D, the program follows a
competitive process of three phases:
Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III.
The Small Business Act (Act) requires
that the Small Business Administration
(SBA) issue a policy directive setting
forth guidance to the Federal agencies
participating in the SBIR and STTR
programs. The Act provides SBA with
broad authority to direct participating
agencies in the administration of the
programs. The SBIR and STTR Policy
Directives outline how agencies must
generally conduct their programs. Each
agency, however, can tailor their
program to meet the needs of the
individual agency, as long as the general
principles of the program set forth in the
Act and directive are followed.
Therefore, when incorporating SBIR and
STTR policy into agency-specific
regulations and procedures, agencies
may develop language needed to
implement the policy effectively;
however, no agency may apply policies,
directives, or clauses, that contradict,
weaken, or conflict with the policy as
stated in the directive.
SBA reviews its policy directives
regularly to determine areas that need
updating and further clarification. On
November 7, 2014, SBA issued an
advance notice of policy directive
amendments and request for comments
at 77 FR 66342. In this notice, SBA
explained that it intended to update the
directives on a regular basis and to
restructure and reorganize the
directives, as well as address certain
policy issues relating to SBIR and STTR
data rights and the issues related to
SBIR and STTR Phase III work. In this
notice, SBA outlined what it believes
are the issues concerning data rights and
Phase III awards and requested feedback
on several questions posed. SBA
received over thirty comments offering
recommendations and providing
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examples of how these issues affect
SBIR/STTR companies. While the
comments varied on the
recommendations for specific changes,
they were generally in agreement that
the sections of the directives relating to
data rights and Phase III awards need
further clarification.
With this notice, SBA is proposing to
amend both the SBIR and STTR policy
directives by combining the two
directives into one because the general
structure of both programs is the same.
In addition, SBA is proposing
clarification of the important issues
relating to both programs concerning
data rights, Phase III awards and
benchmarks to commercialization
achievement. Although the policy
directives are intended for use by the
participating agencies, SBA believes
that public input on the proposed
provisions from all parties involved in
the program is invaluable. Therefore,
SBA is soliciting public comments on
these proposed amendments. A sectionby-section outline of the proposed
amendments is set forth below.
II. Proposed Amendments
1. Section 1—Purpose
In this section, SBA proposes to
clarify that SBA is issuing one directive
for both programs and that all
provisions in the directive apply to both
the SBIR and STTR programs unless
specifically noted otherwise.
2. Section 2—Summary of Statutory
Provisions
In this section, SBA proposes to
delete any references to prior fiscal
years that are no longer relevant to the
operation of the programs. In addition,
SBA proposes to clarify that agencies
must ‘‘obligate’’ a certain percentage of
the agency’s total extramural R&D
obligations each fiscal year on awards to
small businesses under the programs.
This amendment responds to
recommendations from the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) in a report
titled ‘‘More Guidance and Oversight
Needed to Comply with Spending and
Reporting Requirements’’ (available at
https://www.gao.gov/assets/670/
663909.pdf), that SBA should amend its
policy directives to clarify the funding
requirements for the programs.
3. Section 3—Definitions
In this section, SBA proposes to add
several terms and definitions that relate
to SBIR and STTR data rights. When
drafting these provisions, SBA
considered the fact that the SBIR and
STTR programs are unique within the
Federal Government. The broad intent
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of the programs is to stimulate economic
growth and development by supporting
technological innovation through small
business. Because it is funded as a setaside share of agency R&D, it also has
the goal of meeting the mission needs of
the various participating agencies.
The purpose of SBIR and STTR data
rights is to provide an incentive for
small businesses to engage in
government-funded innovative research
and to support its potential
commercialization. This incentive
comes from the prospects for successful
commercialization by the innovating
small business through first-mover
advantage, license or sale of the IP, sale
of the business, or sale of its related
intangible assets (intellectual capital,
knowledge, innovation capacities).
Legislative history of the Small Business
Research and Development
Enhancement Act of 1992 stated:
Section 4(e) of the bill directs SBA to
modify its policy directives so as to protect
small companies in three areas. The first of
these is data rights. The bill directs SBA to
extend an SBIR awardee’s rights to data
generated in the performance of its project to
4 years (as opposed to 2 years in current law).
This provision grows out of the Committee’s
concern that small businesses capable of
producing top quality research might be
reluctant to participate in the program if they
fear losing control over their ideas.
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H.R. Rep. No. 554(I), 102nd Cong., 2nd
Sess. 1992, 24 (emphasis added).
Further, legislative history of the Small
Business Technology Transfer (STTR)
program states the following with
respect to data rights:
Lastly, of the major provisions included in
this legislation, S. 856 strengthens the data
rights protection for companies and research
institutions that conduct STTR projects. The
change in data rights is important because it
clarifies that STTR companies, like SBIR
companies, retain the data rights to their
technology through all phases of an STTR
project. Some agencies have been
interpreting the law to mean that STTR
companies only retain their data rights
through phases I and II. This clarification
helps protect STTR companies from losing
control of their research so that they have a
greater chance of commercializing their
technology themselves. This clarification is
important because the Committee has
learned that some agencies are providing the
data to bigger contractors for development,
thereby cutting out the small business. This
unfortunate situation not only robs small
businesses of revenues, but it also results in
expensive legal costs for small businesses to
protect their data rights.
S. Rep. No. 54, 107th Cong., 1st Sess.
2001 (emphasis added). Thus, SBIR and
STTR data rights give value to the work
performed and thereby form an essential
element of the SBIR and STTR incentive
and impact.
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The Act specifically directs SBA to
issue directives to the participating
agencies that provide for the retention
by the SBC of rights in data generated
in the performance of an SBIR or STTR
award. See 15 U.S.C. 638(j)(1)(‘‘(v)
retention of rights in data generated in
the performance of the contract by the
small business concern;’’). It also states
that these rights should be provided for
a minimum of four years. See 15 U.S.C.
638(j)(2)(A) and 638(p)(2)(B)(v)
(‘‘retention by a small business concern
of the rights to data generated by the
concern in the performance of an [SBIR
or STTR] award for a period of not less
than 4 years;’’). The purpose of these
statutory provisions is to ensure that the
SBC retains the rights to the data, and
that the small business’ data rights
apply to all phases of the program.
In accordance with the Small
Business Act, the policy directives
currently explain that the SBC owns the
data generated under the award, and
that the Government has an obligation
to protect the data from disclosure for at
least four years. SBA recognizes that
agencies with procurement and
acquisition programs can face an
apparent conflict between the longer
term economic development goals of the
programs, which depend on the ability
of the participating small business to
realize the commercial benefits from its
new technology, and the shorter term
procurement interests of the agency that
focus on acquiring the technology from
the SBC at a reasonable cost and
controlling its development and
application. In light of this potential
conflict at the agency level, SBA must
ensure that agency practices related to
their acquisition programs do not
weaken or undermine the effectiveness
of the program at stimulating innovation
and economic development through
small business. SBA must ensure that
SBIR/STTR data are properly handled at
all times. At the same time, SBA
recognizes the mutual benefits involved
in administering the programs within
procurement agencies and has proposed
mechanisms to manage these conflicting
interests.
SBA’s proposed amendments are
based on a review of the statute,
legislative history and current
directives, expertise and experience at
the funding agencies, and comments
received from the public. SBA believes
that the current directives need
clarification to reflect the principles
noted above and is proposing to update
the directives and define several new
terms at this time. The proposed terms
to be defined relating to data rights
include the following: Computer
Database, Computer Programs,
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Computer Software, Computer Software
Documentation, Data, Form Fit and
Function Data, SBIR/STTR Technical
Data Rights, Operations Maintenance
Installation or Training (OMIT) Data,
Prototype, SBIR/STTR Computer
Software Rights, SBIR/STTR Data, SBIR/
STTR Data Rights, SBIR/STTR
Protection Period, SBIR/STTR Technical
Data Rights, Technical Data, and
Unlimited Rights. SBA has based these
definitions, to the extent practicable, on
definitions used in the Federal
Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and the
Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations
Supplement (DFARS).
With respect to specific definitions,
SBA is proposing to clarify the
definition of SBIR/STTR Data by
explaining that it includes all data
developed or generated in the
performance of an SBIR/STTR award,
including Technical Data and Computer
Software.
With respect to prototypes, SBA
proposes to define the term prototype to
include any model, in any type of form,
which is at any stage in development.
SBA also proposes to clarify that the
release of a prototype, other than
Computer Software, to an SBIR/STTR
Awardee’s competitor, which may
enable the competitor to dissemble the
prototype and glean the protected data,
is contrary to the purpose and intent of
the Act, and the implementing Policy
Directive. The release of a prototype
during the protection period may
provide the SBC’s competitors with the
Technical Data to enable them to
commercialize the product and harm
the SBC’s ability to benefit from the
technology. To address this concern,
SBA has added to Section 8 of the
Policy Directive, language notifying
agencies of the potential impact of use
or release during the protection period
of a prototype developed under an
SBIR/STTR award and requesting that
agencies monitor the release and use of
such prototypes.
SBA also proposes to clarify the data
rights afforded the SBC and the Federal
government during the statutory SBIR/
STTR protection period, and after the
protection period has expired, in the
proposed definitions of SBIR/STTR
Technical Data Rights, SBIR/STTR
Computer Software Rights, Unlimited
Rights, SBIR/STTR Protection Period,
SBIR/STTR Data Rights, and SBIR/STTR
Data. The current directives state that
the SBC retains the rights in data for a
minimum of 4 years from the date of the
last deliverable. This protection period
(referred to in the proposed
amendments as the ‘‘SBIR/STTR
protection period’’) is extended with
each subsequent, related, SBIR or STTR
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award. The current directives provide
that the Government may not use,
modify, reproduce, release, perform,
display, or disclose data or computer
software for a minimum of 4 years. After
expiration of the SBIR/STTR protection
period, the Government has a royaltyfree license to use, and to authorize
others to use on its behalf, these data for
government purposes, and is relieved of
all disclosure prohibitions and assumes
no liability for unauthorized use of
these data by third parties.
As currently written, it would appear
from the Policy Directives that the
Government cannot use the data for any
purpose during the protection period
and then, once the protection period
expires, use the data for Government
purposes. The SBA does not intend for
the Government to have no use of this
data during the protection period;
rather, it is intended that the
Government have limited rights to use
the data so that agencies can effectively
evaluate the technology and administer
their programs.
In clarifying the data rights
protections, the SBA reviewed the FAR
and DFARS, which outline distinct
rights the Government generally
receives when acquiring goods and
services: Unlimited rights, limited rights
and specifically negotiated rights (FAR)
or government purpose rights (DFARS).
Pursuant to the FAR, with unlimited
rights, the Government receives rights as
the name implies—unlimited use of the
data, whether for Government or
commercial purposes. With respect to
limited rights for data other than
computer software and restricted rights
for computer software, the FAR
provides that the Government receives
the right to use the data or computer
software for internal purposes only and
is limited as to when third parties,
including support service contractors,
can access and use the data. With
respect to government purpose rights,
the DFARS provides that the
Government receives the right to use the
data for Government purposes, such as
for manufacturing for Government
purposes. In such cases, the
Government can allow third parties to
have access to the data to manufacture
for Government purposes; however, the
third party must sign a nondisclosure
agreement and cannot use the data for
its own (commercial) purposes.
In the directive, the SBA proposes
that the Government receives what is
referred to as SBIR/STTR Technical
Data Rights to Technical Data and other
Data that is not Computer Software, and
SBIR/STTR Computer Software Rights
to Computer Software during the SBIR/
STTR Protection Period. These limited
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rights are intended and designed to be
similar to the rights set forth in the FAR
and DFARS for for Data developed
exclusively at private expense. This
approach is appropriate for SBIR/STTR
Data, as the goal of the program is to
advance the commercialization efforts of
the awardees, and thus SBA sought to
provide rights in data that are
comparable to the highest level of data
rights protection provided by the
Government. There are differences
between how the FAR and DFARS
defines the Government’s rights in data
developed exclusively at private
expense. As a result, the proposed
definitions of SBIR/STTR Computer
Software Rights and SBIR/STTR
Technical Data are not exact copies of
the Limited Rights Notice or Restricted
Rights Notice provided in FAR 52.227–
14 or the Limited Rights and Restricted
Rights in DFARS 252.227–7013 and
7014. SBA is proposing single
definitions that will apply to both
civilian and defense agencies
participating in the programs. The
proposed definitions are intended to
reflect the main elements of the FAR
and DFARS definitions of the
Government’s rights in data developed
exclusively at private expense,
including restrictions on the rights to
release and disclose that data, with the
aim to encourage the awardee’s pursuit
and achievement of commercialization.
SBA worked closely with agency
experts in developing terminology to
appropriately describe the limited rights
assigned to Technical Data and
Computer Software. The section of the
FAR related to SBIR data rights (FAR
52.227–20) does not use specific terms
to describe the limited rights assigned to
SBIR Data, while the DFARS (252.227–
7018) uses the terminology Limited
Rights and Restricted Rights.
The SBA intends that the Government
retain a right to use SBIR/STTR Data
during the protection period for noncommercial purposes and for project
evaluation and assessment. SBA does
not intend for the Government’s internal
use of SBIR/STTR Data to interfere with,
weaken, or undermine the rights or
interests of the SBC in this data.
Consequently, the SBA has clarified that
during the SBIR/STTR protection
period, the Government is permitted
some, limited or restricted, rights to use
the data.
SBA proposes that the minimum
length of the SBIR/STTR Protection
Period be increased from 4 years to 12
years. SBA also proposes to remove the
provision in Section 8 of the directive
that allows a subsequent SBIR/STTR
award to extend the protection period of
a related, prior SBIR/STTR award. This
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provision currently makes it possible for
the protection period to be continuously
extended as long as the SBC receives
Phase III work. SBA believes this
current provision should be removed
only if the minimum length of the
protection period is increased to at least
12 years, which is three times the length
of the current protection period. SBA
believes that this longer period of
protection will provide SBIR/STTR
Awardees with sufficient opportunity to
further develop and commercialize the
technology represented in the protected
SBIR/STTR Data. SBA notes that the 12
year period of protection is a minimum
period and that agencies may choose to
adopt a longer period of time at their
discretion.
SBA proposes that once the SBIR/
STTR Protection Period expires, the
Government has Unlimited Rights in the
SBIR/STTR Data. This means that, after
the protection period, the Government
may use the data for any activity and for
any purpose, which would include a
competitive procurement or foreign
military sale. Granting the Government
Unlimited Rights after the protection
period will clarify for agencies and
SBCs participating in the program that
any use or disclosure of SBIR/STTR
Data is permissible at that time.
Currently, the data rights clause
contained in the directive limits the
Government’s use and disclosure of
SBIR/STTR Data after the protection
period to Government use. The terms
‘‘Government use’’ and ‘‘Government
purpose’’ are not defined in the
directive or the FAR. While Government
Purpose is defined in the DFARS as
essentially a non-commercial use, the
DFARS does not currently grant
Government Purpose rights in SBIR/
STTR Data either during or after the
protection period. The Government
generally does not operate for the
purpose of creating a profit for itself or
non-Government entities. As such, SBA
is proposing Unlimited Rights after the
protection period because this will
eliminate uncertainty about, and the
need to determine, whether a
Government use or release after the
protection period is considered a
‘‘Government Purpose’’ use. SBA
believes these changes simplify and
clarify the Government’s rights in SBIR/
STTR Data.
The SBA has also proposed clarifying
that at any time during the SBIR/STTR
Protection Period, the SBIR/STTR
Awardee, or entity that holds the rights
to the data, can provide the Government
with greater rights, such as Unlimited
Rights. However, the Government
cannot negotiate these rights prior to an
SBIR/STTR award and cannot make
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issuance of an SBIR/STTR award
conditional upon the relinquishment of
any data rights. This is not a change
from the current policy.
In this section, SBA also considered
whether to amend the definition of
Essentially Equivalent Work to include
work funded by State programs and is
asking for public comment on whether
this proposed amendment is
appropriate. Currently, SBIR/STTR
Awardees may not receive duplicate
funding from federal sources for
Essentially Equivalent Work. However,
an awardee may receive State or other
program funding for the same work to
be performed under an SBIR/STTR
award. Such State program funding may
provide effective supplemental funding
for SBIR/STTR projects, or it may tend
to be redundant funding that has the
effect of drawing limited State program
funds away from other early-stage
innovation efforts seeking funding. By
including the term ‘‘State programs’’ in
the definition of Essentially Equivalent
Work, SBIR/STTR Awardees will not be
allowed to receive State program funds
for the same work performed under an
SBIR/STTR award.
Finally, SBA proposes to delete
several terms and definitions that SBA
believes are common and therefore do
not need to be defined in a directive.
Specifically, SBA proposes to delete the
following terms: Cooperative agreement,
feasibility, funding agreement officer,
and grant.
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4. Section 4—Phased Structure of
Programs
In this section, SBA proposes to move
information concerning agency
benchmarks towards commercialization
to Section 6, since these benchmarks
relate to eligibility. In addition, SBA
proposes to clarify the preferences that
agencies must afford prior Phase I or
Phase II awardees with respect to Phase
III awards.
The Small Business Act states that a
Phase III award is one that:
. . . derives from, extends, or completes
efforts made under prior funding agreements
under the SBIR program—
(i) in which commercial applications of
SBIR-funded research or research and
development are funded by non-Federal
sources of capital or, for products or services
intended for use by the Federal Government,
by follow-on non-SBIR Federal funding
awards; or
(ii) for which awards from non-SBIR
Federal funding sources are used for the
continuation of research or research and
development that has been competitively
selected using peer review or merit-based
selection procedures;
15 U.S.C. 638(e)(4)(C); see id.
§ 638(e)(6)(C). The purpose of the Phase
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III award is to provide the small
business that developed the technology
in Phases I or II the opportunity to
commercialize it, whether through a
Federal prime or subcontract or other
type of agreement.
With respect to Phase III, Congress
had directed SBA to provide, for the
SBIR/STTR participating agencies:
procedures to ensure, to the extent
practicable, that an agency which intends to
pursue research, development, or production
of a technology developed by a small
business concern under an SBIR program
enters into follow-on, non-SBIR funding
agreements with the small business concern
for such research, development, or
production;
15 U.S.C. 638(j)(2)(C) (emphasis added).
A few years ago, Congress passed and
the President signed into law the
National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2012, Public Law 112–81,
which affected the SBIR and STTR
programs. Specifically, section 5001,
Division E of the Defense Authorization
Act contained the SBIR/STTR
Reauthorization Act of 2011
(Reauthorization Act), which set forth
several provisions relating to the SBIR
and STTR programs, including a
provision relating to Phase III.
With the Reauthorization Act,
Congress amended the Small Business
Act to emphasize, again, that agencies
are to utilize small business Phase I or
II awardees for Phase III awards, by
adding another provision in the Act that
states:
(4) PHASE III AWARDS.—To the greatest
extent practicable, Federal agencies and
Federal prime contractors shall issue Phase
III awards relating to technology, including
sole source awards, to the SBIR and STTR
award recipients that developed the
technology.
15 U.S.C. 638(r)(4) (emphasis added).
This provision addresses the concern
that, at times, agencies have failed to
use this authority, bypassed the small
business that created the technology,
and pursued the Phase III work with
another business rather than actively
supporting and encouraging the
commercialization or further
development of SBIR/STTR technology
by the innovative small business that
developed the technology. As a result,
SBA is required by statute to report to
Congress cases where agencies fail to
comply with the reporting requirements
and intent of the SBIR/STTR Phase III
policy set forth in statute. Id. 638
(j)(3)(C).
Therefore, if the government is
interested in pursuing further work that
was performed under an SBIR or STTR
award, the government must, to the
greatest extent practicable, pursue that
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work with the SBIR or STTR awardee
that performed the earlier work.
Notwithstanding the strong
congressional mandate codified in
statute, SBA continues to hear from
small businesses, agencies and trade
groups that SBIR/STTR Awardees do
not receive Phase III awards. One
comment received on the notice of
proposed amendments to the policy
directive suggested that some officials
do not fully understand how this policy
on Phase III awards can be
implemented.
As a result, SBA has proposed to
explain that agencies must, to the
greatest extent practicable, determine
whether a requirement, solicitation or
intended work either is Phase III work
or includes it. If the requirement is or
includes Phase III work, or if the agency
is later informed that it is or includes
Phase III work, SBA proposes that the
agency must document that the
requirement is Phase III and then
evaluate the practicability (to the
greatest extent) of pursuing the required
work with the SBIR or STTR awardee
that conducted the prior SBIR or STTR
work. This would mean that the agency
must first consider whether it can issue
a sole source award to the Phase I or
Phase II awardee. Awarding the Phase
III work to the SBIR or STTR firm on a
sole source basis is not practicable if, for
example, the firm is no longer in
business or cannot perform the work
itself or with subcontractors. SBA
proposes that the decision by the agency
that it is not practicable to issue a sole
award to the SBIR/STTR Awardee must
be documented in the contract file and
a copy of that decision, including the
rationale, provided to SBA.
SBA received some comments from
the public concerning other preferences
that may be afforded to SBIR/STTR
Awardees for Phase III. As a result, SBA
proposes that if the agency determines
that it cannot issue a sole source award
for the Phase III, then it must consider
whether there are other ways to provide
the preference to the SBIR/STTR
Awardee such as, for example,
including a brand-name requirement for
the SBIR/STTR Awardee’s deliverable
within its solicitation when appropriate
or including an evaluation factor for
prime contractors or evaluation points
for prime contractors that utilize SBIR/
STTR Awardees. Unless the agency
finds that it is not practicable to pursue
the Phase III work with the SBIR or
STTR Awardee, the agency must
provide a preference and must always
consider issuing a sole source award
first and foremost when providing this
preference.
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In addition to clarifying the Phase III
preference, SBA has proposed
clarifications to the notice and appeal
procedures with respect to Phase III
awards or non-awards. As noted above,
SBA has proposed that the agency must
notify SBA when it does not intend to
issue a Phase III award and then SBA
can file a notice of intent to appeal and
then the actual appeal.
In light of the foregoing, SBA also
proposes to clarify paragraph (c)(3)
concerning the competitions
requirements for Phase III awards.
Specifically, SBA proposes that if a
Justification and Approval are required
by the procuring agency for a Phase III
sole source, the agency can state that the
SBIR/STTR Phase III award is derived
from, extends, or completes efforts made
under prior SBIR/STTR funding
agreements issued competitively and
sole source awards are authorized
pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 638(r)(4).
5. Section 6—Eligibility and Application
(Proposal) Requirements
SBA has proposed deleting the
requirement that a SBC can partner with
only one research institution under the
STTR program. SBA believes that a
small business can partner with more
than one research institution under the
STTR program as long as at least 30%
of the work under the award is
performed by a single partnering
research institution. For example, if the
SBC is performing 40% of the work
itself and subcontracting 30% to the
single research institution, the SBC may
subcontract the remaining 30% to one
or more other research institutions or to
another entity.
SBA has also proposed moving the
agency benchmark performance
requirements from Section 3 to this
section of the directive. The benchmark
performance requirements, set forth in
15 U.S.C. 638qq, are designed to ensure
a minimum degree of awardee progress
towards commercialization.
Specifically, the Act requires that
agencies establish standards, or
benchmarks, to measure: (1) The success
of Phase I awardees in receiving Phase
II awards, and (2) the success of Phase
I awardees in receiving Phase III awards.
Agencies have established these
benchmarks, which were published in
the Federal Register and are also
available at www.SBIR.gov. Any
subsequent changes in the benchmarks
must be approved by SBA.
SBA has proposed clarifying when
SBA calculates awardee progress
towards meeting the benchmark rates,
that each agency determines whether a
Phase I applicant meets both of its
benchmarks, and that the details
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regarding agency benchmark rates and
the implementation of this requirement
are available to the public on
www.SBIR.gov.
SBA proposed allowing participation
by Tribally-owned SBIR/STTR
applicants and awardees. Section 9 of
the Small Business Act does not
prohibit participation by small business
concerns that are owned and controlled
by Indian Tribes and it was never the
intent of SBA to exclude participation of
these entities in these small business
innovation programs.
6. Section 7—Program Funding Process
SBA proposed modifying the section
on Dollar Value of Awards to state that
SBA will review the effects of inflation
on the guideline amounts annually to
determine if program-wide changes in
the amounts are warranted, and will
post the inflation amounts and any
adjustments to the guideline amount on
www.sbir.gov.
7. Section 8—Terms of Agreement
Under SBIR/STTR Awards
SBA’s proposed amendments to this
section clarify the main elements of the
SBIR/STTR Data Rights, the SBIR/STTR
Protection Period, and the terms and
conditions that must be set forth in the
SBIR/STTR solicitation and award as it
relates to data rights. The proposed
changes in this section relate to the
proposed amendments to the data rights
definitions contained in Section 3. SBA
notes that while the Government
receives SBIR/STTR Technical Data
Rights and SBIR/STTR Computer
Software Rights in marked SBIR/STTR
Data, these rights are intended to
provide a level of protection similar to
that which is provided to data an agency
receives that was developed exclusively
at private expense. SBA also clarifies in
this section that SBIR/STTR Data Rights
may be negotiated; however, an agency
must not make issuance of an SBIR/
STTR award conditional upon the small
business negotiating or consenting to
negotiate modification or transfer of
these rights.
Section 8 is also revised to remove the
provision that a subsequent SBIR/STTR
award extends the protection period of
a related prior award. The Policy
Directive currently states: ‘‘Agencies are
released from obligation to protect SBIR
data upon expiration of the protection
period except that any such data that is
also protected and referenced under a
subsequent SBIR award must remain
protected through the protection period
of that subsequent SBIR award.’’ This
policy poses administrative challenges
for the funding agencies to determine,
prior to the release of SBIR/STTR Data,
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whether or not a subsequent award
exists that extends the Government’s
obligation to protect that data. SBA
believes that, if this extension provision
is removed, an increase in the minimum
required protection period from 4 years
to 12 years provides an awardee firm
with sufficient time to take measures to
protect the data or utilize it to its
commercial advantage.
This section also contains the
proposed terms of the non-disclosure
agreement that must be entered between
the Government and a nonGovernmental entity receiving SBIR/
STTR Data in accordance with the
Government’s limited rights in that data.
The proposed requirements are that the
non-Governmental entity: (1)
Understands and acknowledges the
limitations on the Government’s access,
use, modification, reproduction, release,
performance, transmission, display or
disclosure as set forth in the agreement;
(2) is prohibited from further releasing,
disclosing, or using the data without the
written permission of the SBIR/STTR
Awardee; (3) agrees to destroy or return
to the Government all SBIR/STTR Data,
and all copies in its possession, at or
before the time specified in the
agreement, and to notify the procuring
agency that all copies have been
destroyed or returned; (4) is prohibited
from using the data for a commercial
purpose; and (5) agrees that the SBIR/
STTR Data will be accessed and used for
the sole purpose of providing impartial
advice or technical assistance directly to
the Government. The directives do not
currently require that a Government
contractor with access to SBIR/STTR
Data enter a nondisclosure agreement,
however, SBA believes this is necessary
to ensure that any non-Governmental
entity recipient of the data understands
the limitations on the use and
disclosure of SBIR/STTR Data. These
requirements were modeled off of the
nondisclosure agreement requirements
contained in the DFARS and FAR for
contractor access to SBIR/STTR Data.
SBA proposes to limit the time period
during which an SBIR/STTR Awardee
may correct markings of SBIR/STTR
Data or add omitted markings to SBIR/
STTR Data. Currently, there is no time
limit on when an awardee may correct
or add omitted markings to its data.
Several of the funding agencies
expressed concern that having no time
limit can create administrative burdens
and noted that there is a 6-month time
limit to correct or add protective
markings on data delivered by awardees
outside the SBIR/STTR program,
including other SBCs. We are proposing
a 6-month time period from the date the
data was delivered during which an
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awardee may correct or add the
appropriate markings to SBIR/STTR
Data it has submitted. SBA is requesting
public comment on this change.
SBA has also proposed language to be
included in section 8 of the directive to
reflect its concern regarding the
treatment of prototypes, other than
Computer Software, that are developed
under an SBIR/STTR award. SBA states
that agencies should handle such
prototypes with caution to prevent the
potential disclosure of the innovative
technology or data developed under an
SBIR/STTR award. While a prototype
may not itself be considered SBIR/STTR
Data because it is not ‘‘recorded
information,’’ it may be possible under
certain circumstances for an agency or
non-Government entity to glean
protected aspects through observation or
reverse engineering.
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8. Section 9—Responsibilities of SBA
SBA proposes moving information in
Appendix X relating to the National
Academy of Sciences study to this
section.
9. Section 10—Reporting Requirements
for Agencies, Applicants and Awardees
In this section, SBA proposes to
amend the title to clarify that the section
relates to all reporting requirements
required by statute. SBA also proposes
to delete references to reports that were
due in 2012 and 2014 and therefore are
no longer relevant.
10. In addition, SBA has proposed
deleting any references to TechNet and
replacing them with ‘‘www.SBIR.gov.’’
Any system that SBA uses to report or
collect information will be on the
www.SBIR.gov Web site, which is SBA’s
central Web site for everything relating
to the SBIR/STTR programs. Appendix
I: Instructions for SBIR and STTR
Program Solicitation Preparation
SBA proposes amending the
certifications that small businesses must
submit prior to, upon and after an SBIR/
STTR award. Specifically, SBA
proposes combining the SBIR and STTR
certifications into one and noting on the
document those paragraphs that are
applicable to STTR only. In addition,
SBA has proposed clarifying the
certification to ensure the Federal
government is not funding projects
where other funding has covered the
same work, including State grants.
SBA also proposes clarifying the
Instructions set forth in the Policy
Directive and adding a specific model
clause that must be reflected in all
solicitations and resulting funding
agreements to ensure the SBIR/STTR
Awardee’s data rights are protected.
This proposed model clause would
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ensure that data rights are applied
consistently throughout the Federal
government.
The proposed clause sets forth the
pertinent terms and definitions relating
to data rights, which are also set forth
and defined in Section 3 of the
directive. In addition, the proposed
clause in Appendix I states that the
awardee small business owns the data
developed or generated during the
award, defines the protection period
during which the Government has SBIR/
STTR Technical Data Rights and SBIR/
STTR Computer Software Rights in the
data, and states that the Government has
Unlimited Rights upon expiration of the
protection period. The proposed clause
requires the awardee to mark its
protected data, which is the current
practice in the Federal government.
11. Appendix II: SBIR/STTR Program
Database
SBA is proposing to remove this
appendix of database codes from the
directive and to instead maintain a
current list of the database codes on
www.SBIR.gov as a ready reference for
the funding agencies.
12. Appendix III: Performance Areas
and Metrics
SBA is proposing to remove this list
of examples of performance metrics and
to instead maintain a current example
list, in addition to the required metrics,
as a ready reference on www.sbir.gov.
III. Request for Comments
SBA worked with the various SBIR
and STTR participating agencies to
gather input and feedback and issued an
advanced notice seeking comments on
the topics presented in this notice. SBA
now requests comments on the specific
amendments proposed.
In particular, SBA is requesting
feedback on its proposed clarification of
the Government’s SBIR/STTR data
rights in SBIR/STTR Data during an
SBIR/STTR Protection Period of not less
than 12 years. SBA is interested in
whether the public believes that these
limitations on the Government’s use and
disclosure are sufficient to protect SBIR/
STTR Data from use or release that
could harm the ability of the awardee to
benefit commercially from its SBIR/
STTR work. Similarly, do the rights in
SBIR/STTR Data that are proposed
create potential adverse impacts on the
Government’s research and
development goals? Has SBA achieved a
sufficient balance between the interests
of the SBIR/STTR awardees and the
Government during the protection
period by proposing rights in data that
are similar to the Government’s rights in
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data developed exclusively at private
expense? SBA also seeks input on
whether the proposed minimum length
of the protection period is appropriate
to achieve the policy goals associated
with protecting SBIR/STTR Data. If the
public feels that the proposed SBIR/
STTR Data Rights and protection period
do not adequately protect SBIR/STTR
Data, please provide alternative
suggestions and a rationale for their
adoption.
Additionally, SBA seeks comment on
its proposal that the Government
receives Unlimited Rights in the SBIR/
STTR Data following the expiration of
the protection period. Is there a specific
need to protect SBIR/STTR Data from
the Government’s commercial use of
such data after the protection period? If
so, please provide examples of when the
Government has used such data for
commercial purposes to the
disadvantage of the SBIR/STTR
Awardee and alternatives to Unlimited
Rights.
SBA is also specifically seeking
comments on its proposal to eliminate
the extension of the protection period
when a subsequent, related SBIR/STTR
award is made. Will the elimination of
this policy create unforeseen harm to
SBIR/STTR Awardees even if the
protection period is increased to a
minimum of 12 years? If so, explain any
perceived negative effect of this
proposed policy change, given the
longer protection period. SBA also seeks
alternative approaches that would
address the current administrative
burden on agencies to determine
whether data may be released when
subsequent awards are made by
different agencies.
Additionally, SBA specifically
requests comments on the proposed
language added to section 8 regarding
prototypes. SBA is concerned that
agencies may reverse engineer, use, and
release prototypes other than software,
or enable others to do so, for any
purpose and at any time because
agencies do not consider prototypes to
be within the definition of SBIR/STTR
Data, and as a result do not consider
prototypes protected by SBIR/STTR
Technical Data Rights and SBIR/STTR
Computer Software Rights. The concept
of a prototype or item appears
distinguishable from the concept of
data, as defined in the FAR and DFAR
as ‘‘recorded information.’’ SBA is
concerned that even though
participating agencies do not consider
prototypes to be ‘‘recorded
information,’’ a prototype may be
reverse engineered to reveal the
innovative technology developed by the
SBIR/STTR Awardee in its performance
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of the SBIR/STTR award. In these cases,
reverse engineering the prototype and
using that information to either
manufacture the product internally
within the Government or through a
procurement could harm the ability of
an SBIR/STTR Awardee to
commercialize the technology. SBA
intends that the combination of its
proposed changes to the Phase III award
process in addition to the proposed
language to be included in section 8 will
address its concerns. SBA seeks public
input on whether this is the best way to
encourage agencies to prevent harmful
use or disclosure of prototypes. SBA
also seeks input on whether the
directive adequately addresses
protections against possible uses of
delivered SBIR/STTR Data that is
computer software that would
inappropriately harm the SBC’s
prospects of commercializing the
technology.
SBA is also seeking public comment
on the proposed establishment of a time
limit of 6 months for SBIR/STTR
Awardees to correct or add omitted
markings on SBIR/STTR Data it has
delivered. Does this present a significant
challenge or hardship for the Awardee?
SBA will review and consider all
comments received to determine
whether amendments are needed to
improve the general conduct of the
programs.
Notice of Proposed Amendments to the
Policy Directive for the Small Business
Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small
Business Technology Transfer Research
(STTR) Programs
To: The SBIR and STTR Program
Managers
Subject: SBIR/STTR Policy Directive
Proposed Revisions
1. Purpose. The Small Business
Administration (SBA) proposes to revise
its Small Business Innovation Research
(SBIR) and Small Business Technology
Transfer Research (STTR) program
Policy Directives. Specifically, SBA
proposes to combine the two directives
into one document, clarify the data
rights afforded to SBIR and STTR small
business awardees, add definitions
relating to data rights, clarify the Phase
III preference to be afforded to SBIR and
STTR awardees, and clarify the
benchmarks for progress towards
commercialization.
2. Authority. The Small Business Act
(15 U.S.C. 638(j) and (p)) requires the
SBA Administrator to issue an SBIR and
STTR program Policy Directive for the
general conduct of the programs.
3. Procurement Regulations. It is
recognized that the Federal Acquisition
Regulations and agency supplemental
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regulations may need to be modified to
conform to the requirements of a final
Policy Directive. SBA’s Administrator or
designee has a role in reviewing any
regulatory provisions that pertain to
programs authorized by the Small
Business Act.
4. Personnel Concerned. This Policy
Directive serves as guidance for all
Federal government personnel who are
involved in the administration of the
SBIR and STTR programs, issuance and
management of funding agreements or
contracts pursuant to the programs, and
the establishment of goals for small
business concerns in research or
research and development acquisition
or grants.
5. Originator. SBA’s Office of
Innovation and Investment.
6. Date. Public comments on the
proposed amendments to the Policy
Directive must be submitted within 60
days following publication in the
Federal Register.
Dated: March 25, 2016.
Mark L. Walsh,
Associate Administrator for the Office of
Investment and Innovation.
Dated: March 25, 2016.
Maria Contreras-Sweet,
Administrator.
1. Purpose
(a) Sections 9(j) and 9(p) of the Small
Business Act (Act) require that the
Small Business Administration (SBA)
issue Policy Directives for the general
conduct of the SBIR and STTR programs
within the Federal Government.
(b) This Policy Directive fulfills SBA’s
statutory obligation to provide guidance
to the participating Federal agencies for
the general operation of the SBIR and
STTR programs. Because most of the
policy for the SBIR and STTR program
is the same, SBA issues a single Policy
Directive for both programs. Unless one
of the programs is specifically
mentioned, the term ‘‘program’’ or
‘‘programs’’ refers to both the SBIR and
STTR programs. In addition, ‘‘SBIR/
STTR’’ is used throughout to refer to
both programs.
(1) The following sections pertain
only to the STTR program: § 3(ff)—
Definition of ‘‘Research Institution,’’
§ 7(k)—Management of the STTR
Project, § 8(c)—Allocation of Intellectual
Property Rights in STTR Award, and
§ 12(e)—Phase 0 Proof of Concept
Partnership Pilot Program.
(2) The following sections pertain
only to the SBIR program: § 3(b)—
Definition of ‘‘Additionally Eligible
State,’’ § 3(l)—Definition of ‘‘Covered
Small Business,’’ § 4(b)(1)(ii)—Direct to
Phase II Awards, § 6(a)(6)—Majority-
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Owned by Multiple VCOCs, Hedge
Funds or Private Equity Firms,
§ 6(b)(1)(ii)—Registration and
Certifications for Proposal and Award
for Majority-Owned by Multiple VCOCs,
Hedge Funds or Private Equity Firms,
and Appendix I—Certifications for
Proposal and Award for MajorityOwned by Multiple VCOCs, Hedge
Funds or Private Equity Firms.
(3) Additional or modified
instructions may be issued by SBA as a
result of public comment or experience.
With this directive, SBA fulfills the
statutory requirement to simplify and
standardize the program proposal,
selection, contracting, compliance, and
audit procedures for the programs to the
extent practicable, while allowing the
participating agencies flexibility in the
operation of their individual programs.
Wherever possible, SBA has attempted
to reduce the paperwork and regulatory
compliance burden on SBCs applying to
and participating in the SBIR/STTR
programs, while still meeting the
statutory reporting and data collection
requirements.
(c) The statutory purpose of the SBIR
program is to strengthen the role of
innovative small business concerns
(SBCs) in Federally-funded research or
research and development (R/R&D).
Specific program purposes are to: (1)
stimulate technological innovation; (2)
use small business to meet Federal R/
R&D needs; (3) foster and encourage
participation by socially and
economically disadvantaged small
businesses (SDBs), and by womenowned small businesses (WOSBs), in
technological innovation; and (4)
increase private sector
commercialization of innovations
derived from Federal R/R&D, thereby
increasing competition, productivity
and economic growth.
(d) In addition to the broad goals of
the SBIR program, the statutory purpose
of the STTR program is to stimulate a
partnership of ideas and technologies
between innovative SBCs and non-profit
Research Institutions. By providing
awards to SBCs for cooperative R/R&D
efforts with Research Institutions, the
STTR program assists the U.S. small
business and research communities by
supporting the commercialization of
innovative technologies.
(e) Federal agencies participating in
the programs (participating agencies) are
obligated to follow the guidance
provided by this Policy Directive. Each
agency is required to review its rules,
policies, and guidance on the programs
to ensure consistency with this Policy
Directive and to make any necessary
changes in accordance with each
agency’s normal procedures. This is
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consistent with the statutory authority
provided to SBA concerning the SBIR/
STTR programs.
2. Summary of Statutory Provisions
(a) The SBIR program is codified at § 9
of the Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C.
638. The SBIR program is authorized
until September 30, 2017, or as
otherwise provided in law subsequent
to that date.
(b) Each Federal agency with an
extramural budget for R/R&D in excess
of $100,000,000 must participate in the
SBIR program and spend (obligate) the
following minimum percentages of their
extramural R/R&D budgets for awards to
small business concerns for R/R&D
under the SBIR program:
(1) not less than 2.9% of such budget
in fiscal year 2015;
(2) not less than 3.0% of such budget
in fiscal year 2016; and
(3) not less than 3.2% of such budget
in fiscal year 2017 and each fiscal year
after.
A Federal agency may exceed these
minimum percentages.
(c) The STTR program is also codified
at § 9 of the Small Business Act, 15
U.S.C. 638. The STTR program is
authorized until September 30, 2017, or
as otherwise provided in law
subsequent to that date.
(d) Each Federal agency with an
extramural budget for R/R&D in excess
of $1,000,000,000 must participate in
the STTR program and spend (obligate)
the following minimum percentages of
their extramural R/R&D budgets
(obligations) on awards to small
business concerns under the STTR
program:
(1) not less than 0.40% of such budget
in fiscal years 2014 and 2015; and
(2) not less than 0.45% of such budget
in fiscal year 2016 and each fiscal year
after.
A Federal agency may exceed these
minimum percentages.
(e) In general, each participating
agency must make SBIR/STTR awards
for R/R&D through the following
uniform, three-phase process:
(1) Phase I awards to determine,
insofar as possible, the scientific and
technical merit and feasibility of ideas
that appear to have commercial
potential.
(2) Phase II awards to further develop
work from Phase I that meets particular
program needs and exhibits potential for
commercial application.
(3) Phase III awards where
commercial applications of SBIR/STTR
program-funded R/R&D are funded by
non-Federal sources of capital; or where
products, services or further research
intended for use by the Federal
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Government are funded by non-SBIR/
STTR sources of Federal funding.
(f) Participating agencies must report
to SBA on the calculation of the
agency’s extramural R&D budget, for the
purpose of determining SBIR/STTR
program funding, within four months of
enactment of each agency’s annual
Appropriations Act.
(g) The Act explains that agencies are
authorized and directed to cooperate
with SBA in order to carry out and
accomplish the purpose of the
programs. As a result, each participating
agency shall provide information to
SBA for SBA to monitor and analyze
each agency’s SBIR/STTR program and
to report annually to the Senate
Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship and to the House
Committees on Science and Small
Business. For more information on the
agency’s reporting requirements,
including the frequency for specific
reporting requirements, see § 10 of the
Policy Directive.
(h) SBA establishes databases and
Web sites to collect and maintain, in a
common format, information that is
necessary to assist SBCs and assess the
SBIR/STTR programs.
(i) SBA implements the Federal and
State Technology (FAST) Partnership
Program to strengthen the technological
competitiveness of SBCs, to the extent
that FAST is authorized by law.
(j) The competition requirements of
the Armed Services Procurement Act of
1947 (10 U.S.C. 2302, et seq.) and the
Federal Property and Administrative
Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 3101, et
seq.) must be read in conjunction with
the procurement notice publication
requirements of § 8(e) of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(e)). The
following notice publication
requirements of § 8(e) of the Small
Business Act apply to SBIR/STTR
participating agencies using contracts as
a SBIR or STTR funding agreement.
(1) Any Federal executive agency
intending to solicit a proposal to
contract for property or services valued
above the amounts set forth in Federal
Acquisition Regulations (FAR) § 5.101,
must transmit a notice of the impending
solicitation to the Government wide
point of entry (GPE) for access by
interested sources. See FAR § 5.201. The
GPE, located at www.fbo.gov, is the
single point where Government
business opportunities, including
synopses of proposed contract actions,
solicitations, and associated
information, can be accessed
electronically by the public. In addition,
an agency must not issue its solicitation
for at least 15 days from the date of the
publication of the GPE. The agency
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must establish a deadline for
submission of proposals in response to
a solicitation in accordance with FAR
§ 5.203.
(2) The contracting officer must
generally make available through the
GPE those solicitations synopsized
through the GPE, including
specifications and other pertinent
information determined necessary by
the contracting officer. See FAR § 5.102.
(3) Any executive agency awarding a
contract for property or services must
synopsize the award through the GPE in
accordance with FAR subpart 5.3.
(4) The following are exemptions from
the notice publication requirements:
(i) In the case of agencies intending to
solicit Phase I proposals for contracts in
excess of $25,000, the head of the
agency may exempt a particular
solicitation from the notice publication
requirements if that official makes a
written determination, after consulting
with the Administrator of the Office of
Federal Procurement Policy and the
SBA Administrator, that it is
inappropriate or unreasonable to
publish a notice before issuing a
solicitation.
(ii) The SBIR/STTR Phase II award
process.
(iii) The SBIR/STTR Phase III award
process.
3. Definitions
(a) Act. The Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 631, et seq.), as amended.
(b) Additionally Eligible State. (SBIR
only) A State in which the total value
of funding agreements awarded to SBCs
under all agency SBIR programs is less
than the total value of funding
agreements awarded to SBCs in a
majority of other States, as determined
by SBA’s Administrator in biennial
fiscal years and based on the most
recent statistics compiled by the
Administrator.
(c) Applicant. The organizational
entity that qualifies as an SBC at all
pertinent times and that submits a
contract proposal or a grant application
for a funding agreement under the SBIR/
STTR programs.
(d) Affiliate. This term has the same
meaning as set forth in 13 CFR part
121—Small Business Size Regulations,
§ 121.103, ‘‘How Does SBA Determine
Affiliation?’’. Further information about
SBA’s affiliation rules and a guide on
affiliation is available at www.SBIR.gov
and www.SBA.gov/size.
(e) Awardee. The organizational entity
that receives an SBIR or STTR Phase I,
Phase II, or Phase III award.
(f) Commercialization. The process of
developing products, processes,
technologies, or services and the
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production and delivery (whether by the
originating party or others) of the
products, processes, technologies, or
services for sale to or use by the Federal
government or commercial markets.
(g) Computer Database. A collection
of data recorded in a form capable of
being processed by a computer. The
term does not include Computer
Software.
(h) Computer Programs. A set of
instructions, rules, or routines recorded
in a form that is capable of causing a
computer to perform a specific
operation or series of operations.
(i) Computer Software. Computer
programs, source code, source code
listings, object code listings, design
details, algorithms, processes, flow
charts, formulae, and related material
that would enable the software to be
reproduced, recreated, or recompiled.
Computer Software does not include
Computer Databases or Computer
Software Documentation.
(j) Computer Software
Documentation. Owner’s manuals,
user’s manuals, installation instructions,
operating instructions, and other similar
items, regardless of storage medium,
that explain the capabilities of the
Computer Software or provide
instructions for using the software.
(k) Covered Small Business Concern.
[SBIR only] A small business concern
that: (1) was not majority-owned by
multiple venture capital operating
companies (VCOCs), hedge funds, or
private equity firms on the date on
which it submitted an application in
response to a solicitation under the
SBIR program; and (2) is majorityowned by multiple venture capital
operating companies, hedge funds, or
private equity firms on the date of the
SBIR award.
(l) Data. All recorded information,
regardless of the form or method of
recording or the media on which it may
be recorded. The term does not include
information incidental to contract or
grant administration, such as financial,
administrative, cost or pricing or
management information.
(m) Essentially Equivalent Work.
Work that is substantially the same
research, which is proposed for funding
in more than one contract proposal or
grant application submitted to the same
Federal agency or a State program, or
submitted to two or more different
Federal agencies or State programs for
review and funding consideration; or
work where a specific research objective
and the research design for
accomplishing the objective are the
same or closely related to another
proposal or award, regardless of the
funding source.
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(n) Extramural R/R&D Budget/
Obligations. The sum of the total
obligations for R/R&D minus amounts
obligated during a given fiscal year for
R/R&D activities by employees of a
Federal agency in or through
Government-owned, Governmentoperated facilities. For the Agency for
International Development, the
‘‘extramural budget’’ does not include
amounts obligated solely for general
institutional support of international
research centers or for grants to foreign
countries. For the Department of Energy,
the ‘‘extramural budget’’ does not
include amounts obligated for atomic
energy defense programs solely for
weapons activities or for naval reactor
programs. (See also § 7(i) of this Policy
Directive for additional exemptions
related to national security.)
(o) Feasibility. The practical extent to
which a project can be performed
successfully.
(p) Federal Agency. An executive
agency as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105, and
a military department as defined in 5
U.S.C. 102 (Department of the Army,
Department of the Navy, Department of
the Air Force), except that it does not
include any agency within the
Intelligence Community as defined in
Executive Order 12333, § 3.4(f), or its
successor orders.
(q) Federal Laboratory. As defined in
15 U.S.C. 3703, means any laboratory,
any federally funded research and
development center, or any center
established under 15 U.S.C. 3705 & 3707
that is owned, leased, or otherwise used
by a Federal agency and funded by the
Federal Government, whether operated
by the Government or by a contractor.
(r) Funding Agreement. Any contract,
grant, or cooperative agreement entered
into between any Federal agency and
any SBC for the performance of
experimental, developmental, or
research work, including products or
services, funded in whole or in part by
the Federal Government.
(s) Form, Fit, and Function Data. Data
relating to items, components, or
processes that are sufficient to enable
physical and functional
interchangeability, and data identifying
source, size, configuration, mating and
attachment characteristics, functional
characteristics, and performance
requirements. For computer software it
means data identifying source,
functional characteristics, and
performance requirements, but
specifically excludes the source code,
algorithms, processes, formulas, and
flow charts of the software.
(t) Innovation. Something new or
improved, having marketable potential,
that includes the development of new
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technology, the refinement of existing
technology, or the development of new
applications for existing technology.
(u) Intellectual Property. The separate
and distinct types of intangible property
that are referred to collectively as
‘‘intellectual property,’’ including but
not limited to: patents, trademarks,
copyrights, trade secrets, and mask
works..
(v) Joint Venture. See 13 CFR
121.103(h).
(w) Key Individual. The principal
investigator/project manager and any
other person named as a ‘‘key’’
employee in a proposal submitted in
response to a program solicitation.
(x) Operations, Maintenance,
Installation, or Training Purposes
(OMIT) Data. Data that is necessary for
operation, maintenance, installation, or
training purposes (but not including
detailed manufacturing or process data).
(y) Participating Agency(ies). A
federal agency with an SBIR or STTR
program. An ‘‘SBIR/STTR Agency.’’
(z) Principal Investigator/Project
Manager. The one individual designated
by the applicant to provide the scientific
and technical direction to a project
supported by the funding agreement.
(aa) Program Solicitation. A formal
solicitation for proposals issued by a
Federal agency that notifies the small
business community of its R/R&D needs
and interests in broad and selected
areas, as appropriate to the agency, and
requests for proposals from SBCs in
response to these needs and interests.
(bb) Prototype. A product, material,
thing, system, or process, or a model
thereof, that is in development,
regardless of whether it is in tangible,
electronic, graphic or other form, at any
stage of development prior to its
intended ultimate commercial
production and sale. The term
‘‘Prototype’’ includes computer
programs embedded in hardware or
devices.
(cc) Research or Research and
Development (R/R&D). Any activity that
is: (1) a systematic study directed
toward greater knowledge or
understanding of the subject studied; (2)
a systematic study directed specifically
toward applying knowledge and
innovation to meet a recognized but
unmet need; or (3) a systematic
application of knowledge and
innovation toward the production of
useful materials, devices, and systems
or methods, including design,
development, and improvement of
Prototypes and new processes to meet
specific requirements.
(dd) Research Institution. One that
has a place of business located in the
United States, which operates primarily
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within the United States or which
makes a significant contribution to the
U.S. economy through payment of taxes
or use of American products, materials
or labor, and is: (1) A non-profit
institution as defined in section 4(3) of
the Stevenson-Wydler Technology
Innovation Act of 1980 (that is, an
organization that is owned and operated
exclusively for scientific or educational
purposes, no part of the net earnings of
which inures to the benefit of any
private shareholder or individual); or (2)
A Federally-funded R&D center as
identified by the National Science
Foundation in accordance with the
Federal Acquisition Regulation issued
in accordance with section 35(c)(1) of
the Office of Federal Procurement
Policy Act (or any successor regulation).
A non-profit institution can include
hospitals and military educational
institutions, if they meet the definition
above.
(ee) SBIR/STTR Computer Software
Rights. The Government’s rights during
the SBIR/STTR Protection Period in
specific types of SBIR/STTR Data that
are Computer Software.
(1) The Government may use, modify,
reproduce, release, perform, display, or
disclose SBIR/STTR Data that are
Computer Software within the
Government. The Government may
exercise SBIR/STTR Computer Software
Rights within the Government for:
(i) Use in Government computers;
(ii) Modification, adaptation, or
combination with other computer
software, provided that the Data
incorporated into any derivative
software are subject to the rights in
paragraph (ee) and that the derivative
software is marked as containing SBIR/
STTR Data;
(iii) Archive or backup; or
(iv) Distribution of a computer
program to another Government agency,
without further permission of the
awardee, if the awardee is notified of
the distribution and the identity of the
recipient prior to the distribution, and a
copy of the SBIR/STTR Computer
Software Rights included in the funding
agreement is provided to the recipient.
(2) The Government shall not release,
disclose, or permit access to SBIR/STTR
Data that is Computer Software for
commercial, manufacturing, or
procurement purposes without the
written permission of the awardee. The
Government shall not release, disclose,
or permit access to SBIR/STTR Data
outside the Government without the
written permission of the awardee
unless:
(i) The non-Governmental entity has
entered into a non-disclosure agreement
with the Government that complies with
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the terms for such agreements outlined
in section 8 of this Policy Directive; and
(ii) The release or disclosure is—
(A) To a Government support service
contractor for purposes of supporting
Government internal use or activities,
including evaluation, diagnosis and
correction of deficiencies, and
adaptation, combination, or integration
with other Computer Software provided
that SBIR/STTR Data incorporated into
any derivative software are subject to
the rights in paragraph (ee); or
(B) Necessary to support certain
narrowly-tailored essential Government
activities for which law or regulation
permits access of a non-Government
entity to a contractors’ data developed
exclusively at private expense, nonSBIR/STTR Data, such as for emergency
repair and overhaul.
(ff) SBIR/STTR Data. All
appropriately marked Data developed or
generated in the performance of an SBIR
or STTR award, including Technical
Data and Computer Software developed
or generated in the performance of an
SBIR or STTR award. The term does not
include information incidental to
contract or grant administration, such as
financial, administrative, cost or pricing
or management information.
(gg) SBIR/STTR Data Rights. The
Government’s license rights in SBIR/
STTR Data during the SBIR/STTR
Protection Period as follows: SBIR/
STTR Technical Data Rights in SBIR/
STTR Data that are Technical Data or
any other type of Data other than
Computer Software that is properly
marked, and SBIR/STTR Computer
Software Rights in SBIR/STTR Data that
is Computer Software. Upon expiration
of the protection period for SBIR/STTR
Data, the Government’s obligation to
protect that data expires and the
Government’s rights in that data convert
to Unlimited rights. The Government
receives Unlimited Rights in all
unmarked data.
(hh) SBIR/STTR Protection Period.
The period of time during which the
Government is obligated to protect
SBIR/STTR Data against unauthorized
use and disclosure in accordance with
SBIR/STTR Data Rights. The SBIR/STTR
Protection Period begins at award of an
SBIR/STTR funding agreement and ends
not less than twelve years after
acceptance of the last deliverable under
that agreement (See § 8(b)(4) below).
(ii) SBIR/STTR Technical Data Rights.
The Government’s rights during the
SBIR/STTR Protection Period in SBIR/
STTR Data that are Technical Data or
any other type of Data other than
Computer Software.
(1) The Government may, use, modify,
reproduce, perform, display, release, or
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disclose SBIR/STTR Data that are
Technical Data within the Government;
however, the Government shall not use,
release, or disclose the data for
procurement, manufacture or
commercial purposes; or release or
disclose the SBIR/STTR Data outside
the Government except as permitted by
paragraph (2) below or by written
permission of the awardee.
(2) SBIR/STTR Data that are Technical
Data may be released outside the
Government without any additional
written permission of the awardee only
if the non-Governmental entity or
foreign government has entered into a
non-disclosure agreement with the
Government that complies with the
terms for such agreements outlined in
section 8 of this Policy Directive and the
release is:
(i) Necessary to support certain
narrowly-tailored essential Government
activities for which law or regulation
permits access of a non-Government
entity to a contractors’ data developed
exclusively at private expense, nonSBIR/STTR Data, such as for emergency
repair or overhaul;
(ii) To a Government support services
contractor in the performance of a
Government support services contract
and the release is not for commercial
purposes or manufacture;
(iii) To a foreign government for
purposes of information and evaluation
if required to serve the interests of the
U.S. Government; or
(iv) To non-Government entities or
individuals for purposes of evaluation.
(jj) Small Business Concern. A
concern that meets the SBIR/STTR
program eligibility requirements set
forth in 13 CFR 121.702, ‘‘What size and
eligibility standards are applicable to
the SBIR and STTR programs?’’.
(kk) Socially and Economically
Disadvantaged SBC (SDB). See 13 CFR
part 124, subpart B.
(ll) Socially and Economically
Disadvantaged Individual. See 13 CFR
124.103 & 124.104.
(mm) Student/Faculty-owned small
business. A small business that is
majority-owned by a faculty member or
a student of an institution of higher
education as defined in 20 U.S.C. 1001.
(nn) Subcontract. Any agreement,
other than one involving an employeremployee relationship, entered into by
an awardee of a funding agreement
calling for supplies or services for the
performance of the original funding
agreement.
(oo) Technology Development
Program.
(1) the Experimental Program to
Stimulate Competitive Research of the
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National Science Foundation as
established under 42 U.S.C. 1862g;
(2) the Defense Experimental Program
to Stimulate Competitive Research of
the Department of Defense;
(3) the Experimental Program to
Stimulate Competitive Research of the
Department of Energy;
(4) the Experimental Program to
Stimulate Competitive Research of the
Environmental Protection Agency;
(5) the Experimental Program to
Stimulate Competitive Research of the
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration;
(6) the Institutional Development
Award (IDeA) Program of the National
Institutes of Health; and
(7) the Agriculture and Food Research
Initiative (AFRI) of the Department of
Agriculture.
(pp) Technical Data. Recorded
information, regardless of the form or
method of the recording, of a scientific
or technical nature (including Computer
Software Documentation and Computer
Databases). The term does not include
Computer Software or financial,
administrative, cost or pricing, or
management information, or other data
incidental to contract or grant
administration. The term includes
recorded Data of a scientific or technical
nature that is included in Computer
Databases.
(qq) United States. The 50 states, the
territories and possessions of the
Federal Government, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the
District of Columbia, the Republic of the
Marshall Islands, the Federated States of
Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.
(rr) Unlimited Rights. The
Government’s rights to access, use,
modify, prepare derivative works,
reproduce, release, perform, display,
disclose, or distribute Data in whole or
in part, in any manner and for any
purpose whatsoever, and to have or
authorize others to do so.
(ss) Women-Owned SBC (WOSB). An
SBC that is at least 51% owned by one
or more women, or in the case of any
publicly owned business, at least 51%
of the stock is owned by women, and
women control the management and
daily business operations.
4. Phased Structure of Programs
The SBIR/STTR programs employ a
phased process, uniform throughout the
Federal Government, of soliciting
proposals and awarding funding
agreements for R/R&D, production,
services, or any combination, to meet
stated agency needs or missions.
Agencies must issue SBIR/STTR awards
pursuant to competitive and merit-based
selection procedures. Agencies may not
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use investment of venture capital or
investment from hedge funds or private
equity firms as a criterion for an SBIR/
STTR award. Although matching funds
are not required for Phase I or Phase II
awards, agencies may require a small
business to have matching funds for
certain special awards (e.g., to reduce
the gap between a Phase II and Phase III
award). In order to stimulate and foster
scientific and technological innovation,
including increasing commercialization
of Federal R/R&D, the program must
follow a uniform competitive process of
the following three phases, unless an
exception applies:
(a) Phase I. Phase I involves a
solicitation of contract proposals or
grant applications to conduct feasibilityrelated experimental or theoretical R/
R&D related to described agency
requirements. These requirements, as
defined by agency topics contained in a
solicitation, may be general or narrow in
scope, depending on the needs of the
agency. The object of this phase is to
determine the scientific and technical
merit and feasibility of the proposed
effort and the quality of performance of
the SBC with a relatively small agency
investment before consideration of
further Federal support in Phase II.
(1) Several different proposed
solutions to a given problem may be
funded.
(2) Proposals will be evaluated on a
competitive basis. Agency criteria used
to evaluate SBIR/STTR proposals must
give consideration to the scientific and
technical merit and feasibility of the
proposal along with its potential for
commercialization. Considerations may
also include program balance with
respect to market or technological risk
or critical agency requirements.
(3) Agency benchmarks for progress
towards commercialization must be met
to be eligible to participate in Phase I of
the program. See section 6(a) for a
description of this Phase I eligibility
requirement.
(4) Agencies may require the
submission of a Phase II proposal as a
deliverable item under Phase I.
(b) Phase II.
(1) The object of Phase II is to
continue the R/R&D effort from the
completed Phase I. Unless an exception
set forth in paragraphs (i) or (ii) below
applies, only SBIR/STTR Phase I
awardees are eligible to participate in
Phase II.
(i) A Federal agency may issue an
SBIR Phase II award to an STTR Phase
I awardee to further develop the work
performed under the STTR Phase I
award. Similarly, an agency may issue
an STTR Phase II award to an SBIR
Phase I awardee to further develop the
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work performed under the SBIR Phase
I award. The agency must base its
decision upon the results of work
performed under the Phase I award and
the scientific and technical merit and
commercial potential of the Phase II
proposal. The Phase I awardee must
meet the eligibility and program
requirements of the Phase II program
from which it will receive the award in
order to receive the Phase II award.
(ii) [SBIR only] During fiscal years
(FY) 2012 through 2017, the National
Institutes of Health (NIH), Department
of Defense (DoD) and the Department of
Education (DoEd) may issue a Phase II
SBIR award to a small business concern
that did not receive a Phase I SBIR
award for that R/R&D. Prior to such an
award, the heads of those agencies, or
designees, must issue a written
determination that the small business
has demonstrated the scientific and
technical merit and feasibility of the
ideas that appear to have commercial
potential. The determination must be
submitted to SBA prior to issuing the
Phase II award.
(2) Funding must be based upon the
results of work performed under a Phase
I award and the scientific and technical
merit, feasibility and commercial
potential of the Phase II proposal. Phase
II awards may not necessarily complete
the total research and development that
may be required to satisfy commercial
or Federal needs beyond the SBIR/STTR
program. The Phase II funding
agreement with the awardee may, at the
discretion of the awarding agency,
establish the procedures applicable to
Phase III agreements. The Government
is not obligated to fund any specific
Phase II proposal.
(3) The SBIR/STTR Phase II award
decision process requires, among other
things, consideration of a proposal’s
commercial potential. Commercial
potential includes the potential to
transition the technology to private
sector applications, Government
applications, or Government contractor
applications. Commercial potential in a
Phase II proposal may be evidenced by:
(i) the SBC’s record of successfully
commercializing SBIR/STTR or other
research;
(ii) the existence of Phase II funding
commitments from private sector or
other non-SBIR/STTR funding sources;
(iii) the existence of Phase III, followon commitments for the subject of the
research; and
(iv) other indicators of commercial
potential of the idea.
(4) Agencies may not use an
invitation, pre-screening, or preselection process for eligibility for Phase
II. Agencies must note in each
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solicitation that all Phase I awardees
may apply for a Phase II award and
provide guidance on the procedure for
doing so.
(5) A Phase II awardee may receive
one additional, sequential Phase II
award to continue the work of an initial
Phase II award. The additional,
sequential Phase II award has the same
guideline amounts and limits as an
initial Phase II award.
(6) Agencies may offer special SBIR/
STTR awards, such as Phase IIB awards,
that supplement or extend Phase II
awards. For example, some agencies
administer Phase IIB awards that differ
from the base Phase II in that they
require third party matching of the
SBIR/STTR funds. Each such
supplemental award must be linked to
a base Phase II award (the initial Phase
II, or the second sequential Phase II
award). Any SBIR/STTR funds used for
such special or supplementary awards
are aggregated with the amount of the
base Phase II to determine the size of
that Phase II award. Therefore, while
there is no limit on the number of such
special/supplementary awards, there is
a limit on the total amount of SBIR/
STTR funds that can be administered
through them—the amounts of these
awards count towards the size of the
initial Phase II or the sequential Phase
II, each of which has a guideline amount
of $1 million and a limit of $1.5 million.
(Note that Phase IIB awards under the
NIH SBIR program are administered as
second, sequential Phase II awards, not
supplemental awards. As such, they are
base Phase II awards and subject to the
Phase II guideline amounts and limits of
$1 million and $1.5 million).
(7) A concern that has received a
Phase I award from an agency may
receive a subsequent Phase II award
from another agency if each agency
makes a written determination that the
topics of the relevant awards are the
same and both agencies report the
awards to the SBA including a reference
to the related Phase I award and initial
Phase II award if applicable.
(8) Agencies may issue Phase II
awards for testing and evaluation of
products, services, or technologies for
use in technical or weapons systems.
(c) Phase III. Phase III refers to work
that derives from, extends, or completes
an effort made under prior SBIR/STTR
funding agreements, but is funded by
sources other than the SBIR/STTR
programs. Phase III work is typically
oriented towards commercialization of
SBIR/STTR research or technology.
(1) Phase III work: Each of the
following types of activity constitutes
SBIR/STTR Phase III work:
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(i) Commercial application (including
testing and evaluation of products,
services or technologies for use in
technical or weapons systems) of SBIR/
STTR-funded R/R&D that is financed by
non-Federal sources of capital. (Note:
The guidance in this Policy Directive
regarding SBIR/STTR Phase III pertains
to the non-SBIR/STTR federally-funded
work described in (ii) and (iii) below. It
does not address private agreements an
SBIR/STTR firm may make in the
commercialization of its technology,
except for a subcontract to a Federal
contract that may be a Phase III.).
(ii) SBIR/STTR-derived products or
services intended for use by the Federal
Government, funded by non-SBIR/STTR
sources of Federal funding.
(iii) Continuation of SBIR/STTR work,
funded by non-SBIR/STTR sources of
Federal funding.
(2) Data Rights. A Phase III award is,
by its nature an SBIR/STTR award, has
SBIR/STTR status, and must provide for
SBIR/STTR Data Rights. If an SBIR/
STTR Awardee receives a funding
agreement (whether competed, sole
sourced or a subcontract) for work that
derives from, extends, or completes
efforts made under prior SBIR/STTR
funding agreements, then the funding
agreement for the new work must have
all SBIR/STTR Phase III status and
SBIR/STTR Data Rights.
(3) Competition Requirement. The
competitions for SBIR/STTR Phase I and
Phase II awards satisfy any competition
requirement of the Armed Services
Procurement Act, the Federal Property
and Administrative Services Act, and
the Competition in Contracting Act. An
agency that wishes to fund an SBIR/
STTR Phase III award, which is an
extension of prior Phase I and/or Phase
II awards, is not required to conduct
another competition for the Phase III
award in order to satisfy those statutory
provisions. As a result, in conducting
actions relative to a Phase III SBIR/
STTR award, it is sufficient to state for
purposes of a Justification and
Approval, if one is deemed required by
the agency, that the project is an SBIR/
STTR Phase III award that is derived
from, extends, or completes efforts made
under prior SBIR/STTR funding
agreements and is authorized pursuant
to 15 U.S.C. 638(r)(4).
(4) Phase III work may be for
products, production, services, R/R&D,
or any such combination.
(5) There is no limit on the number,
duration, type, or dollar value of Phase
III awards made to a business concern.
There is no limit on the time that may
elapse between a Phase I or Phase II
award and Phase III award, or between
a Phase III award and any subsequent
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Phase III award. A Federal agency may
enter into a Phase III SBIR/STTR
agreement at any time with a Phase II
awardee. Similarly, a Federal agency
may enter into a Phase III SBIR/STTR
agreement at any time with a Phase I
awardee. A subcontract to a Federallyfunded prime contract may be a Phase
III award.
(6) Size. The small business size
limits for Phase I and Phase II awards
do not apply to Phase III awards.
(7) Special acquisition requirement.
Agencies or their Government-owned,
contractor-operated (GOCO) facilities,
Federally-funded research and
development centers (FFRDCs), or
Government prime contractors that
pursue R/R&D or production of
technology developed under the SBIR/
STTR program shall issue Phase III
awards relating to the technology,
including sole source awards, to the
Awardee that developed the technology
under an SBIR/STTR award, to the
greatest extent practicable.
(i) Implementing the requirement. In
recognition of the prior merit-based
competitive selection of, and
subsequent commitment of agency
funds to SBIR/STTR Awardees and the
broad intent of the program to promote
the commercial success of these small
businesses, Agencies must make a good
faith effort to negotiate with such
Awardees regarding the performance of
the new, related, work and to issue
Phase III awards for the work. When
implementing this requirement, the
agency must identify the planned work
as SBIR/STTR Phase III and consider the
practicability of pursuing the work with
the Awardee through a sole source
award by performing market research to
determine whether the firm is available,
capable and willing to perform the
work. In every case, the funding agency
must act in ways consistent with the
Congressional intent to support the
commercialization of an SBIR/STTRdevelop technology by the SBIR/STTR
Awardee, and all parties must proceed
along these steps in good faith.
(ii) Sole Source Awards. If pursuing
the Phase III work with the Awardee is
found to be practicable, the agency must
award a non-competitive contract to the
firm.
(iii) Other Preference. If pursuing the
Phase III work with the Awardee on a
sole source/non-competitive basis is not
practicable, the Agency must document
the file and provide a copy of the
decision, including the rationale, to the
SBA. In addition, the agency must
consider whether there are other means
of affording preference for the Phase III
work and the SBIR/STTR Awardee,
such as, for example, using a brand-
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name requirement for the SBIR/STTR
Awardee’s deliverable in the solicitation
when appropriate, or using an
evaluation factor that gives preference
or priority to offerors utilizing SBIR/
STTR Awardees for the Phase III work.
(iv) Agency Notice of Intent to Award.
An agency, or its GOCOs or FFRDCs,
that intends to pursue Phase III work
(which includes R/R&D, production,
services, or any combination thereof of
a technology developed under an SBIR/
STTR award), with an entity other than
the Phase I or Phase II SBIR/STTR
Awardee, must notify SBA in writing
prior to such an award. This notification
must include, at a minimum:
(A) The steps the agency has taken to
fulfill the special acquisition
requirement (e.g., a good faith effort to
make the award to the SBIR/STTR
Awardee).
(B) The reasons why a follow-on
funding agreement with the SBIR/STTR
Awardee is not practicable (e.g., SBIR/
STTR Awardee was not willing or
interested in the work, not capable of
doing the work or functioning as a
prime and subcontracting the work, or
no longer in business).
(C) The identity of the entity with
which the agency intends to make an
award to perform the research,
development, or production; the type of
funding agreement to be used; and the
amounts of the agreement.
(v) SBA Notice of Intent to Appeal.
SBA may appeal a decision by an
agency (or its GOCOs or FFRDCs) to
pursue Phase III work with a business
concern other than the SBIR/STTR
Awardee that developed the technology
to the head of the contracting activity.
(A) If SBA receives an agency’s notice
of intent to make an award under (iv)
above, SBA may file a notice of intent
to appeal with the funding agreement
officer no later than 5 business days
after receiving the agency’s notice of
intent to make award.
(B) If an agency is pursuing work that
SBA has determined is Phase III work
and has not complied with either of the
reporting requirements above, SBA may
notify the agency at any time of its
intent to appeal the decision to proceed
with the work. SBA makes such
determinations based on all information
it receives, including information
presented directly to SBA by an SBIR/
STTR Awardee.
(vi) Suspension of Work. Upon receipt
of SBA’s notice of intent to appeal, the
funding agreement officer must suspend
further action on the acquisition until
the head of the contracting activity
issues a written decision on the appeal.
The funding agreement officer may
proceed with award only if he or she
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determines in writing that the award
must be made to protect the public
interest. The funding agreement officer
must include a statement of the facts
justifying such a determination and
provide a copy of its determination to
SBA.
(vii) SBA Appeal. Within 10 business
days of SBA’s Notice of Intent to appeal,
SBA may file a formal appeal with the
head of the agency. SBA’s appeal will
state with specificity SBA’s conclusion
that the agency’s obligation to make a
Phase III award ‘‘to the greatest extent
practicable’’ has not been fulfilled.
(viii) Agency Decision. Within 30
business days of receiving SBA’s appeal,
the head of the agency’s contracting
activity must render a written decision
setting forth the basis of his or her
determination. During this period, the
agency should consult with SBA and
review any case-specific information
SBA believes to be pertinent.
(ix) SBA case report to Congress. SBA
notifies Congress of all instances in
which an agency pursued Phase III R/
R&D, or production of a technology
developed under an SBIR/STTR award,
with a business or entity other than the
SBIR/STTR Awardee. SBA will notify
Congress of such instances, of any
agency determination or decision
justifying an award to other than the
Phase III SBIR/STTR Awardee, and of
any SBA appeals of agency decisions
under this section.
5. Program Solicitation Process
(a) Topics/Subtopics. At least
annually, each agency must issue a
program solicitation that sets forth a
substantial number of R/R&D topics and
subtopic areas consistent with stated
agency needs or missions. Agencies may
decide to issue joint solicitations. Both
the list of topics and the description of
the topics and subtopics must be
sufficiently comprehensive to provide a
wide range of opportunities for SBCs to
participate in the agency R&D programs.
Topics and subtopics must emphasize
the need for proposals with advanced
concepts to meet specific agency R/R&D
needs. Each topic and subtopic must
describe the needs in sufficient detail to
assist in providing on-target responses,
but cannot involve detailed
specifications to prescribed solutions of
the problems.
(b) Master Schedule. The Act requires
issuance of SBIR/STTR Phase I program
solicitations in accordance with a
Master Schedule coordinated between
SBA and the SBIR/STTR agency. The
SBA office responsible for coordination
is: Office of Innovation, U.S. Small
Business Administration, 409 Third
Street, SW, Washington, DC 20416.
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Phone: (202) 205–6450. Fax: (202) 205–
7754. Email: technology@sba.gov. Web
site: www.SBIR.gov.
(c) Coordination of Agency Schedules.
For maximum participation by
interested SBCs, it is important that the
planning, scheduling and coordination
of agency program solicitation release
dates be completed as early as
practicable to coincide with the
commencement of the fiscal year on
October 1. Bunching of agency program
solicitation release and closing dates
may prohibit SBCs from preparation and
timely submission of proposals for more
than one SBIR/STTR project. SBA’s
coordination of agency schedules
minimizes the bunching of proposed
release and closing dates. SBIR/STTR
agencies may elect to publish multiple
program solicitations within a given
fiscal year to facilitate in-house agency
proposal review and evaluation
scheduling.
(d) Posting of Master Schedule. SBA
posts a Master Schedule of release dates
of program solicitations with links to
the participating agency Web sites. For
more information see section 10(c).
(e) Simplified, Standardized, and
Timely SBIR/STTR Program
Solicitations
(1) The Act requires simplified,
standardized and timely SBIR/STTR
solicitations and for agencies to use a
‘‘uniform process’’ minimizing the
regulatory burden for SBCs. Therefore,
the instructions in Appendix I to this
Policy Directive purposely depart from
normal Government solicitation format
and requirements.
(2) Agencies must update SBIR.gov
with information on each solicitation
and modification no later than 5 days
after the date of release of the
solicitation or modification to the
public. This must include any update to
the Web site link for the program
solicitation.
(3) SBA does not intend that the
SBIR/STTR program solicitation replace
or be used as a substitute for unsolicited
proposals for R/R&D awards to SBCs. In
addition, the SBIR/STTR program
solicitation procedures do not prohibit
other agency R/R&D actions with SBCs
that are carried on in accordance with
applicable statutory or regulatory
authorizations.
6. Eligibility and Application (Proposal)
Requirements
(a) Eligibility Requirements
(1) Certification. To receive SBIR/
STTR funds, each awardee of a Phase I
or Phase II award must qualify as an
SBC at the time of award and at any
other time set forth in SBA’s regulations
at 13 CFR 121.701–121.705. Each Phase
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I and Phase II awardee must submit a
certification stating that it meets the
size, ownership and other requirements
of the SBIR or STTR program at the time
of award, and at any other time set forth
in SBA’s regulations at 13 CFR 121.701–
705. SBA’s size regulations for the SBIR/
STTR program require that an awardee
be directly owned and controlled by
individuals or small business concerns;
however, SBA is clarifying that a small
business concern directly owned and
controlled by an Indian Tribe or by
another small business concern that is
directly owned and controlled by an
Indian Tribe may also be eligible to
participate in the SBIR/STTR programs.
(2) Performance of Work
Requirements. For SBIR Phase I, a
minimum of two-thirds of the research
or analytical effort must be performed
by the awardee. For SBIR Phase II, a
minimum of one-half of the research or
analytical effort must be performed by
the awardee. For STTR Phase I and
Phase II, not less than 40 percent of the
R/R&D work must be performed by the
SBC, and not less than 30 percent of the
R/R&D work must be performed by a
partnering Research Institution.
Occasionally, deviations from these
requirements may occur, and must be
approved in writing by the funding
agreement officer after consultation with
the agency SBIR/STTR Program
Manager/Coordinator. An agency can
measure this research or analytical effort
using the total contract dollars or labor
hours, and must explain to the small
business in the solicitation how it will
be measured.
(3) Employment of the Principal
Investigator. For both Phase I and Phase
II, the primary employment of the
principal investigator must be with the
SBC (or the research institution—STTR
only) at the time of award and during
the conduct of the proposed project.
Primary employment means that more
than one-half of the principal
investigator’s employment time is spent
in the employ of the SBC (or research
institution—STTR only). This precludes
full-time employment with another
organization. Occasionally, deviations
from this requirement may occur, and
must be approved in writing by the
funding agreement officer after
consultation with the agency SBIR/
STTR Program Manager/Coordinator.
Further, an SBC may replace the
principal investigator on an SBIR/STTR
Phase I or Phase II award, subject to
approval in writing by the funding
agreement officer. For purposes of the
SBIR/STTR programs, personnel
obtained through a Professional
Employer Organization or other similar
personnel leasing company may be
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considered employees of the awardee.
This is consistent with SBA’s size
regulations, 13 CFR 121.106, ‘‘How Does
SBA Calculate Number of Employees?’’.
(4) Location of the work. For both
Phase I and Phase II, the R/R&D work
must be performed in the United States.
However, based on a rare and unique
circumstance, agencies may approve a
particular portion of the R/R&D work to
be performed or obtained in a country
outside of the United States, for
example, if a supply or material or other
item or project requirement is not
available in the United States. The
funding agreement officer must approve
each such specific condition in writing.
(5) Novated/Successor in Interested/
Revised Funding Agreements. An SBIR/
STTR Awardee may include, and SBIR/
STTR work may be performed by, those
identified via a ‘‘novated’’ or ‘‘successor
in interest’’ or similarly-revised funding
agreement. For example, in order to
receive a Phase III award, the awardee
must have either received a prior Phase
I or Phase II award or been novated a
Phase I or Phase II award (or received
a revised Phase I or Phase II award if a
grant or cooperative grant). In addition,
an SBIR/STTR Awardee may include
those that have merely reorganized with
the same key staff (e.g., reorganized
from a partnership to an LLC),
regardless of whether they have been
assigned a different tax identification
number. In cases where there is a
novation or similarly revised funding
agreement, agencies may require the
original awardee to relinquish its rights
and interests in an SBIR/STTR project
in favor of another applicant as a
condition for that applicant’s eligibility
to participate in the programs for that
project.
(6) Majority-Owned by Multiple
VCOCs, Hedge Funds or Private Equity
Firms [SBIR Only]. NIH, Department of
Energy, and National Science
Foundation may each award not more
than 25% of the agency’s SBIR funds to
SBCs that are owned in majority part by
multiple venture capital operating
companies, hedge funds, or private
equity firms through competitive, meritbased procedures that are open to all
eligible small business concerns. Any
other SBIR participating agency may
award not more than 15% of the
agency’s SBIR funds to such SBCs. SBIR
agencies may or may not choose to
utilize this funding option. A table
listing the agencies that are currently
using this authority can be found at
www.SBIR.gov. This authority is set
forth in 13 CFR 121.701–121.705.
(i) Before permitting participation in
the SBIR program by SBCs that are
owned in majority part by multiple
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venture capital operating companies,
hedge funds, or private equity firms, the
SBIR agency must submit a written
determination to SBA, the Senate
Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship, the House Committee
on Small Business and the House
Committee on Science, Space, and
Technology at least 30 calendar days
before it begins making awards to such
SBCs. The determination must be made
by the head of the Federal agency or
designee and explain how awards to
such SBCs in the SBIR program will:
(A) induce additional venture capital,
hedge fund, or private equity firm
funding of small business innovations;
(B) substantially contribute to the
mission of the Federal agency;
(C) address a demonstrated need for
public research; and
(D) otherwise fulfill the capital needs
of small business concerns for
additional financing for SBIR projects.
(ii) The SBC that is majority-owned by
multiple venture capital operating
companies, hedge funds, or private
equity firms must register with SBA in
the Company Registry Database, at
www.SBIR.gov, prior to the date it
submits an application for an SBIR
award.
(iii) The SBC that is majority-owned
by multiple venture capital operating
companies, hedge funds, or private
equity firms must submit a certification
with its proposal stating, among other
things, that it has registered with SBA.
(iv) Any agency that makes an award
under this paragraph during a fiscal year
shall collect and submit to SBA data
relating to the number and dollar
amount of Phase I awards, Phase II
awards, and any other category of
awards by the Federal agency under the
SBIR program during that fiscal year.
See section 10 of this directive for the
specific reporting requirements.
(v) If an agency awards more than the
percentage of the funds authorized
under section 6(a)(6) of the Policy
Directive, the agency shall transfer from
its non-SBIR and non-STTR R&D funds
to the agency’s SBIR funds any amount
that is in excess of the authorized
amount. The agency must transfer the
funds not later than 180 days after the
date on which the Federal agency made
the award that exceeded the authorized
amount.
(vi) If a Federal agency makes an
award under a solicitation more than 9
months after the date on which the
period for submitting applications
under the solicitation ends, a Covered
Small Business Concern is eligible to
receive the award, without regard to
whether it meets the eligibility
requirements of the program for a SBC
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that is majority-owned by multiple
venture capital operating companies,
hedge funds, or private equity firms, if
the Covered Small Business Concern
meets all other requirements for such an
award. In addition, the agency must
transfer from its non-SBIR and nonSTTR R&D funds to the agency’s SBIR
funds any amount that is so awarded to
a Covered Small Business Concern. The
funds must be transferred not later than
90 days after the date on which the
Federal agency makes the award.
(7) Agency benchmarks for progress
towards commercialization.
(i) Before making a new Phase I award
to an awardee that has won multiple
prior SBIR/STTR awards, each agency
must establish benchmarks for progress
towards commercialization and
determine whether an applicant meets
those benchmarks. Agencies must apply
two SBA-approved performance
standards (benchmarks) addressing an
awardee’s progress towards
commercialization: a Phase II Transition
Rate that sets a minimum required rate
of progress from Phase I to Phase II over
a specified period, and a
Commercialization Rate Benchmark that
sets the minimum commercialization
results an awardee must have realized
from its prior SBIR/STTR awards over a
specified period.
(ii) If an awardee fails to meet either
of the benchmarks, that awardee is not
eligible for a new Phase I award (and
any new Phase II award issued pursuant
to paragraph 4(b)(1)(ii)) for a period of
one year from the time of the
determination.
(iii) For each benchmark, agencies
establish a threshold number of prior
awards an awardee must have won for
the benchmark requirement to be
applied.
(iv) Using information received from
the agencies and from SBIR/STTR
Awardees, SBA identifies the
companies that have won more than the
threshold number of awards and
calculates the Phase II Transition Rates
and Commercialization Rates for those
companies. The results of this
assessment are used by each agency to
determine if a company fails to meet a
benchmark rate and is therefore not
eligible for a new Phase I award.
Agencies must notify SBA of any
applications denied because of failure to
meet the benchmarks. The assessment
results and eligibility determinations are
not made public. Participating agencies
and SBA officials view the results
through secure user accounts on
www.SBIR.gov. Each participating
company can view the results of the last
benchmark assessment once it has
created a Small Business User account
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on www.SBIR.gov. If an awardee
believes its assessment was made in
error, it may provide SBA with the
pertinent award information and request
a reassessment.
(v) Current details of these
requirements and the implementation
processes used by the agencies are
posted on www.SBIR.gov under the
‘‘Performance Benchmark
Requirements’’ tab. Changes to these
benchmarks requirements and
procedures become effective when
posted on the www.SBIR.gov. Agencies
must submit any changes to the
benchmarks to SBA for prior approval.
If approved, SBA will publish the
benchmarks and allow for public
comment at least 60 days before
becoming effective.
(b) Proposal (Application)
Requirements.
(1) Registration and Certifications for
Proposal and Award.
(i) Each applicant must register in
SBA’s Company Registry Database at
www.SBIR.gov (see Appendix I) and
submit a .pdf document of the
registration and any required
certifications with its application if the
information cannot be transmitted
automatically to the SBIR/STTR
agencies from www.SBIR.gov.
Applicants must have updated their
information on the Company Registry
no more than 6 months prior to the date
of a proposal submission.
(ii) Agencies may request the SBIR/
STTR applicant to submit a certification
at the time of submission of the
application, which requires the
applicant to state that it intends to meet
the size, ownership and other
requirements of the SBIR/STTR program
at the time of award of the funding
agreement, if selected for award. See
Appendix I for the required text of the
certification.
(iii) [SBIR Only] For those agencies
using the authority under section 6(a)(6)
of the Directive, each Phase I and Phase
II applicant that is majority-owned by
multiple venture capital operating
companies, hedge funds, or private
equity firms is required to submit a
specific certification with its SBIR
application to the SBIR agency (see
Appendix I for the required text of the
certification).
(2) Commercialization Plan. A
succinct commercialization plan must
be included with each proposal for an
SBIR/STTR Phase II award. Elements of
a commercialization plan will include
the following, as applicable:
(i) Company information. Focused
objectives/core competencies;
specialization area(s); products with
significant sales; and history of previous
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Federal and non-Federal funding,
regulatory experience, and subsequent
commercialization.
(ii) Customer and Competition. Clear
description of key technology
objectives, current competition, and
advantages compared to competing
products or services; description of
hurdles to acceptance of the innovation.
(iii) Market. Milestones, target dates,
analyses of market size, and estimated
market share after first year sales and
after 5 years; explanation of plan to
obtain market share.
(iv) Intellectual Property. Patent
status, technology lead, trade secrets or
other demonstration of a plan to achieve
sufficient protection to realize the
commercialization stage and attain at
least a temporal competitive advantage.
(v) Financing. Plans for securing
necessary funding in Phase III.
(vi) Assistance and mentoring. Plans
for securing needed technical or
business assistance through mentoring,
partnering, or through arrangements
with state assistance programs, SBDCs,
Federally-funded research laboratories,
Manufacturing Extension Partnership
centers, or other assistance providers.
(3) Data Collection. Each Phase I and
II applicant is required to provide
information on www.SBIR.gov (see
Appendix II). Each SBC applying for a
Phase II award is required to update its
commercialization information on
www.SBIR.gov for all of its prior Phase
II awards (see Appendix II).
7. Program Funding Process
Because the Act requires a
‘‘simplified, standardized funding
process,’’ specific attention must be
given to the following areas of SBIR/
STTR program administration:
(a) Timely Receipt of Proposals.
Program solicitations must establish
proposal submission dates for Phase I
and may establish proposal submission
dates for Phase II. However, agencies
may also negotiate mutually acceptable
Phase II proposal submission dates with
individual Phase I awardees.
(b) Review of Proposals. SBA
encourages Participating Agencies to
use their routine review processes for
SBIR/STTR proposals whether internal
or external evaluation is used. A more
limited review process may be used for
Phase I due to the larger number of
proposals anticipated. Where
appropriate, ‘‘peer’’ reviews external to
the agency are authorized by the Act.
SBA cautions Participating Agencies
that all review procedures must be
designed to minimize any possible
conflict of interest as it pertains to
applicant proprietary data. The
standardized SBIR/STTR solicitation
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advises potential applicants that
proposals may be subject to an
established external review process and
that the applicant may include company
designated proprietary information in
its proposal.
(c) Selection of Awardees.
(1) Time period for decision on
proposals.
(i) The National Institutes of Health
(NIH) and the National Science
Foundation (NSF) must issue a notice to
an applicant for each proposal
submitted stating whether it was
recommended or not for award no more
than one year after the closing date of
the solicitation. NIH and NSF agencies
should issue the award no more than 15
months after the closing date of the
solicitation. Pursuant to paragraph (iii)
below, NIH and NSF are encouraged to
reduce these timeframes.
(ii) All other participating agencies
must issue a notice to an applicant for
each proposal submitted stating whether
it was recommended or not for award no
more than 90 calendar days after the
closing date of the solicitation. Agencies
should issue the award no more than
180 calendar days after the closing date
of the solicitation.
(iii) Agencies are encouraged to
develop programs or measures to reduce
the time periods between the close of a
Phase I solicitation/receipt of a Phase II
application and notification to the
applicant as well as the time to the
issuance of the Phase I and Phase II
awards. As appropriate, agencies should
adopt accelerated proposal, evaluation,
and selection procedures designed to
address the gap in funding these
competitive awards to meet or reduce
the timeframes set forth above. With
respect to Phase II awards, SBA
recognizes that Phase II arrangements
between the agency and applicant may
require more detailed negotiation to
establish terms acceptable to both
parties; however, agencies must not
sacrifice the R/R&D momentum created
under Phase I by engaging in
unnecessarily protracted Phase II
proceedings.
(iv) Request for Waiver.
(A) If the agency determines that it
requires additional time between the
solicitation closing date and the
notification of recommendation for
award, it must submit a written request
for an extension to SBA. The written
request must specify the number of
additional calendar days needed to
issue the notice for a specific applicant
and the reasons for the extension. If an
agency believes it will not meet the
timeframes for an entire solicitation, the
request for an extension must state how
many awards will not meet the statutory
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timeframes, as well as the number of
additional calendar days needed to
issue the notice and the reasons for the
extension. The written request must be
submitted to SBA at least 10 business
days prior to when the agency must
issue its notice to the applicant.
Agencies must send their written
request to: Office of Innovation, U.S.
Small Business Administration, 409
Third Street SW., Washington, DC
20416. Phone: (202) 205–6450. Fax:
(202) 205–7754. Email: technology@
sba.gov.
(B) SBA will respond to the request
for an extension within 5 business days,
as practicable. SBA may authorize an
agency to issue the notice up to 90
calendar days after the timeframes set
forth in paragraphs (c)(1)(i) and (ii).
(C) Even if SBA grants an extension of
time, the SBIR/STTR agency is required
to develop programs or measures to
reduce the time periods between the
close of a Phase I solicitation/receipt of
a Phase II application and notification to
the applicant as well as the time to the
issuance of the Phase I and Phase II
awards as set forth in paragraph (c)(1)(3)
above.
(D) If an SBIR/STTR agency does not
receive an extension of time, it may still
proceed with the award to the small
business and must complete the
requirements in (C) above.
(2) Standardized solicitation.
(i) The standardized SBIR/STTR
program solicitation must advise Phase
I applicants that additional information
may be requested by the awarding
agency to evidence awardee
responsibility for project completion
and advise applicants of the proposal
evaluation criteria for Phase I and Phase
II.
(ii) The SBIR/STTR agency will
provide information to each Phase I
awardee considered for a Phase II award
regarding Phase II proposal
submissions, reviews, and selections.
(d) Essentially Equivalent Work. SBIR/
STTR applicants often submit duplicate
or similar proposals to more than one
soliciting agency when the
announcement or solicitation appears to
involve similar topics or requirements.
However, ‘‘essentially equivalent work’’
must not be funded in the SBIR/STTR
or other Federal agency or State
programs, unless an exception to this
rule applies. Agencies must verify with
the applicant that this is the case by
requiring them to certify at the time of
award and during the lifecycle of the
award that they do not have essentially
equivalent work funded by another
Federal agency or State program.
(e) Cost Sharing. Cost sharing can
serve the mutual interests of the
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participating agencies and certain
program awardees by assuring the
efficient use of available resources.
However, cost sharing on SBIR/STTR
projects is not required, although it may
be encouraged. Therefore, cost sharing
cannot be an evaluation factor in the
review of proposals. The standardized
SBIR/STTR program solicitation
(Appendix I) will provide information
to prospective program applicants
concerning cost sharing.
(f) Payment Schedules and Cost
Principles.
(1) SBIR/STTR Awardees may be paid
under an applicable, authorized
progress payment procedure or in
accordance with a negotiated/
definitized price and payment schedule.
Advance payments are optional and
may be made under appropriate law. In
all cases, agencies must make payment
to recipients under SBIR/STTR funding
agreements in full, subject to audit, on
or before the last day of the 12-month
period beginning on the date of
completion of the funding agreement
requirements.
(2) All SBIR/STTR funding
agreements must use, as appropriate,
current cost principles and procedures
authorized for use by the participating
agencies. By the time of award, agencies
must have informed each Awardee of
the applicable Federal regulations and
procedures that refer to the costs that,
generally, are allowable under funding
agreements.
(3) Agencies must, to the extent
possible, attempt to shorten the amount
of time between the notice of an award
under the SBIR/STTR program and the
subsequent release of funding with
respect to the award.
(g) Funding Agreement Types and Fee
or Profit. Statutory requirements for
uniformity and standardization require
consistency in application of SBIR/
STTR program provisions among SBIR/
STTR agencies. However, consistency
must allow for flexibility by the various
agencies in missions and needs as well
as the wide variance in funds required
to be devoted to SBIR/STTR programs in
the agencies. The following instructions
meet all of these requirements:
(1) Funding Agreement. The type of
funding agreement (contract, grant, or
cooperative agreement) is determined by
the awarding agency, but must be
consistent with 31 U.S.C. 6301–6308.
Contracting agencies may issue SBIR/
STTR awards as fixed price contracts
(including firm fixed price, fixed price
incentive or fixed price level of effort
contracts) or cost type contracts,
consistent with the Federal Acquisition
Regulations and agency supplemental
acquisition regulations. In some cases,
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small businesses seek progress
payments, which may be appropriate
under fixed-price R&D contracts and are
a form of contract financing for firmfixed-price contracts. However, for
certain agencies, in order to qualify for
progress payments or an incentive type
contract, the small business’s
accounting system would have to be
audited, which can delay award, unless
the contractor has an already approved
accounting system. Therefore SBIR/
STTR agencies should consider using
partial payments methods or on a
deliverable item basis or consider other
available options to work with the SBIR/
STTR Awardee.
(2) Fee or Profit. Except as expressly
excluded or limited by statute, awarding
agencies must provide for a reasonable
fee or profit on SBIR/STTR funding
agreements, consistent with normal
profit margins provided to profit-making
firms for R/R&D work.
(h) Periods of Performance and
Extensions.
(1) In keeping with the legislative
intent to make a large number of
relatively small awards, modification of
funding agreements to increase the
dollar amount should be kept to a
minimum, except for options in original
Phase I or II awards.
(2) Phase I. Period of performance
normally should not exceed 6 months
for SBIR or 1 year for STTR. However,
agencies may provide a longer
performance period where appropriate
for a particular project.
(3) Phase II. Period of performance
under Phase II is a subject of negotiation
between the awardee and the issuing
agency. The duration of Phase II
normally should not exceed 2 years.
However, agencies may provide a longer
performance period where appropriate
for a particular project.
(i) Dollar Value of Awards.
(1) Generally, a Phase I award
(including modifications) may not
exceed $150,000 and a Phase II award
(including modifications) may not
exceed $1,000,000. Agencies may issue
an award that exceeds these award
guideline amounts by no more than
50%.
(2) SBA reviews these amounts every
year for the effects of inflation and posts
these inflation effects and any resulting
adjustments on www.SBIR.gov. Adjusted
guidelines are effective for all
solicitations issued on or after the date
of the adjustment, and may be used by
agencies to amend the solicitation and
other program literature. Agencies have
the discretion to issue awards for less
than the guidelines.
(3) There is no dollar limit associated
with Phase III SBIR/STTR awards.
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(4) Agencies may request a waiver to
exceed the award guideline amounts
established in paragraph (i)(1) by more
than 50% for a specific topic. Agencies
must submit this request for a waiver to
SBA prior to release of the solicitation,
contract award, or modification to the
award for the topic. The request for a
waiver must explain and provide
evidence that the limitations on award
size will interfere with the ability of the
agency to fulfill its research mission
through the SBIR or STTR program; that
the agency will minimize, to the
maximum extent practicable, the
number of awards that exceed the
guideline amounts by more than 50%;
and that research costs for the topic area
differ significantly from those in other
areas. After review of the agency’s
justification, SBA may grant the waiver
for the agency to exceed the award
guidelines by more than 50% for a
specific topic. SBA will issue a decision
on the request within 10 business days.
The waiver will be in effect for one
fiscal year.
(5) Agencies must maintain
information on all awards exceeding the
guidelines set forth in paragraph (i)(1),
including the amount of the award, a
justification for exceeding the
guidelines for each award, the identity
and location of the awardee, whether
the awardee has received any venture
capital, hedge fund, or private equity
firm investment, and whether the
awardee is majority-owned by multiple
VCOCs, hedge funds, or private equity
firms.
(6) The award guidelines do not
prevent an agency from funding SBIR/
STTR projects from other (non-SBIR/
STTR) agency funds. Non-SBIR/STTR
funds used on SBIR/STTR efforts do not
count toward the award guidelines set
forth in (i)(1).
(j) National Security Exemption. The
Act provides for exemptions related to
the simplified standardized funding
process ‘‘if national security or
intelligence functions clearly would be
jeopardized.’’ This exemption should
not be interpreted as a blanket
exemption or prohibition of SBIR/STTR
participation related to the acquisition
of effort on national security or
intelligence functions except as
specifically defined under § 9(e)(2) of
the Act, 15 U.S.C. 638(e)(2). Agency
technology managers directing R/R&D
projects under the SBIR and STTR
programs, where the project subject
matter may be affected by this
exemption, must first make a
determination on which, if any, of the
standardized proceedings clearly place
national security and intelligence
functions in jeopardy, and then proceed
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with an acceptable modified process to
complete the SBIR/STTR action. SBA’s
SBIR/STTR program monitoring
activities, except where prohibited by
security considerations, must include a
review of nonconforming SBIR/STTR
actions justified under this public law
provision.
(k) Management of the STTR Project
[STTR only]. The SBC, and not its
partnering Research Institution(s), is to
provide satisfactory evidence that it will
exercise management direction and
control of the performance of the STTR
funding agreement. Regardless of the
proportion of the work or funding
allocated to each of the performers
under the funding agreement, the SBC is
to be the primary party with overall
responsibility for performance of the
project. All agreements between the SBC
and the Research Institution cooperating
in the STTR funding agreement, or any
business plans reflecting agreements
and responsibilities between the parties
during performance of STTR Phase I or
Phase II funding agreement, or for the
commercialization of the resulting
technology, should reflect the
controlling position of the SBC.
8. Terms of Agreement Under SBIR/
STTR Awards
(a) Proprietary Information Contained
in Proposals. The standardized SBIR/
STTR Program solicitation shall include
provisions requiring the confidential
treatment of any proprietary information
to the extent permitted by law. The
solicitation will require that all
proprietary information be identified
clearly and marked with a prescribed
legend. Agencies may elect to require
SBCs to limit proprietary information to
that essential to the proposal and to
have such information submitted on a
separate page or pages keyed to the text.
The Government, except solely for
proposal review purposes, shall not use
or disclose, or authorize any other
person or entity to use or disclose, all
proprietary information, regardless of
type, submitted in a contract proposal or
grant application for a funding
agreement under the SBIR/STTR
programs.
(b) Rights in Data Developed under
An SBIR/STTR Funding Agreement.
(1) General. The Act provides for
retention by an SBC Awardee of the
rights to data generated by the concern
in the performance of an SBIR/STTR
award. These data rights provide an
incentive for SBCs to participate in
Federally-funded research projects and
contribute to the ability of small
business Awardees to commercialize the
technology developed under the
program. The central purpose of SBIR/
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STTR Data Rights is to provide the
Federal Government with the degree of
access to an Awardee’s SBIR/STTR Data
needed to evaluate the work and
effectively utilize the results and at the
same time ensure that the Federal
Government or competitors of the SBIR/
STTR Awardee cannot use SBIR/STTR
Data in ways (e.g., for commercial
purposes or to produce future technical
procurement specifications) that would
inappropriately diminish the rights or
associated economic opportunities of
the small business that developed the
data. The data rights provisions and
definitions provided in this PD are
designed to ensure that, for properly
marked SBIR/STTR Data, during the
SBIR/STTR Protection Period, the
Government provides effective
protection of the data that is comparable
to and at least as strong as the protection
the Government gives to delivered
proprietary data that is developed
exclusively at private expense.
(2) Application of SBIR/STTR Data
Rights. SBIR/STTR Agencies must
ensure that awardees of an SBIR/STTR
funding agreement retain appropriate
proprietary rights for all SBIR/STTR
Data generated in the performance of the
award. In general, this results in the
Government receiving SBIR/STTR Data
Rights in all SBIR/STTR Data during the
SBIR/STTR Protection Period, except for
certain types of Data that are not subject
to such data rights restrictions due to
the nature of the data (e.g., Form, Fit,
and Function Data or Operations,
Maintenance, Installation, and Training
Purposes (OMIT Data). SBIR/STTR Data
Rights apply to all SBIR/STTR awards,
including subcontracts or subgrants to
such awards, that fall within the
statutory definition of Phase I, II, or III
of the SBIR/STTR programs, as
described in § 4 of this Policy Directive.
The scope and extent of the SBIR/STTR
Data Rights applicable to Federallyfunded Phase III awards are identical to
the SBIR/STTR Data Rights applicable
to Phases I and II SBIR/STTR awards.
SBIR/STTR Data Rights provide license
rights to the Federal Government. SBIR/
STTR Data Rights restrict the Federal
Government’s use and release of
properly marked SBIR/STTR Data only
during the SBIR/STTR Protection
Period; after the Protection Period the
Government receives Unlimited Rights
in that data. The Government receives
Unlimited Rights in all unmarked data.
(3) SBIR/STTR Data Rights—Main
Elements:
(A) An SBC retains title and
ownership of all SBIR/STTR Data it
develops or generates in the
performance of an SBIR/STTR award.
The SBC retains all rights in SBIR/STTR
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Data that are not granted to the
Government in accordance with this
Policy Directive. These rights of the SBC
do not expire.
(B) The Government receives SBIR/
STTR Data Rights during the SBIR/
STTR Protection Period on all
appropriately marked SBIR/STTR Data.
These rights enable the Federal
Government to use SBIR/STTR Data in
limited ways within the Government,
such as for project evaluation purposes,
but are intended to prohibit uses and
disclosures that can result in the
disclosure of the SBIR/STTR Data that
may undermine the SBC’s future
commercialization of the associated
technology. The Government receives
Unlimited Rights in all unmarked data.
(C) After the SBIR/STTR Protection
Period has expired, the Federal
Government receives Unlimited Rights
in SBIR/STTR Data that was subject to
SBIR/STTR Data Rights during the
protection period. Unlimited Rights
allows for any type of use or release of
the SBIR/STTR Data within the
Government, and permits the
Government to release SBIR/STTR Data
outside the Government, and to
authorize others to use that data, for any
purpose.
(4) SBIR/STTR Protection Period. The
SBIR/STTR Protection Period begins
with award of an SBIR/STTR funding
agreement and ends twelve years, or
longer at the discretion of the Funding
Agency, after acceptance of the last
deliverable under that agreement (either
Phase I, Phase II, or Federally-funded
SBIR/STTR Phase III) unless,
subsequent to the award, the agency
negotiates for some other protection
period for the SBIR/STTR Data.
(5) Marking Requirements, and
Requirements for Omitted or Incorrect
Markings. To receive the protections
accorded to SBIR/STTR Data pursuant
to SBIR/STTR Data Rights, any SBIR/
STTR Data that is delivered must be
marked with the appropriate SBIR/
STTR Data Rights legend or notice, in
accordance with agency procedures.
The Government assumes no liability
for the access, use, modification,
reproduction, release, performance,
display, disclosure, or distribution of
SBIR/STTR Data delivered without
markings. If SBIR/STTR Data is
delivered without the required legend or
notice, the SBIR/STTR Awardee may,
within 6 months of such delivery (or a
longer period approved by the agency
for good cause shown), request to have
an omitted SBIR/STTR Data legend or
notice, as applicable, placed on
qualifying Data. If SBIR/STTR Data is
delivered with an incorrect or
nonconforming legend or notice, the
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agency may correct, or permit correction
at the awardee’s expense, of such
incorrect or nonconforming notice(s).
(6) Negotiated Rights.
(A) Specially Negotiated Licenses
Authorized Only After Award. An
agency must not, in any way, make
issuance of an SBIR/STTR award
conditional upon the Awardee
negotiating or consenting to negotiate a
specially negotiated license or other
agreement regarding SBIR/STTR Data.
The negotiation of any such specially
negotiated license agreements shall be
permitted only after award.
(B) Following issuance of an SBIR/
STTR award, the Awardee may enter
into a written agreement with the
awarding agency to modify the license
rights that would otherwise be granted
to the agency during the Protection
Period. However, any such agreement
must be entered into voluntarily and by
mutual agreement of the SBIR/STTR
Awardee and agency, and not a
condition for additional work under the
funding agreement or the exercise of
options. Such a bilateral data rights
agreement must be entered into only
after the subject SBIR/STTR award
(which award must include an
appropriate SBIR/STTR Data Rights
clause) has been signed. Any such
specially negotiated license must be in
writing under a separate agreement after
the SBIR/STTR funding agreement is
signed. A decision by the awardee to
relinquish, transfer, or modify in any
way its rights in SBIR/STTR Data must
be made without pressure or coercion
by the agency or any other party. Any
provision in a competitive non-SBIR or
SBIR solicitation that would have the
effect of diminishing SBIR/STTR Data
Rights shall have no effect on the
provision of SBIR/STTR Data Rights in
a resulting Phase I, Phase II, or Phase III
award.
(7) SBIR/STTR Data Rights Clause. To
ensure that SBIR/STTR Awardees
receive the applicable data rights, all
SBIR and STTR solicitations and
resulting funding agreements must fully
implement all of the policies,
procedures, and requirements set forth
in this Policy Directive in appropriate
provisions and clauses incorporated
into the SBIR/STTR solicitations and
awards. Paragraph (5)(d)(3) of Appendix
I: Instructions for Preparation of SBIR/
STTR Program Solicitations provides a
sample SBIR/STTR data rights clause
containing the key elements that must
be reflected in the clause used in agency
solicitations. SBA will report to the
Congress any attempt or action by an
agency, that it is aware of, to condition
an SBIR or STTR award on the
negotiation of lesser data rights or to
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exclude the appropriate data rights
clause from the award.
(c) Nondisclosure Agreement for
Releases Outside the Government. In
accordance with the Government’s
SBIR/STTR Data Rights, the
Government must enter into an
appropriate nondisclosure agreement
(NDA) with any non-governmental
entity that is authorized to receive SBIR/
STTR Data (that is subject to SBIR/STTR
Data Rights) during the SBIR/STTR
Protection Period, except as otherwise
permitted by the Awardee asserting the
SBIR/STTR Data Rights. The NDA must
contain terms and conditions to ensure
that the non-governmental entity:
(1) Understands, acknowledges, and
agrees that it’s use, modification,
reproduction, release, display,
disclosure, and distribution of the SBIR/
STTR Data is permitted only for the
specific activities authorized by the
NDA (which must be authorized by
SBIR/STTR Data Rights, or otherwise
authorized by the SBIR/STTR Awardee);
(2) Is prohibited from further using,
modifying, reproducing, releasing,
displaying, disclosing, or distributing
the data unless it receives the written
permission of the Government (when
authorized by the SBIR/STTR Awardee)
or the written permission of the SBIR/
STTR Awardee;
(3) Agrees to destroy (or return to the
Government at the request of the
Government), all SBIR/STTR Data, and
all copies in its possession, at or before
the time specified in the agreement, and
to notify the procuring agency that all
copies have been destroyed (or returned
as requested by the Government);
(4) Is prohibited from using the data
for a commercial purpose unless it
receives the written permission of the
Government (when authorized by the
SBIR/STTR Awardee) or the written
permission of the SBIR/STTR Awardee
itself; and
(5) Ensures that its employees,
subcontractors, and other entities that
are authorized to receive SBIR/STTR
Data are bound by use and
nondisclosure restrictions consistent
with the NDA prior to being provided
access to such SBIR/STTR Data.
(d) [STTR only] Allocation of
Intellectual Property Rights in STTR
Award.
(1) An SBC, before receiving an STTR
award, must negotiate a written
agreement between the SBC and the
partnering Research Institution,
allocating intellectual property rights
and rights, if any, to carry out followon research, development, or
commercialization. The SBC must
submit this agreement to the awarding
agency with the proposal. The SBC must
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certify in all proposals that the
agreement is satisfactory to the SBC.
(2) The awarding agency may accept
an existing agreement between the two
parties if the SBC certifies its
satisfaction with the agreement, and
such agreement does not conflict with
the interests of the Government. SBA
will provide a model agreement to be
adopted by the agencies and used as
guidance by the SBC in the
development of an agreement with the
Research Institution. The model
agreement will direct the parties to, at
a minimum:
(A) State specifically the degree of
responsibility, and ownership of any
product, process, or other invention or
innovation resulting from the
cooperative research. The degree of
responsibility shall include
responsibility for expenses and liability,
and the degree of ownership shall also
include the specific rights to revenues
and profits.
(B) State which party may obtain
United States or foreign patents or
otherwise protect any inventions
resulting from the cooperative research.
(C) State which party has the right to
any continuation of research, including
non-STTR follow-on awards.
(3) The Government will not normally
be a party to any agreement between the
SBC and the Research Institution.
Nothing in the agreement is to conflict
with any provisions setting forth the
respective rights of the United States
and the SBC with respect to intellectual
property rights and with respect to any
right to carry out follow-on research.
(e) Title Transfer of Agency-Provided
Property. Under the Act, the
Government may transfer title to
property provided by the SBIR/STTR
agency to the awardee or acquired by
the awardee for the purpose of fulfilling
the contract where such transfer would
be more cost effective than recovery of
the property.
(f) Continued Use of Government
Equipment. Agencies must allow an
SBIR/STTR Awardee participating in an
SBIR/STTR Phase III award continued
use, as a directed bailment, of any
property transferred by the agency to the
Phase II awardee or acquired by the
awardee for the purpose of fulfilling the
contract. The Phase II awardee may use
the property for a period of not less than
2 years, beginning on the initial date of
the concern’s participation in the third
phase of the SBIR/STTR program.
(g) Grant Authority. The Act does not,
in and of itself, convey grant authority.
Each agency must secure grant authority
in accordance with its normal
procedures.
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(h) Conflicts of Interest. SBA cautions
Participating Agencies that awards
made to SBCs owned by or employing
current or previous Federal Government
employees may create conflicts of
interest in violation of FAR Part 3 and
the Ethics in Government Act of 1978,
as amended. Each participating agency
should refer to the standards of conduct
review procedures currently in effect for
its agency to ensure that such conflicts
of interest do not arise.
(i) American-Made Equipment and
Products. Congress intends that the
awardee of a funding agreement under
the SBIR/STTR program should, when
purchasing any equipment or a product
with funds provided through the
funding agreement, purchase only
American-made equipment and
products, to the extent possible, in
keeping with the overall purposes of
this program. Each SBIR/STTR agency
must provide to each awardee a notice
of this requirement.
(j) Certifications After Award and
During Funding Agreement Lifecycle.
(1) A Phase I funding agreement must
state that the awardee shall submit a
new certification as to whether it is in
compliance with specific SBIR/STTR
program requirements at the time of
final payment or disbursement.
(2) A Phase II funding agreement must
state that the awardee shall submit a
new certification as to whether it is in
compliance with specific SBIR/STTR
program requirements prior to receiving
more than 50% of the total award
amount and prior to final payment or
disbursement.
(3) Agencies may also require
additional certifications at other points
in time during the life cycle of the
funding agreement, such as at the time
of each payment or disbursement.
(k) Updating www.SBIR.gov. Agencies
must require each Phase II awardee to
update the commercialization
information on the award through the
company’s account on www.SBIR.gov
upon completion of the last deliverable
under the funding agreement. In
addition, the awardee is requested to
voluntarily update the
commercialization information on that
award annually thereafter for a
minimum period of 5 years.
(l) Prototypes. Participating agencies
must handle all prototypes developed
under an SBIR/STTR award with
caution during the SBIR/STTR
Protection Period to prevent any use or
disclosure of these items that has the
potential to reveal the innovative
aspects of the technology in ways that
may harm the awardee’s ability to
commercialize the technology. In
particular, reverse engineering of
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prototypes may reveal, to a Government
or non-Government entity, the SBIR/
STTR Data that is applied or embodied
in the item. While a prototype may not
itself be considered SBIR/STTR Data
because it is not ‘‘recorded
information,’’ SBA cautions agencies
that it is a violation of the purpose and
intent of the Small Business Act to
release or use a prototype during the
SBIR/STTR Protection Period in a way
that harms the awardee’s ability to take
advantage of the economic
opportunities of its SBIR/STTR Data.
SBA notes that the DFARS Restricted
Rights license granted to the
Government for computer software
prohibits non-governmental entities
from reverse-engineering, disassembly,
or decompiling Computer Software,
except in extremely limited
circumstances.
9. Responsibilities of SBIR/STTR
Agencies and Departments
(a) General Responsibilities. Each
agency participating in the SBIR/STTR
program must:
(1) Unilaterally determine the
categories of projects to be included in
its SBIR/STTR program, giving
consideration to maintaining a portfolio
balance between exploratory projects of
high technological risk and those with
greater likelihood of success. Further, to
the extent permitted by the law, and in
a manner consistent with the mission of
that agency and the purpose of the
SBIR/STTR program, each Federal
agency must:
(i) give priority in the SBIR/STTR
program to manufacturing-related
research and development in
accordance with Executive Order 13329.
In addition, agencies must develop an
Action Plan for implementing Executive
Order 13329, which identifies activities
used to give priority in the SBIR/STTR
program to manufacturing-related
research and development. These
activities should include the provision
of information on the Executive Order
on the agency’s SBIR/STTR program
Web site.
(ii) give priority to small business
concerns that participate in or conduct
energy efficiency or renewable energy
system research and development
projects.
(iii) give consideration to topics that
further one or more critical technologies
as identified by the National Critical
Technologies panel (or its successor) in
reports required under 42 U.S.C. 6683,
or the Secretary of Defense in
accordance with 10 U.S.C. 2522.
(2) Release SBIR/STTR solicitations in
accordance with the SBA master
schedule.
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(3) Unilaterally receive and evaluate
proposals resulting from program
solicitations, select awardees, issue
funding agreements, and inform each
awardee under such agreement, to the
extent possible, of the expenses of the
awardee that will be allowable under
the funding agreement.
(4) Require a succinct
commercialization plan with each
proposal submitted for a Phase II award.
(5) Collect and maintain information
from applicants and awardees and
provide it to SBA to develop and
maintain the database, as identified in
§ 11(c) of this Policy Directive.
(6) Administer its own SBIR/STTR
funding agreements or delegate such
administration to another agency.
(7) Include provisions in each SBIR/
STTR funding agreement setting forth
the respective rights of the United States
and the awardee with respect to
intellectual property rights and with
respect to any right to carry out followon research.
(8) Ensure that the rights in data
developed under each Federally-funded
SBIR/STTR Phase I, Phase II, and Phase
III award are protected properly.
(9) Make payments to awardees of
SBIR/STTR funding agreements on the
basis of progress toward or completion
of the funding agreement requirements
and in all cases make payment to
awardees under such agreements in full,
subject to audit, on or before the last day
of the 12-month period beginning on the
date of completion of such
requirements.
(10) Provide an annual report on the
SBIR/STTR program to SBA, as well as
other information concerning the SBIR/
STTR program. See § 10 of this Policy
Directive for further information on the
agency’s reporting requirements,
including the frequency for specific
reporting requirements.
(11) Include in its annual performance
plan required by 31 U.S.C. 1115(a) and
(b) a section on its SBIR/STTR program,
and submit such section to the Senate
Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship and to the House
Committees on Science, Space and
Technology and Small Business.
(12) Establish the agency’s
benchmarks for progress towards
commercialization and include the
information necessary to implement the
benchmarks in each solicitation. See
§ 6(a)(7) of the directive for further
information.
(b) Discretionary technical assistance
to SBIR/STTR Awardees.
(1) Agencies may enter into
agreements with vendors to provide
technical assistance to SBIR/STTR
Awardees, which may include access to
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a network of scientists and engineers
engaged in a wide range of technologies
or access to technical and business
literature available through on-line data
bases. Each agency may select a vendor
for a term not to exceed 5 years. The
vendor must be selected using
competitive and merit-based criteria.
(i) The purpose of this technical
assistance is to assist SBIR/STTR
Awardees in:
(A) making better technical decisions
on SBIR/STTR projects;
(B) solving technical problems that
arise during SBIR/STTR projects;
(C) minimizing technical risks
associated with SBIR/STTR projects;
and
(D) commercializing the SBIR/STTR
product or process.
(ii) An agency may not enter into a
contract with the vendor if the contract
amount provided for technical
assistance is based upon the total
number of Phase I or Phase II awards,
but may enter into a contract with the
vendor based upon the total amount of
awards for which assistance is provided.
(2) Each agency may provide up to
$5,000 of SBIR/STTR funds for the
technical assistance described above in
(b)(1) per year for each Phase I award
and each Phase II award. The amount
will be in addition to the award and will
count as part of the agency’s SBIR/STTR
funding, unless the agency funds the
technical assistance using non-SBIR/
STTR funds. The agency may not use
SBIR/STTR funds for technical
assistance unless the vendor provides
the services to the SBIR/STTR Awardee.
(3) An SBIR/STTR applicant may
acquire the technical assistance services
set forth in (b)(1)(i) above itself and not
through the vendor selected by the
Federal agency. The applicant must
request this authority from the Federal
agency and demonstrate in its SBIR/
STTR application that the individual or
entity selected can provide the specific
technical services needed. If the
awardee demonstrates this requirement
sufficiently, the agency shall permit the
awardee to acquire such technical
assistance itself, in an amount up to
$5,000, as an allowable cost of the SBIR/
STTR award. The per year amount will
be in addition to the award and will
count as part of the agency’s SBIR/STTR
funding, unless the agency funds the
technical assistance using non-SBIR/
STTR funds.
(c) Agencies must publish the
information relating to timelines for
awards of Phase I and Phase II funding
agreements and performance start dates
of the funding agreements that are
reported to SBA in the agency’s Annual
Report (see § 10(a) of the directive). SBA
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will also publish this information on
www.SBIR.gov.
(d) Interagency actions.
(1) Joint funding. An SBIR/STTR
project may be financed by more than
one Federal agency. Joint funding is not
required but can be an effective
arrangement for some projects.
(2) Phase II awards. An SBIR/STTR
Phase II award may be issued by a
Federal agency other than the one that
made the Phase I award. Prior to award,
the head of the Federal agency for the
Phase I and Phase II awards, or
designee, must issue a written
determination that the topics of the
awards are the same. Both agencies
must submit the report to SBA.
(3) Participation by WOSBs and SDBs
in the SBIR/STTR Program. In order to
meet statutory requirements for greater
inclusion, SBA and the Federal
participating agencies must conduct
outreach efforts to find and place
innovative WOSBs and SDBs in the
SBIR/STTR program. These SBCs will
be required to compete for SBIR/STTR
awards on the same basis as all other
SBCs. However, SBIR/STTR agencies
are encouraged to work independently
and cooperatively with SBA to develop
methods to encourage qualified WOSBs
and SDBs to participate in the SBIR/
STTR program.
(e) Limitation on use of funds.
(1) Each SBIR/STTR agency must
expend the required minimum percent
of its extramural budget on awards to
SBCs. Agencies may not make available
for the purpose of meeting the minimum
percent an amount of its extramural
budget for basic research that exceeds
the minimum percent. Funding
agreements with SBCs for R/R&D that
result from competitive or single source
selections other than an SBIR/STTR
program must not be considered to meet
any portion of the required minimum
percent.
(2) An agency must not use any of its
SBIR/STTR budget for the purpose of
funding administrative costs of the
program, including costs associated
with program operations, employee
salaries, and other associated expenses,
unless the exception in paragraph (3)
below or § 12(b)(4)(ii) applies.
(3) Pilot To Allow for Funding of
Administrative, Oversight, and Contract
Processing Costs. Beginning on October
1, 2012 and ending on September 30,
2017, and upon establishment by SBA
of the agency-specific performance
criteria, SBA shall allow an SBIR
Federal agency to use no more than 3%
of its SBIR budget for one or more
specific activities, which may be
prioritized by the federal SBIR/STTR
Interagency Policy Committee. The
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purpose of this pilot program is to assist
with the substantial expansion in
commercialization activities, prevention
of fraud/waste/abuse, expansion of
reporting requirements by agencies and
other agency activities required for the
SBIR program. Funding under this pilot
is not intended to and must not replace
current agency administrative funding
in support of SBIR/STTR activities.
Rather, funding under this pilot
program is intended to supplement such
funds.
(i) A Federal agency may use this
money to fund the following specific
activities:
(A) SBIR and STTR program
administration, which includes:
(I) internal oversight and quality
control, such as verification of reports
and invoices and cost reviews, and
waste/fraud/abuse prevention
(including targeted reviews of SBIR or
STTR awardees that an agency
determines are at risk for waste/fraud/
abuse);
(II) carrying out any activities
associated with the participation by
small businesses that are majorityowned by multiple venture capital
operating companies, hedge funds or
private equity firms;
(III) contract processing costs relating
to the SBIR or STTR program of that
agency, which includes supplementing
the current workforce to assist solely
with SBIR or STTR funding agreements;
(IV) funding of additional personnel
to work solely on the SBIR/STTR
program of that agency, which includes
assistance with application reviews; and
(V) funding for simplified and
standardized program proposal,
selection, contracting, compliance, and
audit procedures for the SBIR/STTR
program, including the reduction of
paperwork and data collection.
(B) STTR or SBIR program-related
outreach and related technical
assistance initiatives not in effect prior
to commencement of this pilot, except
significant expansion or improvement of
these initiatives, including:
(I) technical assistance site visits;
(II) personnel interviews;
(III) national conferences;
(C) Commercialization initiatives not
in effect prior to commencement of this
pilot, except significant expansion or
improvement of these initiatives.
(D) For DoD and the military
departments, carrying out the
Commercialization Readiness Program
set forth in 12(b) of this directive, with
emphasis on supporting new initiatives
that address barriers in bringing SBIR/
STTR technologies to the marketplace,
including intellectual property issues,
sales cycle access issues, accelerated
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technology development issues, and
other issues.
(ii) Agencies must use this money to
attempt to increase participation by
SDBs and WOSBs in the SBIR/STTR
program, and small businesses in states
with a historically low level of SBIR/
STTR awards. The agency may submit
a written request to SBA to waive this
requirement. The request must explain
why the waiver is necessary,
demonstrate a sufficient need for the
waiver, and explain that the outreach
objectives of the agency are being met
and that there has been increased
participation by small businesses in
states with a historically low level of
SBIR/STTR awards.
(iii) SBA will establish performance
criteria each fiscal year by which use of
these funds will be evaluated for that
fiscal year. The performance criteria
will be metrics that measure the
performance areas required by statute
against the goals set by the agencies in
their work plans. The performance
criteria will be based upon the work
plans submitted by each agency for a
given fiscal year and will be agencyspecific. SBA will work with the SBIR/
STTR agencies in creating a simplified
template for agencies to use when
making their work plans.
(iv) Each agency must submit its work
plan to SBA at least 30 calendar days
prior to the start of each fiscal year for
which the pilot program is in operation.
Agency work plans must include the
following: a prioritized list of initiatives
to be supported; the estimated
percentage of administrative funds to be
allocated to each initiative or the
estimated amounts to be spent on each
initiative; milestones for implementing
the initiatives; the expected results to be
achieved; and the assessment metrics
for each initiative. The work plan must
identify initiatives that are above and
beyond current practice and which
enhance the agency’s SBIR/STTR
program.
(v) SBA will evaluate the work plan
and provide initial comments within 15
calendar days of receipt of the plan.
SBA’s objective in evaluating the work
plan is to ensure that, overall, it
provides for improvements to the SBIR/
STTR program of that particular agency.
If SBA does not provide initial
comments within 30 calendar days of
receipt of the plan, the work plan is
deemed to be approved. If SBA does
submit initial comments within 30
calendar days, agencies must amend or
supplement their work plan and
resubmit to SBA. Once SBA establishes
the agency-specific performance criteria
to measure the benefits of the use of
these funds under the work plan, the
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agency may begin using the SBIR funds
for the purposes set forth in the work
plan. Agencies can adjust their work
plans and spending throughout the
fiscal year as needed, but must notify
SBA of material changes in the plan.
(vi) Agencies must coordinate any
activities in the work plan that relate to
fraud, waste, and abuse prevention,
targeted reviews of awardees, and
implementation of oversight control and
quality control measures (including
verification of reports and invoices and
cost reviews) with the agency’s Office of
Inspector General (OIG). If the agency
allocates more than $50,000,000 to its
SBIR program for a fiscal year, the
agency may share this funding with its
OIG when the OIG performs the
activities.
(vii) Agencies shall report to the
Administrator on use of funds under
this authority as part of the SBIR/STTR
Annual Report. See § 10 generally and
§ 10(i).
(4) An agency must not issue an SBIR/
STTR funding agreement that includes a
provision for subcontracting any portion
of that agreement back to the issuing
agency, to any other Federal
Government agency, or to other units of
the Federal Government, except as
provided in paragraph (f)(5) below. SBA
may issue a case-by-case waiver to this
provision after review of an agency’s
written justification that includes the
following information:
(i) An explanation of why the SBIR/
STTR research project requires the use
of the Federal facility or personnel,
including data that verifies the absence
of non-federal facilities or personnel
capable of supporting the research
effort.
(ii) Why the Agency will not and
cannot fund the use of the federal
facility or personnel for the SBIR/STTR
project with non-SBIR/STTR money.
(iii) The concurrence of the SBC’s
chief business official to use the federal
facility or personnel.
(5) An agency may issue an SBIR/
STTR funding agreement to a small
business concern that intends to enter
into an agreement with a Federal
laboratory to perform portions of the
award or has entered into a cooperative
research and development agreement
(see 15 U.S.C. 3710a(d)) with a Federal
laboratory, only if there is compliance
with the following.
(i) The agency may not require that
the small business concern enter into an
agreement with any Federal laboratory
to perform any portion of an SBIR/STTR
award, as a condition for an SBIR/STTR
award.
(ii) The agency may not issue an
SBIR/STTR award or approve an
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agreement between an SBIR/STTR
Awardee and a Federal laboratory if the
small business concern will not meet
the minimum performance of work
requirements set forth in § 6(a)(4) of this
directive.
(iii) The agency may not issue an
SBIR/STTR award or approve an
agreement between an SBIR/STTR
Awardee and a Federal laboratory that
violates any SBIR/STTR requirement set
forth in statute or the Policy Directive,
including any SBIR/STTR data rights
protections.
(iv) The agency and Federal
laboratory may not require any SBIR/
STTR Awardee that has an agreement
with the Federal laboratory to perform
portions of the activities under the
SBIR/STTR award to provide advance
payment to the Federal laboratory in an
amount greater than the amount
necessary to pay for 30 days of such
activities.
(6) No agency, at its own discretion,
may unilaterally cease participation in
the SBIR/STTR program. R/R&D agency
budgets may cause fluctuations and
trends that must be reviewed in light of
SBIR/STTR program purposes. An
agency may be considered by SBA for a
phased withdrawal from participation
in the SBIR/STTR program over a period
of time sufficient in duration to
minimize any adverse impact on SBCs.
However, the SBA decision concerning
such a withdrawal will be made on a
case-by-case basis and will depend on
significant changes to extramural R/R&D
3-year forecasts as found in the annual
Budget of the United States Government
and National Science Foundation
breakdowns of total R/R&D obligations
as published in the Federal Funds for
Research and Development. Any
withdrawal of an SBIR/STTR agency
from the SBIR/STTR program will be
accomplished in a standardized and
orderly manner in compliance with
these statutorily mandated procedures.
(7) Federal agencies not otherwise
required to participate in the SBIR/
STTR program may participate on a
voluntary basis. Federal agencies
seeking to participate in the SBIR/STTR
program must first submit their written
requests to SBA. Voluntary participation
requires the written approval of SBA.
(f) Preventing Fraud, Waste, and
Abuse.
(1) Agencies shall evaluate risks of
fraud, waste, and abuse in each
application, monitor and administer
SBIR/STTR awards, and create and
implement policies and procedures to
prevent fraud, waste and abuse in the
SBIR/STTR program. To capitalize on
OIG expertise in this area, agencies must
consult with their OIG when creating
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such policies and procedures. Fraud
includes any false representation about
a material fact or any intentional
deception designed to deprive the
United States unlawfully of something
of value or to secure from the United
States a benefit, privilege, allowance, or
consideration to which an individual or
business is not entitled. Waste includes
extravagant, careless, or needless
expenditure of Government funds, or
the consumption of Government
property, that results from deficient
practices, systems, controls, or
decisions. Abuse includes any
intentional or improper use of
Government resources, such as misuse
of rank, position, or authority or
resources. Examples of fraud, waste, and
abuse relating to the SBIR/STTR
program include, but are not limited to:
(i) misrepresentations or material,
factual omissions to obtain, or otherwise
receive funding under, an SBIR/STTR
award;
(ii) misrepresentations of the use of
funds expended, work done, results
achieved, or compliance with program
requirements under an SBIR/STTR
award;
(iii) misuse or conversion of SBIR/
STTR award funds, including any use of
award funds while not in full
compliance with SBIR/STTR program
requirements, or failure to pay taxes due
on misused or converted SBIR/STTR
award funds;
(iv) fabrication, falsification, or
plagiarism in applying for, carrying out,
or reporting results from an SBIR/STTR
award;
(v) failure to comply with applicable
federal costs principles governing an
award;
(vi) extravagant, careless, or needless
spending;
(vii) self-dealing, such as making a
sub-award to an entity in which the PI
has a financial interest;
(viii) acceptance by agency personnel
of bribes or gifts in exchange for grant
or contract awards or other conflicts of
interest that prevents the Government
from getting the best value; and
(ix) lack of monitoring, or follow-up if
questions arise, by agency personnel to
ensure that awardee meets all required
eligibility requirements, provides all
required certifications, performs in
accordance with the terms and
conditions of the award, and performs
all work proposed in the application.
(2) At a minimum, agencies must:
(i) Require certifications from the
SBIR/STTR Awardee at the time of
award, as well as after award and during
the funding agreement lifecycle (see
§ 8(i) and Appendix I for more
information);
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(ii) Include on their respective SBIR/
STTR Web page and in each solicitation,
information explaining how an
individual can report fraud, waste and
abuse as provided by the agency’s OIG
(e.g., include the fraud hotline number
or web-based reporting method for the
agency’s OIG);
(iii) Designate at least one individual
in the agency to, at a minimum, serve
as the liaison for the SBIR/STTR
program, the OIG and the agency’s
Suspension and Debarment Official
(SDO) and ensure that inquiries
regarding fraud, waste and abuse are
referred to the OIG and, if applicable,
the SDO.
(iv) Include on their respective SBIR/
STTR Web page information concerning
successful prosecutions of fraud, waste
and abuse in the SBIR or STTR
programs.
(v) Establish a written policy
requiring all personnel involved with
the SBIR/STTR program to notify the
OIG if anyone suspects fraud, waste,
and/or abuse and ensure the policy is
communicated to all SBIR/STTR
personnel.
(vi) Create or ensure there is an
adequate system to enforce
accountability (through suspension and
debarment, fraud referrals or other
efforts to deter wrongdoing and promote
integrity) by developing separate
standardized templates for a referral
made to the OIG for fraud, waste and
abuse or the SDO for other matters, and
a process for tracking such referrals.
(vii) Ensure compliance with the
eligibility requirements of the program
and the terms of the SBIR/STTR funding
agreement.
(viii) Work with the agency’s OIG
with regard to its efforts to establish
fraud detection indicators, coordinate
the sharing of information between
Federal agencies, and improve
education and training to SBIR/STTR
program officials, applicants and
awardees;
(ix) Develop policies and procedures
to avoid funding essentially equivalent
work already funded by another agency,
which could include: searching
SBIR.GOV prior to award for the
applicant (if a joint venture, search for
each party to the joint venture), key
individuals of the applicant, and similar
abstracts; using plagiarism or other
software; checking the SBC’s
certification prior to award and funding
and documenting the funding agreement
file that such certification evidenced the
SBC has not already received funding
for essentially equivalent work;
reviewing other agency’s policies and
procedures for best practices; and
reviewing other R&D programs for
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policies and procedures and best
practices related to this issue; and
(x) Consider enhanced reporting
requirements during the funding
agreement.
(g) Interagency Policy Committee. The
Director of the Office of Science and
Technology Policy (OSTP) will establish
an Interagency SBIR/STTR Policy
Committee, which will include
representatives from Federal agencies
with an SBIR or an STTR program and
SBA. The Interagency SBIR/STTR
Policy Committee shall review the
following issues (but may review
additional issues) and make policy
recommendations on ways to improve
program effectiveness and efficiency:
(1) The www.SBIR.gov databases
described in § 9(k) of the Small Business
Act (15 U.S.C. 638(k));
(2) Federal agency flexibility in
establishing Phase I and II award sizes,
including appropriate criteria for
exercising such flexibility;
(3) Commercialization assistance best
practices of Federal agencies with
significant potential to be employed by
other agencies and the appropriate steps
to achieve that leverage, as well as
proposals for new initiatives to address
funding gaps that business concerns
face after Phase II but before
commercialization.
(4) The need for a standard evaluation
framework to enable systematic
assessment of SBIR and STTR,
including through improved tracking of
awards and outcomes and development
of performance measures for the SBIR
program and STTR program of each
Federal agency.
(5) Outreach and technical assistance
activities that increase the participation
of small businesses underrepresented in
the SBIR and STTR programs, including
the identification and sharing of best
practices and the leveraging of resources
in support of such activities across
agencies.
(h) National Academy of Science
Report. The National Academy of
Sciences (NAS) will conduct a study
and issue reports on the SBIR and STTR
programs.
(1) Prior to and during the period of
study, and to ensure that the concerns
of small business are appropriately
considered, NAS shall consult with and
consider the views of SBA’s Office of
Investment and Innovation and the
Office of Advocacy and other interested
parties, including entities,
organizations, and individuals actively
engaged in enhancing or developing the
technological capabilities of small
business concerns.
(2) The head of each agency with a
budget of more than $50,000,000 for its
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SBIR program for fiscal year 1999 shall,
in consultation with SBA, and not later
than 6 months after December 31, 2011,
cooperatively enter into an agreement
with NAS regarding the content and
performance of the study. SBA and the
agencies will work with the Interagency
Policy Committee in determining the
parameters of the study, including the
specific areas of focus and priorities for
the broad topics required by statute. The
agreement with NAS must set forth
these parameters, specific areas of focus
and priorities, and comprehensively
address the scope and content of the
work to be performed. This agreement
must also require the NAS to ensure
there is participation by and
consultation with, the small business
community, the SBA, and other
interested parties as described in
paragraph (1).
(3) NAS shall transmit to SBA, heads
of agencies entering into an agreement
under this section, the Committee on
Science, Space and Technology, the
Committee on Small Business of the
House of Representatives, and to the
Committee on Small Business of the
Senate a copy of the report, which
includes the results and
recommendations, not later than 4 years
after December 31, 2011, and every
subsequent four years.
10. Reporting Requirements—for
Agencies, Applicants and Awardees
(a) General. The Small Business Act
requires agencies to collect meaningful
information from SBCs and ensure that
reporting requirements are streamlined
to minimize the burden on small
businesses.
(1) SBA is required to collect data
from agencies and report to the Congress
information regarding applications by
and awards to SBCs by each Federal
agency participating in the SBIR/STTR
program. Participating agencies report
data using standardized templates that
are provided, maintained, and updated
by SBA on www.SBIR.gov.
(2) The Act requires a ‘‘simplified,
standardized and timely annual report’’
from each Federal agency participating
in the SBIR/STTR program (see § 3 for
the definition of Federal agency), which
is submitted to SBA. In addition,
agencies are required to report certain
items periodically throughout the year
to SBA. Agencies may identify certain
information, such as award data
information, by the various components
of each agency. SBA collects agency
reports through the www.SBIR.gov
portal. If the www.SBIR.gov databases
are unavailable, then the report must be
emailed to technology@sba.gov.
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(3) To meet these requirements, the
SBIR/STTR program has the following
key principles:
(i) Make updating data available
electronically;
(ii) Centralize and share certain data
through secure interfaces to which only
authorized government personnel have
access;
(iii) Have small business enter the
data only once, if possible; and
(iv) Provide standardized procedures.
(b) Summary of SBIR/STTR
Databases.
(1) The Act requires that SBA
coordinate the implementation of
electronic databases at the SBIR/STTR
agencies, including the technical ability
of the agencies to share the data. In
addition, the Act requires the reporting
of various data elements, which are
clustered together in the following
subsections:
(i) Solicitations Database (to include
the Master Schedule);
(ii) www.SBIR.gov, which includes the
following databases:
(A) Company Registry Database;
(B) Application Information Database;
(C) Award Information Database;
(D) Commercialization Database;
(E) Annual Report Database; and
(F) Other Reporting Requirements
Database.
(2) The subsections below describe
the data reporting requirements,
including reporting mechanisms, the
frequency of data collection and
reporting, and whether this information
is shared publicly or is protected and
only available to authorized personnel.
The table below summarizes the data
collection requirements for each
database; however, there may be some
divergences at the individual data field
level. Refer to Appendix II the detailed
reporting requirements at the data field
level. SBA notes that in fiscal year 2012,
SBA began a phased implementation of
this data collection.
Public/Government
Database
Reporting Mechanism
Collection/Reporting Frequency
Solicitations .................
Agency XML or manual upload to https://
www.SBIR.gov.
SBC reports data to www.SBIR.gov. Agency receives .pdf from company.
Agency provides XML or manual upload to
www.SBIR.gov.
XML or manual upload to www.SBIR.gov ...........
Agencies + companies report to www.SBIR.gov
Within 5 business days of solicitation open date
Public.
Register or reconfirm at time of application ........
Government only.
Quarterly ..............................................................
Government only.
Quarterly ..............................................................
Agencies update in real time SBC updates prior
to subsequent award application and voluntarily thereafter.
Annually ...............................................................
Public.
Government only.
Public.
As set forth in the directive .................................
Public.
Company Registry .......
Application Information
Award Information .......
Commercialization .......
Annual Report .............
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Other Reports .............
Agency
XML
or
manual
upload
to
www.SBIR.gov.
As set forth in the directive .................................
(3) SBIR/STTR Awardees will have
user names and passwords assigned in
order to access their respective awards
information in the system. Award and
commercialization data maintained in
the database can be changed only by the
awardee, SBA, or the awarding SBIR/
STTR Federal agency.
(c) Master Schedule & the
Solicitations Database.
(1) SBA posts an electronic Master
Schedule of release dates of program
solicitations with links to Internet Web
sites of agency solicitations on
www.SBIR.gov.
(i) On or before August 1, each agency
representative must notify SBA in
writing or by email of its proposed
program solicitation release and
proposal due dates for the next fiscal
year. SBA and the agency
representatives will coordinate the
resolution of any conflicting agency
solicitation dates by the second week of
August. In all cases, SBA will make
final decisions. Agencies must notify
SBA in writing of any subsequent
changes in the solicitation release and
close dates.
(ii) For those agencies that use both
general topic and more specific subtopic
designations in their SBIR/STTR
solicitations, the topic data should
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accurately describe the research
solicited.
(iii) Agencies must post on their
Internet Web sites the following
information regarding each program
solicitation:
(A) list of topics upon which R/R&D
proposals will be sought;
(B) Agency address, phone number, or
email address from which SBIR/STTR
program solicitations can be requested
or obtained, especially through
electronic means;
(C) names, addresses, and phone
numbers of agency contact points where
SBIR/STTR-related inquiries may be
directed;
(D) release date(s) of program
solicitation(s);
(E) closing date(s) for receipt of
proposals; and
(F) estimated number and average
dollar amounts of Phase I awards to be
made under the solicitation.
(2) SBA will manage a searchable
public database that contains all
solicitation and topic information from
all SBIR/STTR agencies. Agencies are
required to update the Solicitations
Database, (available at www.SBIR.gov),
within 5 business days of a solicitation’s
open date for applications and/or
submissions for SBCs. Refer to
Appendix II for detailed reporting
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requirements. The main data
requirements include:
(i) type of solicitation—SBIR/STTR;
(ii) Phase—I or II;
(iii) topic description;
(iv) sub-topic description;
(v) Web site for further information;
and
(vi) applicable contact information
per topic or sub-topic, where applicable
and allowed by law.
(d) Company Registry Database.
(1) SBA maintains and manages a
company registry to track ownership
and affiliation requirements for all
companies applying to the SBIR/STTR
program, including those that are
majority-owned by multiple VCOCs,
private equity firms, or hedge funds.
(2) Each SBC applying for a Phase I or
Phase II award must register on
www.SBIR.gov prior to submitting an
application. The SBC will report and/or
update ownership information to SBA
prior to each SBIR/STTR application
submission. The SBC can view the
ownership and affiliation requirements
of the program on the registry site.
(3) Data collected in the Company
Registry Database will not be shared
publicly. Refer to Appendix II for details
on specific fields shared publicly.
(4) The SBC will save its information
from the registration in a .pdf document
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and will append this document to the
application submitted to a given agency
unless the information can be
transmitted automatically to SBIR/STTR
agencies.
(5) Refer to Appendix II for the
required reporting fields. The main data
requirements include:
(i) basic identifying information for
the SBC;
(ii) the number of employees for the
SBC;
(iii) whether the SBC has venture
capital, hedge fund or private equity
firm investment and if so, include:
(A) the percentage of ownership of the
awardee held by the VCOC, hedge fund
or private equity firm;
(B) the registration by the SBC of
whether or not it is majority-owned by
VCOCs, hedge funds, or private equity
firms. Please note that this may be autopopulated through the individual
calculations of investments in the SBC
already submitted.
(iv) information on the affiliates of the
SBC, including:
(A) the names of all affiliates of the
SBC;
(B) the number of employees of the
affiliates;
(e) Application Information Database.
(1) SBA will manage an Application
Information Database on information on
applications to the SBIR/STTR program
across agencies.
(2) Each agency must upload
application data to the Application
Database at www.SBIR.gov at least
quarterly.
(3) The data in the applicant database
is only viewable to authorized
government officials and not shared
publicly.
(4) Refer to Appendix II for detailed
reporting requirements. The main data
requirements for each Phase I and Phase
II application include:
(i) name, size, and location of the
applicant, and the identifying number
assigned;
(ii) an abstract and specific aims of
the project;
(iii) name, title, contact information,
and position in the small business of
each key individual that will carry out
the project;
(iv) percentage of effort each key
individual identified will contribute to
the project;
(v) Federal agency to which the
application is made and contact
information for the person responsible
for reviewing applications and making
awards under the program.
(5) The Application Information
Database connects and cross-checks
information with the Company Registry
and government personnel can see
connected data.
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(f) Award Information Database.
(1) SBA manages a database on
awards made within the SBIR/STTR
program across agencies.
(2) Each agency must update the
Award Information Database quarterly,
if not more frequently.
(3) Most of the data available on the
Award Information Database is viewable
and searchable by the public on
www.SBIR.gov.
(4) Refer to SBIR.gov for detailed
reporting requirements. The data
requirements for each Phase I and Phase
II award include:
(i) information similar to the
Application Information Database—if
not already collected;
(ii) the name, size, and location of,
and the identifying number assigned;
(iii) an abstract and specific aims of
the project;
(iv) the name, title, contact
information, and position in the small
business of each key individual that will
carry out the project;
(v) the percentage of effort each
identified key individual will contribute
to the project;
(vi) the Federal agency making the
award;
(vii) award amount;
(viii) principal investigator
identifying information—including
name, email address, and demographic
information;
(ix) detailed information on location
of company;
(x) whether the awardee:
(A) has venture capital, hedge fund or
private equity firm investment and if so,
the amount of such investment received
by SBC as of date of award and amount
of additional capital awardee has
invested in SBIR/STTR technology;
(B) is a WOSB or has a woman as a
principal investigator;
(C) is an SDB or has a socially and
economically disadvantaged individual
as a principal investigator;
(D) is owned by a faculty member or
a student of an institution of higher
education as defined in 20 U.S.C. 1001);
and
(E) has received the award as a result
of the Commercialization Readiness
Pilot Program for Civilian Agencies set
forth in § 12(c) of the directive.
(xi) an identification of any business
concern or subsidiary established for the
commercial application of a product or
service for which an SBIR or STTR
award is made.
(5) The Award Information Database
connects and cross-checks information
with the Company Registry and
Application Information Database, and
government personnel can see
connected data.
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(g) Commercialization Database.
(1) The Commercialization Database
stores information reported by awardees
on the commercial activity resulting
from their past SBIR/STTR awards.
(2) Commercialization data is
inputted to this database in two ways:
awardees enter their commercialization
data directly into the commercialization
database on www.SBIR.gov, and
agencies can upload to the database at
www.sbir.gov commercialization data
they have collected from awardees.
(3) The Commercialization Database is
currently maintained by SBA.
(4) Awardees are required to update
this information on their prior Phase II
awards in the Commercialization
Database when submitting an
application for an SBIR/STTR Phase II
award and upon completion of the last
deliverable for that award.
(5) Commercialization data at the
company level will not be shared
publicly. Aggregated data that maintains
the confidentiality of companies may be
reported in compliance with the statute.
(6) Refer to www.sbir.gov for the
specific commercialization data
reporting fields. The main data
requirements include for every Phase II
award:
(i) any business concern or subsidiary
established for the commercial
application of a product or service for
which an SBIR/STTR award is made;
(ii) total revenue resulting from the
sale of new products or services, or
licensing agreements resulting from the
research conducted under each Phase II
award;
(iii) additional investment received
from any source, other than Phase I or
Phase II awards, to further the research
and development conducted under each
Phase II award;
(iv) any contract with the federal
government marked as an SBIR/STTR
Phase III award; and
(v) any narrative information that a
Phase II awardee voluntarily submits to
further describe the commercialization
efforts of its awards and related
research.
(7) The SBC may apportion sales or
additional investment information
relating to more than one Phase II award
among those awards, if it notes the
apportionment for each award.
Companies are requested to update their
records in this database on a voluntary
basis for at least 5 years following the
completion of award.
(8) Awardees will update their
information and add project
commercialization and sales data using
their user names and passwords. SBA
and SBIR/STTR agencies will
coordinate data collection to ensure that
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small businesses will not need to report
the same data more than once.
(9) Note that the Award Information
and Commercialization Databases will
contain the data necessary for agencies
to determine whether an applicant
meets the agency’s benchmarks for
progress towards commercialization.
(h) Agency Annual Report to SBA.
(1) Agencies must submit their report
to SBA on an annual basis and will
report for the period ending September
30 of each fiscal year. The report is due
to SBA no later than March 15 of each
year. For example, the report for FY
2015 (October 1, 2014—September 30,
2015) must be submitted to SBA by
March 15, 2016.
(2) SBA provides the Annual Report
form to agencies through www.SBIR.gov.
SBA reserves the right to modify the
fields of the Annual Report data form
beyond those identified in this
directive.
(3) A number of the fields of the
Annual Report template are prepopulated by SBA with data from the
SBIR/STTR program database. SBA
works with the agencies to resolve any
data inconsistencies.
(4) The annual report includes the
following:
(i) SBIR/STTR program dollars
obligated through program funding
agreements for Phase I, Phase II, and
other uses of program funds, during the
reporting fiscal year.
(ii) Number of topics and subtopics
contained in each program solicitation.
(iii) Number of proposals received by
the agency for each topic and subtopic
in each program solicitation.
(iv) Agency total extramural R/R&D
obligations for the reporting fiscal year
including an explanation of its
calculation and how it differs, if at all,
from the amount reported to the
National Science Foundation pursuant
to the annual Budget of the United
States Government.
(v) The minimum dollar amount the
agency is required to obligate per fiscal
year for the SBIR and STTR programs.
This amount is calculated by applying
the statutory per centum to the agency’s
total extramural R/R&D obligations
made during the fiscal year (adjusted for
the appropriate exclusions); and if the
minimum amount was not met, the
agency must provide the reasons why
and an explanation of how the agency
plans to meet the requirement in the
future. Agencies may provide an
explanation of the specific budgeting
process their agency uses to allocate
funds for the SBIR/STTR programs and
describe any issues they may see with
the compliance determination
procedure.
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(vi) For all applicants and awardees in
the applicable fiscal year—where
applicable, the name and address,
solicitation topic and subtopic,
solicitation number, project title, total
dollar amount of funding agreement,
and applicable demographic
information. The agency is not required
to re-submit applicant and award
information in the annual report that it
has already reported to SBA through
www.SBIR.gov as required.
(vii) Justification for the award of any
funding agreement exceeding the award
guidelines set forth in § 7(i) of this
directive, the amount of each award
exceeding the guidelines, the identity
and location of the awardee, whether
the awardee has received any venture
capital, hedge fund, or private equity
firm investment, and whether the
awardee is majority-owned by a venture
capital operating company, hedge fund
or private equity firm.
(viii) Justification for awards made
under a topic or subtopic where the
agency received only one proposal.
Agencies must also provide the
awardee’s name and address, the topic
or subtopic, and the dollar amount of
award. Awardee information must be
collected quarterly—in any case, but
updated in the agency’s annual reports.
(ix) All instances where the Phase II
Awardee did not receive a Phase I
award.
(x) All instances in which an agency
pursued R/R&D, services, production, or
any combination thereof of a technology
developed under an SBIR/STTR award
with an entity other than that Awardee.
See § 9(a)(12) for minimum reporting
requirements.
(xi) The number and dollar value of
each SBIR/STTR and non-SBIR/STTR
award (includes grants, contracts and
cooperative agreements as well as any
award issued under the
Commercialization Program) over
$10,000 and compare the number and
amount of SBIR/STTR awards with
awards to other than SBCs.
(xii) Information relating to the pilot
to allow for funding of administrative,
oversight, and contract processing costs,
including the money spent on each
activity and any other information
required in the approved work plan to
measure the benefits of using these
funds for the specific activities—
especially, as it pertains to the goals
outlined in the work plan. See § 9(e)(3)
concerning the Pilot to Allow for
Funding of Administrative, Oversight,
and Contract Processing Costs.
(xiii) Outreach. A description and the
extent to which the agency is increasing
outreach and awards to SDBs and
WOSBs.
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(xiv) VCOC-owned. General
information about the implementation
of and compliance with the allocation of
funds for awardees that are majorityowned by multiple VCOCs, hedge funds
or private equity firms.
(xv) Phase III appeals. Descriptive
information on any appeals filed on
Phase III awards pursuant to § 4(c)(7) of
the directive and notices of
noncompliance with the policy
directive filed by SBA.
(xvi) Phase III awards. Information
relating to each Phase III award made by
that agency either as a prime or
subcontract, including the name of the
business receiving the Phase III award,
the dollar amount, and the awarding
agency or prime contractor.
(xvii) Commercialization Programs.
An accounting of funds, initiatives, and
outcomes under the commercialization
programs set forth in § 12(b) & (c) of this
directive.
(xviii) Manufacturing. Information
relating to the agency’s enhancement of
manufacturing activities, if the agency
awards more than $50,000,000 under
the SBIR and STTR programs combined
in a fiscal year. The report must include:
(A) a description of efforts undertaken
by the agency to enhance U.S.
manufacturing activities;
(B) a comprehensive description of
the actions undertaken each year by the
agency in carrying out the SBIR or STTR
programs to support Executive Order
13329 (relating to manufacturing);
(C) an assessment of the effectiveness
of the actions taken at enhancing the
R&D of U.S. manufacturing technologies
and processes;
(D) a description of efforts by vendors
selected to provide discretionary
technical assistance to help SBIR and
STTR business concerns manufacture in
the U.S.; and
(E) recommendations from the
agency’s SBIR and STTR program
managers of additional actions to
increase manufacturing activities in the
U.S.
(xix) Performance Areas and Metrics.
As part of agency work plans submitted
pursuant to § 9(e) of the directive, SBA
works with the agencies to establish the
performance criteria and metrics used to
measure agency performance. The Small
Business Act establishes broad
performance areas for the program,
including commercialization,
streamlining, outreach, etc. Agencies
must report their progress, using the
SBA-approved performance criteria, at
the end of each fiscal year as part of the
annual report. The metrics and
performance areas will evolve over time
and can be found at www.SBIR.gov.
(j) Other Reporting Requirements.
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(1) SBA will set forth a list of reports
that agencies are required by statute to
submit, in a table format, which will be
available at www.SBIR.gov.
(2) SBA’s SBIR/STTR program
database will include a list of any
individual or small business concern
that has received an SBIR/STTR award
and that has been convicted of a fraudrelated crime involving SBIR/STTR
funds or found civilly liable for a fraudrelated violation involving SBIR/STTR
funds, of which SBA has been made
aware.
(3) Program Funding Compliance.
Agencies must submit to SBA’s
Administrator, not later than 4 months
after the date of enactment of its annual
Appropriations Act, a report on the
agency’s plan to meet the program
funding requirement for the current
fiscal year. SBA provides detailed
guidance regarding this report on
www.sbir.gov. The report must include
the following main elements:
(A) an explanation of the calculation
of total Extramural R/R&D including an
itemization of each research program
excluded from the calculation and a
brief explanation of why it is excluded,
(B) a review of the agency’s
compliance with the funding
requirement in the prior fiscal year to
determine if the program funding
process enabled the agency to meet the
requirement, and
(C) a funding plan showing how the
agency is budgeting its funds for the
SBIR/STTR programs during the current
fiscal year so as to meet or exceed the
year’s expected minimum obligations
requirement for the program
(4) Agencies must provide notice to
SBA of any case or controversy before
any Federal judicial or administrative
tribunal concerning the SBIR/STTR
program of the Federal agency. This
does not include agency level protests of
awards unless and until the protest is
before a Federal court or administrative
body. The agency must provide notice
to SBA within 15 business days of the
agency’s written notification of the case
or controversy.
(5) Agencies must provide notice of
all instances in which an agency
pursued research, development,
production, or any such combination of
a technology developed by an SBC using
an award made under the SBIR/STTR
program of that agency, where the
agency determined that it was not
practicable to enter into a follow-on
non-SBIR/STTR program funding
agreement with that concern. The
agency must provide notice to SBA
within 15 business days of the agency’s
award. The report must include, at a
minimum:
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(i) the reasons why the follow-on
funding agreement with the concern
was not practicable;
(ii) the identity of the entity with
which the agency contracted to perform
the research, development, or
production; and
(iii) a description of the type of
funding agreement under which the
research, development, or production
was obtained.
(6) Agencies must provide
information supporting the agency’s
achievement of the Interagency Policy
Committee’s policy recommendations
on ways to improve program
effectiveness and efficiency. This
includes qualitative and quantitative
data as appropriate, which would
measure the agency’s progress. The
agency must provide this information to
SBA at the end of each fiscal year.
(7) Agencies must provide an annual
report to SBA, Senate Committee on
Small Business and Entrepreneurship,
House Committee on Small Business,
and the House Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology on SBIR and
STTR programs and the benefits of these
programs to the United States. Prior to
preparing the report, the agency shall
develop metrics to evaluate the
effectiveness and benefit to the United
States of the SBIR and STTR programs.
The metrics must be science-based and
statistically driven, reflect the mission
of the agency, and include factors
relating to the economic impact of the
programs. The report must describe in
detail the agency’s annual evaluation of
the programs using these metrics. The
final report must be posted online so it
can be made available to the public.
(8) NIH, DoD and the Department of
Education must provide the written
determination to SBA anytime it issues
a Phase II award to a small business
concern that did not receive a Phase I
award for that R/R&D. The
determination must be submitted prior
to award.
(9) SBA will compile data and report
to Congress on the Federal and State
Technology (FAST) Partnership
Program, described in § 12 of this Policy
Directive. If required by the FAST grant,
the grantees will report a
comprehensive list of the companies
that received assistance under FAST
and if those companies received SBIR or
STTR awards and any information
regarding mentors and Mentoring
Networks, as required in the Federal
and State Technology (FAST)
Partnership Program.
(k) Further Clarification on
Availability of SBC Information.
(1) Unless stated otherwise, the
information contained in the Company
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Registry Database, the Application
Information Database, and the
Commercialization Database is solely
available to authorized government
officials, with the approval of SBA. This
includes Congress, GAO, agencies
participating in the SBIR and the STTR
programs, Office of Management and
Budget, OSTP, Office of Federal
Procurement Policy, and other
authorized persons who are subject to a
nondisclosure agreement with the
Federal Government covering the use of
the databases. These databases are used
for the purposes of evaluating and
determining eligibility for the SBIR/
STTR program, in accordance with
Policy Directives issued by SBA.
Pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 638(k)(4), certain
information provided to those databases
are privileged and confidential and not
subject to disclosure pursuant to 5
U.S.C. 552 (Government Organization
and Employees); nor must it be
considered to be publication for
purposes of 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) or (b).
(2) Most of the information in the
Award Information and Annual Reports
Databases will be available to the
public. Any information that will
identify the confidential business
information of a given small business
concern will not be disclosed to the
public. Those databases are available at
www.SBIR.gov and offer a vast array of
user-friendly capabilities that are
accessible by the public at no charge.
The Award Information Database allows
for the online submission of SBIR/STTR
awards data from all SBIR/STTR
agencies. It also allows any end-user to
perform keyword searches and create
formatted reports of SBIR/STTR awards
information, and for potential research
partners to view research and
development efforts that are ongoing in
the SBIR and the STTR programs,
increasing the investment opportunities
of the SBIR/STTR SBCs in the high tech
arena.
(l) Waivers.
(1) Agencies must request an
extension for additional time between
the solicitation closing date and
notification of recommendation for
award. SBA will respond to the request
for an extension within 5 business days,
as practicable. See § 7(c)(1) of the
directive for further information.
(2) Agencies must request a waiver to
exceed the award guidelines for Phase I
and Phase II awards by more than 50%
for a specific topic. See § 7(i)(4) of the
directive for further information.
(3) Agencies must request a waiver to
not use its SBIR funds, as part of the
pilot allowing for the use of such funds
for certain SBIR-related costs, to
increase participation by SDBs and
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WOSBs in the SBIR/STTR Program, and
small businesses in states with a
historically low level of SBIR/STTR
awards. See § 9(e)(3)(ii) of the directive
for further information.
(4) Agencies must request a waiver to
issue a funding agreement that includes
a provision for subcontracting a portion
of that agreement back to the issuing
agency if there is no exception to this
requirement in the directive. See
§ 9(e)(4) of the directive for further
information.
11. Responsibilities of SBA
(a) Policy.
(1) SBA establishes policy and
procedures for the program by
publishing and updating the SBIR/STTR
Policy Directive and promulgating
regulations. Policy clarification of any
part or provision of the directive or
regulations may be provided by SBA.
(2) It is essential that SBIR/STTR
agencies do not promulgate any policy,
rule, regulation, or interpretation that is
inconsistent with the Act, this Policy
Directive, or SBA’s regulations relating
to the SBIR/STTR program. SBA’s
monitoring activity will include review
of policies, rules, regulations,
interpretations, and procedures
generated to facilitate intra- and
interagency SBIR/STTR program
implementation.
(3) Waivers providing limited
exceptions to certain policies can be
found at § 10 of the directive.
(b) Outreach. SBA conducts outreach
to achieve a number of objectives
including:
(1) Educating the public about the
SBIR/STTR program via conferences,
seminars, and presentations;
(2) Highlighting the successes
achieved in the program by publishing
(via press releases and www.SBIR.gov)
success stories, as well as hosting
awards programs;
(3) Maintaining www.SBIR.gov, which
is an online public information resource
that provides comprehensive
information regarding the SBIR/STTR
program. This information includes: a
listing of solicitation information on
currently available SBIR/STTR
opportunities, award information on all
Phase I and Phase II awards, summary
annual award information for the whole
program, and contact information for
SBA and agency program managers.
(c) Collection and publication of
program-wide data. SBA collects and
maintains program-wide data within the
SBIR.gov data system. This data
includes information on all Phase I and
II awards from across all SBIR/STTR
agencies, as well as Fiscal Year Annual
Report data. See § 10 of the directive for
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further information about reporting and
data collection requirements.
(d) Monitoring implementation of the
program and annually reporting to
Congress.
SBA is responsible for providing
oversight and monitoring the
implementation of the SBIR/STTR
program at the agency level. This
monitoring includes:
(1) SBIR/STTR Funding Allocations.
The Act establishes the source of the
funds for the SBIR and STTR programs
(extramural R/R&D), the percentage of
such funds to be obligated through the
SBIR and STTR programs, and it
requires that SBA monitor these annual
allocations. Agencies may include in
their annual report to SBA an
explanation of the specific budgeting
process used to allocate funds to the
SBIR/STTR programs and describe any
issues observed with the compliance
determination process.
(2) SBIR/STTR Program Solicitation
and Award Status. The accomplishment
of scheduled SBIR/STTR events, such as
SBIR/STTR program solicitation
releases and the issuance of funding
agreements is critical to meeting
statutory mandates and to operating an
effective, useful program. SBA monitors
these and other operational features of
the SBIR/STTR Program and publishes
information relating to notice of and
application for awards under the SBIR/
STTR program for each SBIR/STTR
agency at SBIR.Gov. SBA does not plan
to monitor administration of the awards
except in instances where SBA
assistance is requested and is related to
a specific SBIR/STTR project or funding
agreement.
(3) Follow-on Funding Commitments.
SBA will monitor whether follow-on
non-Federal funding commitments
obtained by Phase II awardees for Phase
III were considered in the evaluation of
Phase II proposals as required by the
Act.
(4) Fraud, Waste, and Abuse (FWA).
SBA will ensure that each SBIR/STTR
agency has taken steps to maintain a
FWA prevention system to minimize its
impact on the program.
(5) Performance Areas, Metrics, and
Goals. SBA is responsible for defining
performance areas consistent with
statute (e.g., reducing timelines for
award, simplification) against which
agencies will set goals. SBA will work
with the agencies to set metrics, in order
to measure an agency’s
accomplishments of its goals against the
defined performance areas. The purpose
of these metrics and goals is to assist
SBA in evaluating and reporting on the
progress achieved by the agencies in
improving the SBIR/STTR program. For
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further information on Performance
Areas, Metrics and Goals see § 10(i).
(e) Additional efforts to improve the
performance of the program. SBA, in its
continuing effort to improve the
program, will make recommendations
for improvement within the framework
of the Program Managers’ meetings. This
may include recommending a ‘‘best
practice’’ currently being utilized by an
agency or business, or open discussion
and feedback on a potential ‘‘best
practice’’ for agency adoption. This may
also involve program-wide initiatives.
(f) Federal and State Technology
Partnership (FAST) Program. SBA
coordinates the FAST program. SBA
develops the solicitation, reviews
proposals, and oversees grant awards.
FAST provides awardees with funding
to assist in outreach, proposal
preparation, and other technical
assistance to developing innovation
oriented SBCs.
12. Supporting Programs and Initiatives
(a) Federal and State Technology
Partnership Program. The purpose of
the FAST Program is to strengthen the
technological competitiveness of SBCs
in the United States. Congress found
that programs that foster economic
development among small hightechnology firms vary widely among the
States. Thus, the purpose of the FAST
Program is to improve the participation
of small technology firms in the
innovation and commercialization of
new technology, thereby ensuring that
the United States remains on the
cutting-edge of research and
development in the highly competitive
arena of science and technology. SBA
administers the FAST Program.
Additional and detailed information
regarding this program is available at
www.SBIR.gov.
(b) Commercialization Readiness
Program—DoD
(1) General. The Secretary of Defense
and the Secretary of each military
department is authorized to create and
administer a ‘‘Commercialization
Readiness Program’’ to accelerate the
transition of technologies, products, and
services developed under the SBIR
program to Phase III, including the
acquisition process. The authority to
create this Commercialization Readiness
Program does not eliminate or replace
any other SBIR or STTR program that
enhances the insertion or transition of
SBIR or STTR technologies. This
includes any program in effect as of
December 31, 2011.
(2) Identification of research programs
for accelerated transition to acquisition
process. The Secretary of each military
department must identify research
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programs of the SBIR or STTR program
that have the potential for rapid
transitioning to Phase III and into the
acquisition process and certify in
writing that the successful transition of
the program to Phase III and into the
acquisition process is expected to meet
high priority military requirements of
such military department.
(3) Limitation. The Secretary of
Defense shall identify research programs
of the SBIR or STTR program that have
the potential for rapid transitioning to
Phase III and into the acquisition
process after receiving this certification
from each military department.
(4) Funding.
(i) Beginning with FY 2013 and
ending in FY 2015 (unless otherwise
extended), the Secretary of Defense and
each Secretary of a military department
is authorized to use its SBIR funds for
administration of this program in
accordance with the procedures and
policies set forth in section 9(e)(3) of
this directive.
(ii) In addition, the Secretary of
Defense and Secretary of each military
department is authorized to use not
more than an amount equal to 1% of its
SBIR funds available to DoD or the
military departments for payment of
expenses incurred to administer the
SBIR/STTR Commercialization
Readiness Program. Such funds—
(A) shall not be subject to the
limitations on the use of funds in 9(e)(2)
or 9(e)(3) of this directive; and
(B) shall not be used to make Phase
III awards.
(5) Contracts Valued at not less than
$100,000,000. For any contract awarded
by DoD valued at not less than
$100,000,000, the Secretary of Defense
may:
(i) establish goals for the transition of
Phase III technologies in subcontracting
plans; and
(ii) require a prime contractor on such
a contract to report the number and
dollar amount of the contracts entered
into by the prime contractor for Phase
III projects.
(6) The Secretary of Defense shall:
(i) set a goal to increase the number
of SBIR/STTR Phase II contracts that
lead to technology transition into
programs of record of fielded systems;
(ii) use incentives in effect as of
December 31, 2011 or create new
incentives to encourage agency program
managers and prime contractors to meet
the goal set forth in paragraph (6)(i)
above; and
(iii) submit the following to SBA, as
part of the annual report:
(A) the number and percentage of
Phase II SBIR/STTR contracts awarded
by DoD that led to technology transition
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into programs of record or fielded
systems;
(B) information on the status of each
project that received funding through
the Commercialization Program and the
efforts to transition these projects into
programs of record or fielded systems;
and
(C) a description of each incentive
that has been used by DoD, the
effectiveness of the incentive with
respect to meeting DoD’s goal to
increase the number of SBIR/STTR
Phase II contracts that lead to
technology transition into programs of
record of fielded systems, and measures
taken to ensure that such incentives do
not act to shift the focus of Phase II
awards away from relatively high-risk
innovation projects.
(c) Commercialization Readiness Pilot
Program for Civilian Agencies.
(1) General. The Commercialization
Readiness Pilot Program permits the
head of any Federal agency participating
in the SBIR program (except DoD) to
allocate not more than 10% of its funds
allocated to the SBIR program—
(i) for follow-on awards to small
businesses for technology development,
testing, evaluation, and
commercialization assistance for SBIR
or STTR Phase II technologies; or
(ii) for awards to small businesses to
support the progress of research,
research and development, and
commercialization conducted under the
SBIR or STTR programs to Phase III.
(2) Application to SBA. Before
establishing this pilot program, the
agency must submit a written
application to SBA not later than 90
days before the first day of the fiscal
year in which the pilot program is to be
established. The written application
must set forth a compelling reason that
additional investment in SBIR or STTR
technologies is necessary, including
unusually high regulatory, systems
integration, or other costs relating to
development or manufacturing of
identifiable, highly promising small
business technologies or a class of such
technologies expected to substantially
advance the mission of the agency.
(3) SBA’s Determination. SBA must
make its determination regarding an
application submitted under paragraph
(2) above not later than 30 days before
the first day of the fiscal year for which
the application is submitted. SBA must
also publish its determination in the
Federal Register and make a copy of the
determination and any related materials
available to the Committee on Small
Business and Entrepreneurship of the
Senate and the Committee on Small
Business and the Committee on Science,
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Space, and Technology of the House of
Representatives.
(4) Maximum Amount of Award. The
SBIR agency may not make an award to
a small business concern under this
pilot program in excess of 3 times the
dollar amounts generally established for
Phase II awards under § 7(i)(1) of this
directive.
(5) Registration. Any small business
concern that receives an award under
this pilot program shall register with
SBA in the Company Registry Database.
(6) Award Criteria or Consideration.
When making an award under this pilot
program, the agency is required to
consider whether the technology to be
supported by the award is likely to be
manufactured in the United States.
(7) Termination of Authority. The
authority to establish a pilot program
under this section expires on September
30, 2017, unless otherwise extended.
(d) Technology Development Program.
The Act permits an agency that has
established a Technology Development
Program to review for funding under
that program, in each fiscal year:
(1) any proposal to provide outreach
and assistance to 1 or more SBCs
interested in participating in the SBIR
program, including any proposal to
make a grant or loan to a company to
pay a portion or all of the cost of
developing an SBIR proposal, from an
entity, organization, or individual
located in—
(i) a State that is eligible to participate
in that technology development
program; or
(ii) an Additionally Eligible State.
(2) any meritorious proposal for an
SBIR Phase I award that is not funded
through the SBIR program for that fiscal
year due to funding constraints, from an
SBC located in a state identified in (i)
or (ii) immediately above.
(e) [STTR only] Phase 0 Proof of
Concept Partnership Pilot Program.
(1) General. The Director of the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) may
use $5,000,000 of the funds allocated for
the STTR program set forth in § 2(b) of
this directive for a Proof of Concept
Partnership Pilot Program to accelerate
the creation of small businesses and the
commercialization of research
innovations from qualifying institutions.
A qualifying institution is a university
or other Research Institution that
participates in the NIH’s STTR program.
The Director shall award, through a
competitive, merit-based process, grants
to qualifying institutions in order to
implement this program. These grants
shall only be used to administer Proof
of Concept Partnership awards.
(2) Awards to Qualifying Institutions.
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(i) The Director may make awards to
a qualifying institution for up to
$1,000,000 per year for up to 3 years.
(ii) In determining which qualifying
institutions will receive pilot program
grants, the Director of NIH shall
consider, in addition to any other
criteria the Director determines
necessary, the extent to which
qualifying institutions—
(A) have an established and proven
technology transfer or
commercialization office and have a
plan for engaging that office in the
program’s implementation;
(B) have demonstrated a commitment
to local and regional economic
development;
(C) are located in diverse geographies
and are of diverse sizes;
(D) can assemble project management
boards comprised of industry, start-up,
venture capital, technical, financial, and
business experts;
(E) have an intellectual property
rights strategy or office; and
(F) demonstrate a plan for
sustainability beyond the duration of
the funding award.
(3) Proof of Concept Partnerships. A
qualifying institution selected by NIH
shall establish a Proof of Concept
Partnership with NIH to award grants to
individual researchers. These grants
should provide researchers with the
initial investment and the resources to
support the proof of concept work and
commercialization mentoring needed to
translate promising research projects
and technologies into a viable company.
This work may include technical
validations, market research, clarifying
intellectual property rights position and
strategy, and investigating commercial
or business opportunities.
(4) Award Guidelines for Small
Businesses. The administrator of a Proof
of Concept Partnership program shall
award grants in accordance with the
following guidelines:
(i) The Proof of Concept Partnership
shall use a market-focused project
management oversight process,
including—
(A) a rigorous, diverse review board
comprised of local experts in
translational and proof of concept
research, including industry, start-up,
venture capital, technical, financial, and
business experts and university
technology transfer officials;
(B) technology validation milestones
focused on market feasibility;
(C) simple reporting effective at
redirecting projects; and
(D) the willingness to reallocate
funding from failing projects to those
with more potential.
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(ii) The Proof of Concept Partnership
shall not award more than $100,000
towards an individual proposal.
(5) Educational Resources and
Guidance. The administrator of a Proof
of Concept Partnership program shall
make educational resources and
guidance available to researchers
attempting to commercialize their
innovations.
(6) Limitations.
(i) The funds for the pilot program
shall not be used for basic research or
to fund the acquisition of research
equipment or supplies unrelated to
commercialization activities.
(ii) The funds for the pilot program
can be used to evaluate the commercial
potential of existing discoveries,
including proof of concept research or
prototype development; and activities
that contribute to determining a
project’s commercialization path, to
include technical validations, market
research, clarifying intellectual property
rights, and investigating commercial
and business opportunities.
(7) Termination of Authority. The
pilot program under this subsection
shall terminate on September 30, 2017,
unless otherwise extended.
Appendix I: Instructions for SBIR and
STTR Program Solicitation Preparation
a. General. Subsections 9(j) and 9(p)
of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
638(j)) requires simplified, standardized
and timely SBIR/STTR solicitations and
for SBIR/STTR agencies to utilize a
‘‘uniform process’’ minimizing the
regulatory burden of participation.
Therefore, the following instructions
purposely depart from normal
Government solicitation formats and
requirements. SBIR/STTR solicitations
must be prepared and issued as program
solicitations in accordance with the
following instructions.
b. Limitation in Size of Solicitation. In
the interest of meeting the requirement
for simplified and standardized
solicitations, while also recognizing that
the Internet has become the main
vehicle for distribution, each agency
should structure its entire SBIR/STTR
solicitation to produce the least number
of pages (electronic and printed),
consistent with the procurement/
assistance standing operating
procedures and statutory requirements
of the participating Federal agencies.
c. Format. SBIR/STTR program
solicitations must be prepared in a
simple, standardized, easy-to-read, and
easy-to-understand format. It must
include a cover sheet, a table of
contents, and the following sections in
the order listed.
1. Program Description
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2. Certifications
3. Proposal Preparation Instructions
and Requirements
4. Method of Selection and Evaluation
Criteria
5. Considerations
6. Submission of Proposals
7. Scientific and Technical
Information Sources
8. Submission Forms
9. Research Topics
d. Cover Sheet. The cover sheet of an
SBIR/STTR program solicitation must
clearly identify the solicitation as an
SBIR/STTR solicitation, identify the
agency releasing the solicitation, specify
date(s) on which contract proposals or
grant applications (proposals) are due
under the solicitation, and state the
solicitation number or year.
e. Instructions for Preparation of SBIR
or STTR Program Solicitation—Sections
1–9
§ 1. Program Description.
(a) Summarize in narrative form the
request for proposals and the objectives
of the SBIR or STTR program.
(b) Describe in narrative form the
agency’s SBIR or STTR program
including a description of the three
phases. Note in your description
whether the solicitation is for Phase I or
Phase II proposals. Also note in each
solicitation for Phase I, that all awardees
may apply for a Phase II award and
provide guidance on the procedure for
doing so.
(c) Describe program eligibility.
(d) List the name, address and
telephone number of agency contacts for
general information on the SBIR or
STTR program solicitation.
(e) Whenever terms are used that are
unique to the SBIR or STTR program, a
specific SBIR or STTR solicitation or a
portion of a solicitation, define them or
refer potential offerors/applicants to a
source for the definition. At a minimum,
the definitions of ‘‘funding agreement,’’
‘‘R/R&D,’’ ‘‘SBC,’’ ‘‘SBIR/STTR data,’’
and ‘‘SBIR/STTR data rights’’ must be
included.
(f) Include information explaining
how an individual can report fraud,
waste and abuse (e.g. include the fraud
hotline for the agency’s Office of
Inspector General);
§ 2. Certifications.
(a) This section must include
certifying forms required by legislation,
regulation or standing operating
procedures, to be submitted by the
applicant to the contracting or granting
agency. This would include certifying
forms such as those for the protection of
human and animal subjects.
(b) This section must include any
certifications required concerning size,
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ownership and other SBIR or STTR
program requirements.
(i) The agency may request the SBIR/
STTR applicant to submit a certification
at the time of submission of the
application or offer. The certification
may require the applicant to state that
it intends to meet the size, ownership
and other requirements of the SBIR or
STTR program at the time of award of
the funding agreement, if selected for
award.
(ii) The agency must request the
applicant to submit a certification at the
time of award and at any other time set
forth in SBA’s regulations at 13 CFR
121.701–121.705. The certification will
require the applicant to state that it
meets the size, ownership and other
requirements of the SBIR or STTR
program at the time of award of the
funding agreement.
(iii) The agency must request the
Awardee to submit certifications during
funding agreement life cycle. A Phase I
funding agreement must state that the
awardee shall submit a new certification
as to whether it qualifies as a SBC and
that it is in compliance with specific
SBIR or STTR program requirements at
the time of final payment or
disbursement. A Phase II funding
agreement must state that the awardee
shall submit a new certification as to
whether it qualifies as a SBC and that
it is in compliance with specific SBIR or
STTR program requirements prior to
receiving more than 50% of the total
award amount and prior to final
payment or disbursement.
(iv) Agencies may require additional
certifications at other points in time
during the life cycle of the funding
agreement, such as at the time of each
payment or disbursement.
(c) The agency must use the following
certification at the time of award and
upon notification by SBA, must check
www.SBIR.gov for updated certifications
prepared by SBA:
SBIR/STTR Funding Agreement
Certification
All small businesses that are selected
for award of an SBIR/STTR funding
agreement must complete this
certification at the time of award and
any other time set forth in the funding
agreement that is prior to performance
of work under this award. This includes
checking all of the boxes and having an
authorized officer of the awardee sign
and date the certification each time it is
requested.
Please read carefully the following
certification statements. The Federal
government relies on the information to
determine whether the business is
eligible for a Small Business Innovation
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Research (SBIR) program or Small
Business Technology Transfer (STTR)
program award. A similar certification
will be used to ensure continued
compliance with specific program
requirements during the life of the
funding agreement. The definitions for
the terms used in this certification are
set forth in the Small Business Act, SBA
regulations (13 CFR part 121), the SBIR/
STTR Policy Directive and also any
statutory and regulatory provisions
referenced in those authorities.
If the funding agreement officer
believes that the business may not meet
certain eligibility requirements at the
time of award, they are required to file
a size protest with the U.S. Small
Business Administration (SBA), who
will determine eligibility. At that time,
SBA will request further clarification
and supporting documentation in order
to assist in the verification of any of the
information provided as part of a
protest. If the funding agreement officer
believes, after award, that the business
is not meeting certain funding
agreement requirements, the agency
may request further clarification and
supporting documentation in order to
assist in the verification of any of the
information provided.
Even if correct information has been
included in other materials submitted to
the Federal government, any action
taken with respect to this certification
does not affect the Government’s right to
pursue criminal, civil or administrative
remedies for incorrect or incomplete
information given in the certification.
Each person signing this certification
may be prosecuted if they have
provided false information.
The undersigned has reviewed,
verified and certifies that (all boxes
must be checked unless otherwise
directed):
(1) b The awardee business concern
meets the ownership and control
requirements set forth in 13 CFR
121.702.
(2) If a corporation—all corporate
documents, namely: articles of
incorporation and any amendments,
articles of conversion, by-laws and
amendments, shareholder meeting
minutes showing director elections,
shareholder meeting minutes showing
officer elections, organizational meeting
minutes, all issued stock certificates,
stock ledger, buy-sell agreements, stock
transfer agreements, voting agreements,
and documents relating to stock options,
including the right to convert nonvoting stock or debentures into voting
stock, must evidence that the
corporation meets the ownership and
control requirements set forth in 13 CFR
121.702. (Check one box).
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b Yes b N/A Explain why N/A:
(3) If a partnership, the partnership
agreement evidences that it meets the
ownership and control requirements set
forth in 13 CFR 121.702. (Check one
box).
b Yes b N/A Explain why N/A:
(4) If a limited liability company—the
articles of organization and any
amendments, and operating agreement
and amendments, evidence that it meets
the ownership and control requirements
set forth in 13 CFR 121.702. (Check one
box).
b Yes b N/A Explain why N/A:
(5) The birth certificates,
naturalization papers, or passports show
that any individuals it relies upon to
meet the eligibility requirements are
U.S. citizens or permanent resident
aliens in the United States. (Check one
box).
b Yes b N/A Explain why N/A:
(6) b It has no more than 500
employees, including the employees of
its affiliates.
(7) b SBA has not issued a size
determination currently in effect finding
that this business concern exceeds the
500 employee size standard.
(8) During the performance of the
award, the principal investigator will
spend more than one half of his/her
time as an employee of the awardee (or
research institution—STTR only) or has
requested and received a written
deviation from this requirement from
the funding agreement officer. (Check
one box).
b Yes b Deviation approved in
writing by funding agreement officer:
_%
(9) All, essentially equivalent work, or
a portion of the work proposed under
this project (check applicable line):
b Has not been submitted for
funding to another Federal agency or
State program.
b Has been submitted for funding to
another Federal agency or State program
but has not been funded under any
other grant, contract, subcontract or
other transaction.
b A portion has been funded by
another grant, contract, or subcontract
as described in detail in the proposal
and approved in writing by the funding
agreement officer.
(10) During the performance of award,
the awardee will perform the applicable
percentage of work unless a deviation
from this requirement is approved in
writing by the funding agreement officer
(check applicable line and fill in if
needed):
b SBIR Phase I: at least two-thirds
(66 2/3%) of the research.
b SBIR Phase II: at least half (50%)
of the research.
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b STTR Phase I or Phase II: at least
forty percent (40%) of the research.
b Deviation approved in writing by
the funding agreement officer: %
(11) During performance of award, the
research/research and development will
be performed in the United States
unless a deviation is approved in
writing by the funding agreement officer
(check one box).
b Yes b Waiver has been granted
(12) b During performance of award,
the research/research and development
will be performed at the awardee’s
facilities with its employees, except as
otherwise indicated in the SBIR/STTR
application and approved in the funding
agreement.
(13) The SBIR awardee has registered
itself on SBA’s database as majorityowned by venture capital operating
companies, hedge funds or private
equity firms (check one box).
b Yes b No b N/A Explain why
N/A: llllll
(14) It is a Covered Small Business
Concern (a small business concern that:
(a) was not majority-owned by multiple
venture capital operating companies
(VCOCs), hedge funds, or private equity
firms on the date on which it submitted
an application in response to an SBIR
solicitation; and (b) on the date of the
SBIR award, which is made more than
9 months after the closing date of the
solicitation, is majority-owned by
multiple venture capital operating
companies, hedge funds, or private
equity firms). (Check one box).
b Yes b No
(15) b I will notify the Federal
agency immediately if all or a portion of
the work authorized and funded under
this award is subsequently funded by
another Federal agency.
(16) [For STTR only] The small
business concern, and not a partnering
Research Institution, is exercising
management direction and control of
the performance of the STTR funding
agreement.
Yes b No b
(17) b I understand that the
information submitted may be given to
Federal, State and local agencies for
determining violations of law and other
purposes.
(18) b I am an officer of the business
concern authorized to represent it and
sign this certification on its behalf. By
signing this certification, I am
representing on my own behalf, and on
behalf of the business concern that the
information provided in this
certification, the application, and all
other information submitted in
connection with this application, is true
and correct as of the date of submission.
I acknowledge that any intentional or
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negligent misrepresentation of the
information contained in this
certification may result in criminal, civil
or administrative sanctions, including
but not limited to: (1) fines, restitution
and/or imprisonment under 18 U.S.C.
1001; (2) treble damages and civil
penalties under the False Claims Act (31
U.S.C. 3729 et seq.); (3) double damages
and civil penalties under the Program
Fraud Civil Remedies Act (31 U.S.C.
3801 et seq.); (4) civil recovery of award
funds, (5) suspension and/or debarment
from all Federal procurement and
nonprocurement transactions (FAR
Subpart 9.4 or 2 CFR part 180); and (6)
other administrative penalties including
termination of SBIR/STTR awards.
Date __/__/__
Signature
Print Name (First, Middle, Last)
Title
Business Name
(d) The agency must use the following
certification during the lifecycle of the
funding agreement in accordance with
subsection 8(h) of the directive and
paragraph 2(b)(iv) of this Appendix and
upon notification by SBA, must check
www.SBIR.gov for updated certifications
prepared by SBA:
SBIR/STTR Funding Agreement
Certification—Life Cycle Certification
All SBIR/STTR Phase I and Phase II
awardees must complete this
certification at all times set forth in the
funding agreement (see § 8(h) of the
SBIR/STTR Policy Directive). This
includes checking all of the boxes
(unless otherwise directed) and having
an authorized officer of the awardee
sign and date the certification each time
it is requested.
Please read carefully the following
certification statements. The Federal
government relies on the information to
ensure compliance with specific
program requirements during the life of
the funding agreement. The definitions
for the terms used in this certification
are set forth in the Small Business Act,
the SBIR/STTR Policy Directive, and
also any statutory and regulatory
provisions referenced in those
authorities.
If the funding agreement officer
believes that the business is not meeting
certain funding agreement requirements,
the agency may request further
clarification and supporting
documentation in order to assist in the
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verification of any of the information
provided.
Even if correct information has been
included in other materials submitted to
the Federal government, any action
taken with respect to this certification
does not affect the Government’s right to
pursue criminal, civil or administrative
remedies for incorrect or incomplete
information given in the certification.
Each person signing this certification
may be prosecuted if they have
provided false information.
The undersigned has reviewed,
verified and certifies that (all boxes
must be checked except where
otherwise directed):
(1) The principal investigator spent
more than one half of his/her time as an
employee of the awardee (or research
institution—STTR only) or the awardee
has requested and received a written
deviation from this requirement from
the funding agreement officer.
b Yes b No b Deviation
approved in writing by funding
agreement officer: l%
(2) All, essentially equivalent work, or
a portion of the work performed under
this project (check the applicable line):
b Has not been submitted for
funding to another Federal agency or
State program.
b Has been submitted for funding to
another Federal agency or State program
but has not been funded under any
other grant, contract, subcontract or
other transaction.
b A portion has been funded by
another grant, contract, or subcontract
as described in detail in the proposal
and approved in writing by the funding
agreement officer.
(3) Upon completion of the award, the
awardee will have performed the
applicable percentage of work, unless a
deviation from this requirement is
approved in writing by the funding
agreement officer (check the applicable
line and fill in if needed):
b SBIR Phase I: at least two-thirds
(66 2/3%) of the research.
b SBIR Phase II: at least half (50%)
of the research.
b STTR Phase I or Phase II: at least
forty percent (40%) of the research.
b Deviation approved in writing by
the funding agreement officer: %
(4) The work is completed and the
small business awardee has performed
the applicable percentage of work,
unless a deviation from this requirement
is approved in writing by the funding
agreement officer (check the applicable
line and fill in if needed):
b SBIR Phase I: at least two-thirds
(66 2/3%) of the research.
b SBIR Phase II: at least half (50%)
of the research.
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b STTR Phase I or Phase II: at least
forty percent (40%) of the research.
b Deviation approved in writing by
the funding agreement officer: %
b N/A because work is not
completed
(5) [For STTR only] The small
business concern, and not a partnering
Research Institution, is exercising
management direction and control of
the performance of the STTR funding
agreement.
Yes b No b
(6) The research/research and
development is performed in the United
States unless a deviation is approved in
writing by the funding agreement
officer.
b Yes b No b Waiver has been
granted
(7) The research/research and
development is performed at the
awardee’s facilities with its employees,
except as otherwise indicated in the
SBIR/STTR application and approved in
the funding agreement.
b Yes b No
(8) b I will notify the Federal agency
immediately if all or a portion of the
work authorized and funded under this
award is subsequently funded by
another Federal agency.
(9) b I understand that the
information submitted may be given to
Federal, State and local agencies for
determining violations of law and other
purposes.
(10) b I am an officer of the awardee
business concern authorized to
represent it and sign this certification on
its behalf. By signing this certification,
I am representing on my own behalf,
and on behalf of the business concern,
that the information provided in this
certification, the application, and all
other information submitted in
connection with the award, is true and
correct as of the date of submission. I
acknowledge that any intentional or
negligent misrepresentation of the
information contained in this
certification may result in criminal, civil
or administrative sanctions, including
but not limited to: (1) fines, restitution
and/or imprisonment under 18 U.S.C.
1001; (2) treble damages and civil
penalties under the False Claims Act (31
U.S.C. 3729 et seq.); (3) double damages
and civil penalties under the Program
Fraud Civil Remedies Act (31 U.S.C.
3801 et seq.); (4) civil recovery of award
funds, (5) suspension and/or debarment
from all Federal procurement and
nonprocurement transactions (FAR
Subpart 9.4 or 2 CFR part 180); and (6)
other administrative penalties including
termination of SBIR/STTR awards.
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Date __/__/__
Signature
Print Name (First, Middle, Last)
Title
Business Name
(e) [SBIR only] The agency must
require any SBC that is majority-owned
by multiple venture capital operating
companies, hedge funds, or private
equity firms to submit the following
certification with its SBIR application:
Certification for SBIR Applicants that
are Majority-Owned by Multiple Venture
Capital Operating Companies, Hedge
Fund or Private Equity Firms
Any small business that is majorityowned by multiple venture operating
companies (VCOCs), hedge funds or
private equity firms and is submitting
an application for an SBIR funding
agreement must complete this
certification prior to submitting an
application. This includes checking all
of the boxes and having an authorized
officer of the applicant sign and date the
certification each time it is requested.
Please read carefully the following
certification statements. The Federal
government relies on the information to
determine whether the business is
eligible for a Small Business Innovation
Research (SBIR) program award and
meets the specific program requirements
during the life of the funding agreement.
The definitions for the terms used in
this certification are set forth in the
Small Business Act, SBA regulations (13
CFR part 121), the SBIR Policy Directive
and also any statutory and regulatory
provisions referenced in those
authorities.
If the funding agreement officer
believes that the business may not meet
certain eligibility requirements at the
time of award, he/she is required to file
a size protest with the U.S. Small
Business Administration (SBA), who
will determine eligibility. At that time,
SBA will request further clarification
and supporting documentation in order
to assist in the verification of any of the
information provided as part of a
protest. If the funding agreement officer
believes, after award, that the business
is not meeting certain funding
agreement requirements, the agency
may request further clarification and
supporting documentation in order to
assist in the verification of any of the
information provided.
Even if correct information has been
included in other materials submitted to
the Federal government, any action
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taken with respect to this certification
does not affect the Government’s right to
pursue criminal, civil or administrative
remedies for incorrect or incomplete
information given in the certification.
Each person signing this certification
may be prosecuted if they have
provided false information.
The undersigned has reviewed,
verified and certifies that (all boxes
must be checked):
(1) b The applicant is NOT more
than 50% owned by a single VCOC,
hedge fund or private equity firm.
(2) b The applicant is more than 50%
owned by multiple domestic business
concerns that are VCOCs, hedge funds,
or private equity firms.
(3) b I have registered with SBA at
www.SBIR.gov as a business that is
majority-owned by multiple VCOCs,
hedge funds or private equity firms.
(4) b I understand that the
information submitted may be given to
Federal, State and local agencies for
determining violations of law and other
purposes.
(5) b All the statements and
information provided in this form and
any documents submitted are true,
accurate and complete. If assistance was
obtained in completing this form and
the supporting documentation, I have
personally reviewed the information
and it is true and accurate. I understand
that, in general, these statements are
made for the purpose of determining
eligibility for an SBIR funding
agreement and continuing eligibility.
(6) b I understand that the
certifications in this document are
continuing in nature. Each SBIR funding
agreement for which the small business
submits an offer or application or
receives an award constitutes a
restatement and reaffirmation of these
certifications.
(7) b I understand that I may not
misrepresent status as small business to:
1) obtain a contract under the Small
Business Act; or 2) obtain any benefit
under a provision of Federal law that
references the SBIR program.
(8) b I am an officer of the business
concern authorized to represent it and
sign this certification on its behalf. By
signing this certification, I am
representing on my own behalf, and on
behalf of the SBIR applicant or awardee,
that the information provided in this
certification, the application, and all
other information submitted in
connection with this application, is true
and correct as of the date of submission.
I acknowledge that any intentional or
negligent misrepresentation of the
information contained in this
certification may result in criminal, civil
or administrative sanctions, including
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but not limited to: (1) fines, restitution
and/or imprisonment under 18 U.S.C.
1001; (2) treble damages and civil
penalties under the False Claims Act (31
U.S.C. 3729 et seq.); (3) double damages
and civil penalties under the Program
Fraud Civil Remedies Act (31 U.S.C.
3801 et seq.); (4) civil recovery of award
funds, (5) suspension and/or debarment
from all Federal procurement and
nonprocurement transactions (FAR
Subpart 9.4 or 2 CFR part 180); and (6)
other administrative penalties including
termination of SBIR/STTR awards.
Date __/__/__
Signature
Print Name (First, Middle, Last)
Title
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Business Name
§ 3. SBIR/STTR Proposal Preparation
Instructions and Requirements. The
purpose of this section is to inform the
applicant on what to include in the
proposal and to set forth limits on what
may be included. It should also provide
guidance to assist applicants,
particularly those that may not have
previous Government experience, in
improving the quality and acceptance of
proposals.
(a) Limitations on Length of Proposal.
Include at least the following
information:
(1) SBIR/STTR Phase I proposals must
not exceed a total of 25 pages, including
cover page, budget, and all enclosures or
attachments, unless stated otherwise in
the agency solicitation. Pages should be
of standard size (8 1/2″ × 11″; 21.6 cm
× 27.9 cm) and should conform to the
standard formatting instructions.
Margins should be 2.5 cm and type at
least 10 point font.
(2) A notice that no additional
attachments, appendices, or references
beyond the 25-page limitation shall be
considered in proposal evaluation
(unless specifically solicited by an
agency) and that proposals in excess of
the page limitation shall not be
considered for review or award.
(b) Proposal Cover Sheet. Every
applicant is required to provide a copy
of its registration information printed
from the Company Registry unless the
information can be transmitted
automatically to SBIR/STTR agencies.
Every applicant must also include at
least the following information on the
first page of proposals. Items 8 and 9 are
for statistical purposes only.
(1) Agency and solicitation number or
year.
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(2) Topic Number or Letter.
(3) Subtopic Number or Letter.
(4) Topic Area.
(5) Project Title.
(6) Name and Complete Address of
Firm.
(7) Disclosure permission (by
statement or checkbox), such as follows,
must be included at the discretion of the
funding agency:
‘‘Will you permit the Government to
disclose your name, address, and
telephone number of the corporate
official of your concern, if your proposal
does not result in an award, to
appropriate local and State-level
economic development organizations
that may be interested in contacting you
for further information?
YesllNoll’’
(8) Signature of a company official of
the proposing SBC and that individual’s
typed name, title, address, telephone
number, and date of signature.
(9) Signature of Principal Investigator
or Project Manager within the proposing
SBC and that individual’s typed name,
title, address, telephone number, and
date of signature.
(10) Legend for proprietary
information as described in the
‘‘Considerations’’ section of this
program solicitation if appropriate. This
may also be noted by asterisks in the
margins on proposal pages.
(c) Data Collection Requirement
(1) Each Phase I and Phase II
applicant is required to provide
information for SBA’s database
(www.SBIR.gov). The following are
examples of the data to be entered by
applicants into the database:
(i) Any business concern or subsidiary
established for the commercial
application of a product or service for
which an SBIR or STTR award is made.
(ii) Revenue from the sale of new
products or services resulting from the
research conducted under each Phase II
award;
(iii) Additional investment from any
source, other than Phase I or Phase II
awards, to further the research and
development conducted under each
Phase II award.
(iv) Update the information in the
database for any prior Phase II award
received by the SBC. The SBC may
apportion sales or additional investment
information relating to more than one
Phase II award among those awards, if
it notes the apportionment for each
award.
(2) Each Phase II awardee is required
to update the appropriate information
on the award in the database upon
completion of the last deliverable under
the funding agreement and is requested
to voluntarily update the information in
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the database annually thereafter for a
minimum period of 5 years.
(d) Abstract or Summary. Applicants
will be required to include a one-page
project summary of the proposed R/R&D
including at least the following:
(1) Name and address of SBC.
(2) Name and title of principal
investigator or project manager.
(3) Agency name, solicitation number,
solicitation topic, and subtopic.
(4) Title of project.
(5) Technical abstract limited to two
hundred words.
(6) Summary of the anticipated results
and implications of the approach (both
Phases I and II) and the potential
commercial applications of the research.
(e) Technical Content. SBIR or STTR
program solicitations must require, as a
minimum, the following to be included
in proposals submitted thereunder:
(1) Identification and Significance of
the Problem or Opportunity. A clear
statement of the specific technical
problem or opportunity addressed.
(2) Phase I Technical Objectives. State
the specific objectives of the Phase I
research and development effort,
including the technical questions it will
try to answer to determine the feasibility
of the proposed approach.
(3) Phase I Work Plan. Include a
detailed description of the Phase I R/
R&D plan. The plan should indicate
what will be done, where it will be
done, and how the R/R&D will be
carried out. Phase I R/R&D should
address the objectives and the questions
cited in (e)(2) immediately above. The
methods planned to achieve each
objective or task should be discussed in
detail.
(4) Related R/R&D. Describe
significant R/R&D that is directly related
to the proposal including any conducted
by the project manager/principal
investigator or by the proposing SBC.
Describe how it relates to the proposed
effort, and any planned coordination
with outside sources. The applicant
must persuade reviewers of his or her
awareness of key, recent R/R&D
conducted by others in the specific
topic area.
(5) Key Individuals and Bibliography
of Directly Related Work. Identify key
individuals involved in Phase I
including their directly-related
education, experience, and
bibliographic information. Where vitae
are extensive, summaries that focus on
the most relevant experience or
publications are desired and may be
necessary to meet proposal size
limitation.
(6) Relationship with Future R/R&D.
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(i) State the anticipated results of the
proposed approach if the project is
successful (Phase I and II).
(ii) Discuss the significance of the
Phase I effort in providing a foundation
for the Phase II R/R&D effort.
(7) Facilities. A detailed description,
availability and location of
instrumentation and physical facilities
proposed for Phase I should be
provided.
(8) Consultants. Involvement of
consultants in the planning and
research stages of the project is
permitted. If such involvement is
intended, it should be described in
detail.
(9) Potential Post Applications.
Briefly describe:
(i) Whether and by what means the
proposed project appears to have
potential commercial application.
(ii) Whether and by what means the
proposed project appears to have
potential use by the Federal
Government.
(10) Similar Proposals or Awards.
WARNING—While it is permissible
with proposal notification to submit
identical proposals or proposals
containing a significant amount of
essentially equivalent work for
consideration under numerous Federal
or State program solicitations, it is
unlawful to enter into funding
agreements requiring essentially
equivalent work. If there is any question
concerning this, it must be disclosed to
the soliciting agency or agencies before
award. If an applicant elects to submit
identical proposals or proposals
containing a significant amount of
essentially equivalent work under other
Federal or State program solicitations, a
statement must be included in each
such proposal indicating:
(i) The name and address of the
agencies to which proposals were
submitted or from which awards were
received.
(ii) Date of proposal submission or
date of award.
(iii) Title, number, and date of
solicitations under which proposals
were submitted or awards received.
(iv) The specific applicable research
topics for each proposal submitted or
award received.
(v) Titles of research projects.
(vi) Name and title of principal
investigator or project manager for each
proposal submitted or award received.
(11) Prior SBIR Phase II Awards. If the
SBC has received more than 15 Phase II
awards in the prior 5 fiscal years, the
SBC must submit in its Phase I proposal:
name of the awarding agency; date of
award; funding agreement number;
amount of award; topic or subtopic title;
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follow-on agreement amount; source
and date of commitment; and current
commercialization status for each Phase
II award. (This required proposal
information will not be counted toward
the proposal pages limitation.)
(f) Cost Breakdown/Proposed Budget.
The solicitation will require the
submission of simplified cost or budget
data.
§ 4. Method of Selection and
Evaluation Criteria.
(a) Standard Statement. Essentially,
the following statement must be
included in all SBIR or STTR program
solicitations:
‘‘All Phase I and II proposals will be
evaluated and judged on a competitive
basis. Proposals will be initially
screened to determine responsiveness.
Proposals passing this initial screening
will be technically evaluated by
engineers or scientists to determine the
most promising technical and scientific
approaches. Each proposal will be
judged on its own merit. The Agency is
under no obligation to fund any
proposal or any specific number of
proposals in a given topic. It also may
elect to fund several or none of the
proposed approaches to the same topic
or subtopic.’’
(b) Evaluation Criteria.
(1) The SBIR/STTR agency must
develop a standardized method in its
evaluation process that will consider, at
a minimum, the following factors:
(i) The technical approach and the
anticipated agency and commercial
benefits that may be derived from the
research.
(ii) The adequacy of the proposed
effort and its relationship to the
fulfillment of requirements of the
research topic or subtopics.
(iii) The soundness and technical
merit of the proposed approach and its
incremental progress toward topic or
subtopic solution.
(iv) Qualifications of the proposed
principal/key investigators, supporting
staff, and consultants.
(v) Evaluations of proposals require,
among other things, consideration of a
proposal’s commercial potential as
evidenced by:
(A) the SBC’s record of
commercializing SBIR or other research,
(B) the existence of second phase
funding commitments from private
sector or non-SBIR funding sources,
(C) the existence of third phase
follow-on commitments for the subject
of the research, and,
(D) the presence of other indicators of
the commercial potential of the idea.
(2) The factors in (b)(1) above and
other appropriate evaluation criteria, if
any, must be specified in the ‘‘Method
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of Selection’’ section of SBIR program
solicitations.
(c) Peer Review. The solicitation must
indicate if the SBIR/STTR agency
contemplates that as a part of the SBIR/
STTR proposal evaluation, it will use
external peer review.
(d) Release of Proposal Review
Information. After final award decisions
have been announced, the technical
evaluations of the applicant’s proposal
may be provided to the applicant. The
identity of the reviewer must not be
disclosed.
§ 5. Considerations. This section must
include, as a minimum, the following
information:
(a) Awards. Indicate the estimated
number and type of awards anticipated
under the particular SBIR/STTR
program solicitation in question,
including:
(1) Approximate number of Phase I
awards expected to be made.
(2) Type of funding agreement, that is,
contract, grant, or cooperative
agreement.
(3) Whether fee or profit will be
allowed.
(4) Cost basis of funding agreement,
for example, fixed-price, cost
reimbursement, or cost-plus-fixed fee.
(5) Information on the approximate
average dollar value of awards for Phase
I and Phase II.
(b) Reports. Describe the frequency
and nature of reports that will be
required under Phase I funding
agreements. Interim reports should be
brief letter reports.
(c) Payment Schedule. Specify the
method and frequency of progress and
final payment under Phase I and II
agreements.
(d) Innovations, SBIR/STTR Data
Rights, Inventions and Patents.
(1) Proprietary Information in
Proposals. The following statement
must be included in all SBIR/STTR
solicitations:
‘‘Information contained in
unsuccessful proposals will remain the
property of the applicant. The
Government may, however, retain
copies of all proposals. Public release of
information in any proposal submitted
will be subject to existing statutory and
regulatory requirements. If proprietary
information is provided by an applicant
in a proposal, which constitutes a trade
secret, proprietary commercial or
financial information, confidential
personal information or data affecting
the national security, it will be treated
in confidence, to the extent permitted
by law. This information must be clearly
marked by the applicant with the term
‘‘confidential proprietary information’’
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and the following legend must appear
on the title page of the proposal:
‘These data shall not be disclosed
outside the Government and shall not be
duplicated, used, or disclosed in whole
or in part for any purpose other than
evaluation of this proposal. It is agreed
that as a condition of award of this
funding agreement, the Government
shall have SBIR/STTR Data Rights in
properly marked data that is contained
in the proposal dated_____, upon which
this contract is based. However, data
contained on pages___, are not subject
to the Government’s SBIR/STTR Data
Rights.’ ’’
(2) Alternative To Minimize
Proprietary Information. Agencies may
elect to instruct applicants to limit
proprietary information to only that
absolutely essential to their proposal.
(3) SBIR/STTR Data Rights Clause.
Agencies must include a clause in their
SBIR and STTR Program solicitations
and resulting funding agreements that
reflects the following necessary
elements:
SBIR/STTR Data Rights Clause
(a) Definitions.
(1) Computer Software. Computer
programs, source code, source code
listings, object code listings, design
details, algorithms, processes, flow
charts, formulae, and related material
that would enable the software to be
reproduced, recreated, or recompiled.
Computer Software does not include
Computer Databases or Computer
Software Documentation.
(2) Data. All recorded information,
regardless of the form or method of
recording or the media on which it may
be recorded. The term does not include
information incidental to contract or
grant administration, such as financial,
administrative, cost or pricing or
management information.
(3) SBIR/STTR Data. All
appropriately marked Data developed or
generated in the performance of an SBIR
or STTR award, including Technical
Data and Computer Software developed
or generated in the performance of an
SBIR or STTR award. The term does not
include information incidental to
contract or grant administration, such as
financial, administrative, cost or pricing
or management information.
(4) SBIR/STTR Data Rights.
(A) The Government’s license rights
in SBIR/STTR Data during the SBIR/
STTR Protection Period are as follows:
SBIR/STTR Technical Data Rights in
SBIR/STTR Data that are Technical Data
or any other type of Data other than
Computer Software that is properly
marked, and SBIR/STTR Computer
Software Rights in SBIR/STTR Data that
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is Computer Software. Upon expiration
of the protection period for SBIR/STTR
Data, the Government’s obligation to
protect that data expires and the
Government’s rights in that data convert
to Unlimited Rights. The Government
receives Unlimited Rights in all
unmarked data.
(B) An Awardee retains title and
ownership of all SBIR/STTR Data it
develops or generates in the
performance of an SBIR or STTR Phase
I, Phase II, or Phase III award (including
a Phase III award that is a subcontract
or subgrant), and retains all rights in
SBIR/STTR Data not granted to the
Government. These of the Awardee
rights do not expire.
(5) SBIR/STTR Technical Data Rights.
The Government’s rights during the
SBIR/STTR Protection Period in SBIR/
STTR Data that are Technical Data or
any other type of Data other than
Computer Software.
(A) The Government may, use,
modify, reproduce, perform, display,
release, or disclose SBIR/STTR Data that
are Technical Data within the
Government; however, the Government
shall not use, release, or disclose the
data for procurement, manufacturing, or
commercial purposes; or release or
disclose the SBIR/STTR Data outside
the Government except as permitted by
paragraph (2) below or by written
permission of the awardee.
(B) SBIR/STTR Data that are
Technical Data may be released outside
the Government without any additional
written permission of the awardee only
if the non-Governmental entity or
foreign government has entered into a
non-disclosure agreement with the
Government that complies with the
terms for such agreements outlined in
section 8 of this Policy Directive and the
release is:
(i) Necessary to support certain
narrowly-tailored essential Government
activities for which law or regulation
permits access of a non-Government
entity to a contractors’ data developed
exclusively at private expense, nonSBIR/STTR Data, such as for emergency
repair or overhaul;
(ii) To a Government support services
contractor in the performance of a
Government support services contract
and the release is not for commercial
purposes or manufacture;
(iii) To a foreign government for
purposes of information and evaluation
if required to serve the interests of the
U.S. Government; or
(iv) To non-Government entities or
individuals for purposes of evaluation.
(6) SBIR/STTR Computer Software
Rights. The Government’s rights during
the SBIR/STTR Protection Period in
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specific types of SBIR/STTR Data that
are Computer Software.
(A) The Government may use, modify,
reproduce, release, perform, display, or
disclose SBIR/STTR Data that are
Computer Software within the
Government. The Government may
exercise SBIR/STTR Computer Software
Rights within the Governmen for:
(1) Use in Government computers;
(2) Modification, adaptation, or
combination with other computer
software, provided that the Data
incorporated into any derivative
software are subject to the rights in
paragraph (ee) and that the derivative
software is marked as containing SBIR/
STTR Data;
(3) Archive or backup; or
(4) Distribution of a computer
program to another Government agency,
without further permission of the
awardee, if the awardee is notified of
the distribution and the identity of the
recipient prior to the distribution, and a
copy of the SBIR/STTR Computer
Software Rights included in the funding
agreement is provided to the recipient.
(B) The Government shall not release,
disclose, or permit access to SBIR/STTR
Data that is Computer Software for
commercial, manufacturing, or
procurement purposes without the
written permission of the awardee. The
Government shall not release, disclose,
or permit access to SBIR/STTR Data
outside the Government without the
written permission of the awardee
unless:
(i) The non-Governmental entity has
entered into a non-disclosure agreement
with the Government that complies with
the terms for such agreements outlined
in section 8 of this Policy Directive; and
(ii) The release or disclosure is—
(I) To a Government support service
contractor for purposes of supporting
Government internal use or activities,
including evaluation, diagnosis and
correction of deficiencies, and
adaptation, combination, or integration
with other Computer Software provided
that SBIR/STTR Data incorporated into
any derivative software are subject to
the rights in paragraph (ff); or
(II) Necessary to support certain
narrowly-tailored essential Government
activities for which law or regulation
permits access of a non-Government
entity to a contractors’ data developed
exclusively at private expense, nonSBIR/STTR Data, such as for emergency
repair and overhaul.
(7) SBIR/STTR Protection Period. The
period of time during which the
Government is obligated to protect
SBIR/STTR Data against unauthorized
use and disclosure in accordance with
SBIR/STTR Data Rights. The SBIR/STTR
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Protection Period begins at award of an
SBIR/STTR funding agreement and ends
not less than twelve years after
acceptance of the last deliverable under
that agreement (See § 8(b)(4) of the
SBIR/STTR Policy Directive).
(8) Technical Data. Recorded
information, regardless of the form or
method of the recording, of a scientific
or technical nature (including Computer
Software Documentation and Computer
Databases). The term does not include
Computer Software or financial,
administrative, cost or pricing, or
management information, or other data
incidental to contract or grant
administration. The term includes
recorded Data of a scientific or technical
nature that is included in Computer
Databases.
(9) Unlimited Rights. The
Government’s rights to access, use,
modify, prepare derivative works,
reproduce, release, perform, display,
disclose, or distribute Data in whole or
in part, in any manner and for any
purpose whatsoever, and to have or
authorize others to do so.
(b) Allocation of SBIR/STTR Data
Rights.
(1) An SBC has ownership of all SBIR/
STTR Data it develops or generates in
the performance of an SBIR/STTR
award. The SBC retains all rights in
SBIR/STTR Data that are not granted to
the Government in accordance with this
Policy Directive. These rights of the SBC
do not expire.
(2) During the SBIR/STTR Protection
Period, the Government receives SBIR/
STTR Technical Data Rights in SBIR/
STTR Data that is Technical Data or any
other type of Data other than Computer
Software; and SBIR/STTR Computer
Software Rights in SBIR/STTR Data that
is Computer Software.
(3) After the protection period, the
Government receives Unlimited Rights
in all SBIR/STTR Data that was
protected during the protection period.
(4) The Government receives
Unlimited Rights in all unmarked data.
(c) Identification and Delivery of
SBIR/STTR Data. Any SBIR/STTR Data
delivered by the awardee, and in which
the awardee intends to limit the
Government’s rights to use and
disclosure to SBIR/STTR Technical Data
Rights and SBIR/STTR Computer
Software Rights, must be delivered with
restrictive markings. The Government
assumes no liability for the access, use,
modification, reproduction, release,
performance, display, disclosure, or
distribution of SBIR/STTR Data
delivered without markings. The
Awardee or its subcontractors or
suppliers shall conspicuously and
legibly mark all such SBIR/STTR Data
with the appropriate legend.
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(1) The authorized legend shall be
placed on each page of the SBIR/STTR
Data. If only portions of a page are
subject to the asserted restrictions, the
SBIR/STTR Awardee shall identify the
restricted portions (e.g., by circling or
underscoring with a note or other
appropriate identifier). With respect to
SBIR/STTR Data embodied in Computer
Software, the legend shall be placed on:
(1) The printed material or media
containing the Computer Software; or
(2) the transmittal document or storage
container. The legend shall read as
follows:
SBIR/STTR DATA RIGHTS
Funding agreement No.
Date Last Deliverable Due
SBIR/STTR Awardee
SBIR/STTR Awardee Address
This is SBIR/STTR Data (or is
Computer Software or a prototype that
embodies or includes SBIR/STTR Data)
to which the SBIR/STTR Awardee has
SBIR/STTR Data Rights and to which
the Government has received SBIR/
STTR Technical Data Rights (or SBIR/
STTR Computer Software Rights) during
the SBIR/STTR Protection Period and
Unlimited Rights after the Protection
Period, as those terms are defined in the
SBIR/STTR funding agreement. Any
reproduction of SBIR/STTR Data or
portions of such data marked with this
legend must also reproduce the
markings.
(End of Legend)
(2) If the SBIR/STTR Awardee has
marked its data using the date last
deliverable due, and the date of
acceptance of the last deliverable differs
from the date the last deliverable is due,
the SBIR/STTR Awardee has the option
of remarking the data with the date of
acceptance of the last deliverable. Data
submitted without correct or
appropriate markings may be corrected
within 6 months from the date the data
is delivered.
(d) Relation to patents. Nothing
regarding SBIR/STTR Data Rights or
SBIR/STTR Limited Rights in this
clause shall imply a license to or imply
a requirement to license to the
Government under any patent to a
Subject Invention (As defined under the
Bayh-Dole Act) under an SBIR/STTR
award.
(End of Clause)
(4) Copyrights. Include an appropriate
statement concerning copyrights and
publications addressing national
security considerations, if any, and the
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appropriate acknowledgement and
disclaimer statement.
(5) Invention Reporting. Include
requirements for reporting inventions.
Include appropriate information
concerning the reporting of inventions,
for example:
‘‘SBIR/STTR Awardees must report
inventions to the awarding agency
within 2 months of the inventor’s report
to the awardee.’’
Note: Some agencies provide
electronic reporting of inventions
through the NIH iEdison Invention
Reporting System (iEdison System). The
iEdison System may be used to satisfy
all invention reporting requirements
mandated by the applicable regulations.
Access to the system is through a secure
interactive Internet site, https://
www.iedison.gov, to ensure that all
information submitted is protected. All
agencies are encouraged to use the
iEdison System. In addition to fulfilling
reporting requirements, the iEdison
System notifies the user of future time
sensitive deadlines with enough leadtime to avoid the possibility of loss of
patent rights due to administrative
oversight.
(e) Cost-Sharing. Include a statement
essentially as follows:
‘‘Cost-sharing is permitted for
proposals under this program
solicitation; however, cost-sharing is not
required. Cost-sharing will not be an
evaluation factor in consideration of
your Phase I proposal.’’
(f) Profit or Fee. Include a statement
on the payment of profit or fee on
awards made under the SBIR/STTR
program solicitation.
(g) Joint Ventures or Limited
Partnerships. Include essentially the
following language: ‘‘Joint ventures and
limited partnerships are eligible
provided the entity created qualifies as
a small business concern as defined in
this program solicitation.’’
(h) Research and Analytical Work.
Include essentially the following
statement:
SBIR:
(1) ‘‘For Phase I a minimum of twothirds of the research and/or analytical
effort must be performed by the
proposing small business concern
unless otherwise approved in writing by
the funding agreement officer after
consultation with the agency SBIR
Program Manager/Coordinator.
(2) For Phase II a minimum of onehalf of the research and/or analytical
effort must be performed by the
proposing small business concern
unless otherwise approved in writing by
the funding agreement officer after
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consultation with the agency SBIR
Program Manager/Coordinator.’’
STTR:
‘‘For both Phase I and Phase II, not
less than 40 percent of the R/R&D work
must be performed by the SBC, and not
less than 30 percent of the R/R&D work
must be performed by a, partnering
Research Institution, as defined in this
solicitation.’’
(i) Awardee Commitments. To meet
the legislative requirement that SBIR/
STTR solicitations be simplified,
standardized and uniform, clauses
expected to be in or required to be
included in SBIR/STTR funding
agreements must not be included in full
or by reference in SBIR/STTR program
solicitations. Rather, applicants must be
advised that they will be required to
make certain legal commitments at the
time of execution of funding agreements
resulting from SBIR/STTR program
solicitations. Essentially, the following
statement must be included in the
‘‘Considerations’’ section of SBIR/STTR
program solicitations:
‘‘Upon award of a funding agreement,
the awardee will be required to make
certain legal commitments through
acceptance of numerous clauses in
Phase I funding agreements. The outline
that follows is illustrative of the types
of clauses to which the contractor
would be committed. This list is not a
complete list of clauses to be included
in Phase I funding agreements, and is
not the specific wording of such clauses.
Copies of complete terms and
conditions are available upon request.’’
(j) Summary Statements. The
following are illustrative of the type of
summary statements to be included
immediately following the statement in
subparagraph (i). These statements are
examples only and may vary depending
upon the type of funding agreement
used.
(1) Standards of Work. Work
performed under the funding agreement
must conform to high professional
standards.
(2) Inspection. Work performed under
the funding agreement is subject to
Government inspection and evaluation
at all times.
(3) Examination of Records. The
Comptroller General (or a duly
authorized representative) must have
the right to examine any pertinent
records of the awardee involving
transactions related to this funding
agreement.
(4) Default. The Government may
terminate the funding agreement if the
contractor fails to perform the work
contracted.
(5) Termination for Convenience. The
funding agreement may be terminated at
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any time by the Government if it deems
termination to be in its best interest, in
which case the awardee will be
compensated for work performed and
for reasonable termination costs.
(6) Disputes. Any dispute concerning
the funding agreement that cannot be
resolved by agreement must be decided
by the contracting officer with right of
appeal.
(7) Contract Work Hours. The awardee
may not require an employee to work
more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a
week unless the employee is
compensated accordingly (for example,
overtime pay).
(8) Equal Opportunity. The awardee
will not discriminate against any
employee or applicant for employment
because of race, color, religion, sex, or
national origin.
(9) Affirmative Action for Veterans.
The awardee will not discriminate
against any employee or application for
employment because he or she is a
disabled veteran or veteran of the
Vietnam era.
(10) Affirmative Action for
Handicapped. The awardee will not
discriminate against any employee or
applicant for employment because he or
she is physically or mentally
handicapped.
(11) Officials Not To Benefit. No
Government official must benefit
personally from the SBIR/STTR funding
agreement.
(12) Covenant Against Contingent
Fees. No person or agency has been
employed to solicit or secure the
funding agreement upon an
understanding for compensation except
bona fide employees or commercial
agencies maintained by the awardee for
the purpose of securing business.
(13) Gratuities. The funding
agreement may be terminated by the
Government if any gratuities have been
offered to any representative of the
Government to secure the award.
(14) Patent Infringement. The awardee
must report each notice or claim of
patent infringement based on the
performance of the funding agreement.
(15) American Made Equipment and
Products. When purchasing equipment
or a product under the SBIR/STTR
funding agreement, purchase only
American-made items whenever
possible.
(k) Additional Information.
Information pertinent to an
understanding of the administration
requirements of SBIR/STTR proposals
and funding agreements not included
elsewhere must be included in this
section. As a minimum, statements
essentially as follows must be included
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under ‘‘Additional Information’’ in
SBIR/STTR program solicitations:
(1) This program solicitation is
intended for informational purposes and
reflects current planning. If there is any
inconsistency between the information
contained herein and the terms of any
resulting SBIR/STTR funding
agreement, the terms of the funding
agreement are controlling.
(2) Before award of an SBIR/STTR
funding agreement, the Government
may request the applicant to submit
certain organizational, management,
personnel, and financial information to
assure responsibility of the applicant.
(3) The Government is not responsible
for any monies expended by the
applicant before award of any funding
agreement.
(4) This program solicitation is not an
offer by the Government and does not
obligate the Government to make any
specific number of awards. Also, awards
under the SBIR/STTR program are
contingent upon the availability of
funds.
(5) The SBIR/STTR program is not a
substitute for existing unsolicited
proposal mechanisms. Unsolicited
proposals must not be accepted under
the SBIR/STTR program in either Phase
I or Phase II.
(6) If an award is made pursuant to a
proposal submitted under this SBIR/
STTR program solicitation, a
representative of the contractor or
grantee or party to a cooperative
agreement will be required to certify
that the concern has not previously
been, nor is currently being, paid for
essentially equivalent work by any
Federal agency.
§ 6. Submission of Proposals.
(a) This section must clearly specify
the closing date on which all proposals
are due to be received.
(b) This section must specify the
number of copies of the proposal that
are to be submitted.
(c) This section must clearly set forth
the complete mailing and/or delivery
address(es) where proposals are to be
submitted.
(d) This section may include other
instructions such as the following:
(1) Bindings. Please do not use special
bindings or covers. Staple the pages in
the upper left corner of the cover sheet
of each proposal.
(2) Packaging. All copies of a proposal
should be sent in the same package.
§ 7. Scientific and Technical
Information Sources. Wherever
descriptions of research topics or
subtopics include reference to
publications, information on where
such publications will normally be
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available must be included in a separate
section of the solicitation entitled
‘‘Scientific and Technical Information
Sources.’’
§ 8. Submission Forms. Multiple
copies of proposal preparation forms
necessary to the contracting and
granting process may be required. This
section may include Proposal Summary,
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Proposal Cover, Budget, Checklist, and
other forms the sole purpose of which
is to meet the mandate of law or
regulation and simplify the submission
of proposals.
§ 9. Research Topics. Describe
sufficiently the R/R&D topics and
subtopics for which proposals are being
solicited to inform the applicant of
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technical details of what is desired.
Allow flexibility in order to obtain the
greatest degree of creativity and
innovation consistent with the overall
objectives of the SBIR/STTR program.
[FR Doc. 2016–07817 Filed 4–6–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8025–01–P
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 67 (Thursday, April 7, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20483-20522]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-07817]
[[Page 20483]]
Vol. 81
Thursday,
No. 67
April 7, 2016
Part III
Small Business Administration
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Small Business Innovation Research Program and Small Business
Technology Transfer Program Policy Directive; Notice
Federal Register / Vol. 81 , No. 67 / Thursday, April 7, 2016 /
Notices
[[Page 20484]]
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SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
RIN 3245-AG64
Small Business Innovation Research Program and Small Business
Technology Transfer Program Policy Directive
AGENCY: Small Business Administration.
ACTION: Notice of Proposed Amendments to SBIR and STTR Policy
Directives.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This document proposes to revise the Small Business Innovation
Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program
Policy Directives. Specifically, the Small Business Administration
proposes to combine the two directives into one document, clarify the
data rights and Phase III preference afforded to SBIR and STTR small
business awardees, add definitions relating to data rights, and clarify
the benchmarks for progress towards commercialization.
DATES: You must submit your comments on or before June 6, 2016.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN: 3245-AG64, by
any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Mail, Hand Delivery/Courier: Edsel Brown, Assistant
Director, Office of Innovation, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409
Third Street SW., Washington, DC 20416.
SBA will post all comments to this proposed rule on
www.regulations.gov. If you wish to submit confidential business
information (CBI) as defined in the User Notice at www.regulations.gov,
you must submit such information to Edsel Brown, or send an email to
technology@sba.gov. Highlight the information that you consider to be
CBI and explain why you believe SBA should hold this information as
confidential. SBA will review your information and determine whether it
will make the information public.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edsel Brown, Assistant Director,
Office of Innovation, at (202) 401-6365 or technnology@sba.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Executive Summary
The purpose of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
program is to stimulate innovation in the US economy by engaging
innovative small business concerns (SBCs) in Federally-funded research
and research and development (R/R&D). Similarly, the purpose of the
Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program is to foster
partnerships of ideas and technologies between innovative SBCs and
research institutions through Federally-funded R/R&D. Federal agency
awards to SBCs pursuant to the SBIR program and awards to SBCs for
cooperative R/R&D efforts with research institutions pursuant to the
STTR program assist the small business and research communities by
commercializing innovative technologies.
Both programs use a phased process, uniform throughout the Federal
Government, to solicit proposals and award funding agreements for R/R&D
to meet stated agency needs or missions. To stimulate and foster
scientific and technological innovation, including increasing
commercialization of Federal R/R&D, the program follows a competitive
process of three phases: Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III.
The Small Business Act (Act) requires that the Small Business
Administration (SBA) issue a policy directive setting forth guidance to
the Federal agencies participating in the SBIR and STTR programs. The
Act provides SBA with broad authority to direct participating agencies
in the administration of the programs. The SBIR and STTR Policy
Directives outline how agencies must generally conduct their programs.
Each agency, however, can tailor their program to meet the needs of the
individual agency, as long as the general principles of the program set
forth in the Act and directive are followed. Therefore, when
incorporating SBIR and STTR policy into agency-specific regulations and
procedures, agencies may develop language needed to implement the
policy effectively; however, no agency may apply policies, directives,
or clauses, that contradict, weaken, or conflict with the policy as
stated in the directive.
SBA reviews its policy directives regularly to determine areas that
need updating and further clarification. On November 7, 2014, SBA
issued an advance notice of policy directive amendments and request for
comments at 77 FR 66342. In this notice, SBA explained that it intended
to update the directives on a regular basis and to restructure and
reorganize the directives, as well as address certain policy issues
relating to SBIR and STTR data rights and the issues related to SBIR
and STTR Phase III work. In this notice, SBA outlined what it believes
are the issues concerning data rights and Phase III awards and
requested feedback on several questions posed. SBA received over thirty
comments offering recommendations and providing examples of how these
issues affect SBIR/STTR companies. While the comments varied on the
recommendations for specific changes, they were generally in agreement
that the sections of the directives relating to data rights and Phase
III awards need further clarification.
With this notice, SBA is proposing to amend both the SBIR and STTR
policy directives by combining the two directives into one because the
general structure of both programs is the same. In addition, SBA is
proposing clarification of the important issues relating to both
programs concerning data rights, Phase III awards and benchmarks to
commercialization achievement. Although the policy directives are
intended for use by the participating agencies, SBA believes that
public input on the proposed provisions from all parties involved in
the program is invaluable. Therefore, SBA is soliciting public comments
on these proposed amendments. A section-by-section outline of the
proposed amendments is set forth below.
II. Proposed Amendments
1. Section 1--Purpose
In this section, SBA proposes to clarify that SBA is issuing one
directive for both programs and that all provisions in the directive
apply to both the SBIR and STTR programs unless specifically noted
otherwise.
2. Section 2--Summary of Statutory Provisions
In this section, SBA proposes to delete any references to prior
fiscal years that are no longer relevant to the operation of the
programs. In addition, SBA proposes to clarify that agencies must
``obligate'' a certain percentage of the agency's total extramural R&D
obligations each fiscal year on awards to small businesses under the
programs. This amendment responds to recommendations from the
Government Accountability Office (GAO) in a report titled ``More
Guidance and Oversight Needed to Comply with Spending and Reporting
Requirements'' (available at https://www.gao.gov/assets/670/663909.pdf),
that SBA should amend its policy directives to clarify the funding
requirements for the programs.
3. Section 3--Definitions
In this section, SBA proposes to add several terms and definitions
that relate to SBIR and STTR data rights. When drafting these
provisions, SBA considered the fact that the SBIR and STTR programs are
unique within the Federal Government. The broad intent
[[Page 20485]]
of the programs is to stimulate economic growth and development by
supporting technological innovation through small business. Because it
is funded as a set-aside share of agency R&D, it also has the goal of
meeting the mission needs of the various participating agencies.
The purpose of SBIR and STTR data rights is to provide an incentive
for small businesses to engage in government-funded innovative research
and to support its potential commercialization. This incentive comes
from the prospects for successful commercialization by the innovating
small business through first-mover advantage, license or sale of the
IP, sale of the business, or sale of its related intangible assets
(intellectual capital, knowledge, innovation capacities). Legislative
history of the Small Business Research and Development Enhancement Act
of 1992 stated:
Section 4(e) of the bill directs SBA to modify its policy
directives so as to protect small companies in three areas. The
first of these is data rights. The bill directs SBA to extend an
SBIR awardee's rights to data generated in the performance of its
project to 4 years (as opposed to 2 years in current law). This
provision grows out of the Committee's concern that small businesses
capable of producing top quality research might be reluctant to
participate in the program if they fear losing control over their
ideas.
H.R. Rep. No. 554(I), 102nd Cong., 2nd Sess. 1992, 24 (emphasis added).
Further, legislative history of the Small Business Technology Transfer
(STTR) program states the following with respect to data rights:
Lastly, of the major provisions included in this legislation, S.
856 strengthens the data rights protection for companies and
research institutions that conduct STTR projects. The change in data
rights is important because it clarifies that STTR companies, like
SBIR companies, retain the data rights to their technology through
all phases of an STTR project. Some agencies have been interpreting
the law to mean that STTR companies only retain their data rights
through phases I and II. This clarification helps protect STTR
companies from losing control of their research so that they have a
greater chance of commercializing their technology themselves. This
clarification is important because the Committee has learned that
some agencies are providing the data to bigger contractors for
development, thereby cutting out the small business. This
unfortunate situation not only robs small businesses of revenues,
but it also results in expensive legal costs for small businesses to
protect their data rights.
S. Rep. No. 54, 107th Cong., 1st Sess. 2001 (emphasis added). Thus,
SBIR and STTR data rights give value to the work performed and thereby
form an essential element of the SBIR and STTR incentive and impact.
The Act specifically directs SBA to issue directives to the
participating agencies that provide for the retention by the SBC of
rights in data generated in the performance of an SBIR or STTR award.
See 15 U.S.C. 638(j)(1)(``(v) retention of rights in data generated in
the performance of the contract by the small business concern;''). It
also states that these rights should be provided for a minimum of four
years. See 15 U.S.C. 638(j)(2)(A) and 638(p)(2)(B)(v) (``retention by a
small business concern of the rights to data generated by the concern
in the performance of an [SBIR or STTR] award for a period of not less
than 4 years;''). The purpose of these statutory provisions is to
ensure that the SBC retains the rights to the data, and that the small
business' data rights apply to all phases of the program.
In accordance with the Small Business Act, the policy directives
currently explain that the SBC owns the data generated under the award,
and that the Government has an obligation to protect the data from
disclosure for at least four years. SBA recognizes that agencies with
procurement and acquisition programs can face an apparent conflict
between the longer term economic development goals of the programs,
which depend on the ability of the participating small business to
realize the commercial benefits from its new technology, and the
shorter term procurement interests of the agency that focus on
acquiring the technology from the SBC at a reasonable cost and
controlling its development and application. In light of this potential
conflict at the agency level, SBA must ensure that agency practices
related to their acquisition programs do not weaken or undermine the
effectiveness of the program at stimulating innovation and economic
development through small business. SBA must ensure that SBIR/STTR data
are properly handled at all times. At the same time, SBA recognizes the
mutual benefits involved in administering the programs within
procurement agencies and has proposed mechanisms to manage these
conflicting interests.
SBA's proposed amendments are based on a review of the statute,
legislative history and current directives, expertise and experience at
the funding agencies, and comments received from the public. SBA
believes that the current directives need clarification to reflect the
principles noted above and is proposing to update the directives and
define several new terms at this time. The proposed terms to be defined
relating to data rights include the following: Computer Database,
Computer Programs, Computer Software, Computer Software Documentation,
Data, Form Fit and Function Data, SBIR/STTR Technical Data Rights,
Operations Maintenance Installation or Training (OMIT) Data, Prototype,
SBIR/STTR Computer Software Rights, SBIR/STTR Data, SBIR/STTR Data
Rights, SBIR/STTR Protection Period, SBIR/STTR Technical Data Rights,
Technical Data, and Unlimited Rights. SBA has based these definitions,
to the extent practicable, on definitions used in the Federal
Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and the Defense Federal Acquisition
Regulations Supplement (DFARS).
With respect to specific definitions, SBA is proposing to clarify
the definition of SBIR/STTR Data by explaining that it includes all
data developed or generated in the performance of an SBIR/STTR award,
including Technical Data and Computer Software.
With respect to prototypes, SBA proposes to define the term
prototype to include any model, in any type of form, which is at any
stage in development. SBA also proposes to clarify that the release of
a prototype, other than Computer Software, to an SBIR/STTR Awardee's
competitor, which may enable the competitor to dissemble the prototype
and glean the protected data, is contrary to the purpose and intent of
the Act, and the implementing Policy Directive. The release of a
prototype during the protection period may provide the SBC's
competitors with the Technical Data to enable them to commercialize the
product and harm the SBC's ability to benefit from the technology. To
address this concern, SBA has added to Section 8 of the Policy
Directive, language notifying agencies of the potential impact of use
or release during the protection period of a prototype developed under
an SBIR/STTR award and requesting that agencies monitor the release and
use of such prototypes.
SBA also proposes to clarify the data rights afforded the SBC and
the Federal government during the statutory SBIR/STTR protection
period, and after the protection period has expired, in the proposed
definitions of SBIR/STTR Technical Data Rights, SBIR/STTR Computer
Software Rights, Unlimited Rights, SBIR/STTR Protection Period, SBIR/
STTR Data Rights, and SBIR/STTR Data. The current directives state that
the SBC retains the rights in data for a minimum of 4 years from the
date of the last deliverable. This protection period (referred to in
the proposed amendments as the ``SBIR/STTR protection period'') is
extended with each subsequent, related, SBIR or STTR
[[Page 20486]]
award. The current directives provide that the Government may not use,
modify, reproduce, release, perform, display, or disclose data or
computer software for a minimum of 4 years. After expiration of the
SBIR/STTR protection period, the Government has a royalty-free license
to use, and to authorize others to use on its behalf, these data for
government purposes, and is relieved of all disclosure prohibitions and
assumes no liability for unauthorized use of these data by third
parties.
As currently written, it would appear from the Policy Directives
that the Government cannot use the data for any purpose during the
protection period and then, once the protection period expires, use the
data for Government purposes. The SBA does not intend for the
Government to have no use of this data during the protection period;
rather, it is intended that the Government have limited rights to use
the data so that agencies can effectively evaluate the technology and
administer their programs.
In clarifying the data rights protections, the SBA reviewed the FAR
and DFARS, which outline distinct rights the Government generally
receives when acquiring goods and services: Unlimited rights, limited
rights and specifically negotiated rights (FAR) or government purpose
rights (DFARS). Pursuant to the FAR, with unlimited rights, the
Government receives rights as the name implies--unlimited use of the
data, whether for Government or commercial purposes. With respect to
limited rights for data other than computer software and restricted
rights for computer software, the FAR provides that the Government
receives the right to use the data or computer software for internal
purposes only and is limited as to when third parties, including
support service contractors, can access and use the data. With respect
to government purpose rights, the DFARS provides that the Government
receives the right to use the data for Government purposes, such as for
manufacturing for Government purposes. In such cases, the Government
can allow third parties to have access to the data to manufacture for
Government purposes; however, the third party must sign a nondisclosure
agreement and cannot use the data for its own (commercial) purposes.
In the directive, the SBA proposes that the Government receives
what is referred to as SBIR/STTR Technical Data Rights to Technical
Data and other Data that is not Computer Software, and SBIR/STTR
Computer Software Rights to Computer Software during the SBIR/STTR
Protection Period. These limited rights are intended and designed to be
similar to the rights set forth in the FAR and DFARS for for Data
developed exclusively at private expense. This approach is appropriate
for SBIR/STTR Data, as the goal of the program is to advance the
commercialization efforts of the awardees, and thus SBA sought to
provide rights in data that are comparable to the highest level of data
rights protection provided by the Government. There are differences
between how the FAR and DFARS defines the Government's rights in data
developed exclusively at private expense. As a result, the proposed
definitions of SBIR/STTR Computer Software Rights and SBIR/STTR
Technical Data are not exact copies of the Limited Rights Notice or
Restricted Rights Notice provided in FAR 52.227-14 or the Limited
Rights and Restricted Rights in DFARS 252.227-7013 and 7014. SBA is
proposing single definitions that will apply to both civilian and
defense agencies participating in the programs. The proposed
definitions are intended to reflect the main elements of the FAR and
DFARS definitions of the Government's rights in data developed
exclusively at private expense, including restrictions on the rights to
release and disclose that data, with the aim to encourage the awardee's
pursuit and achievement of commercialization.
SBA worked closely with agency experts in developing terminology to
appropriately describe the limited rights assigned to Technical Data
and Computer Software. The section of the FAR related to SBIR data
rights (FAR 52.227-20) does not use specific terms to describe the
limited rights assigned to SBIR Data, while the DFARS (252.227-7018)
uses the terminology Limited Rights and Restricted Rights.
The SBA intends that the Government retain a right to use SBIR/STTR
Data during the protection period for non-commercial purposes and for
project evaluation and assessment. SBA does not intend for the
Government's internal use of SBIR/STTR Data to interfere with, weaken,
or undermine the rights or interests of the SBC in this data.
Consequently, the SBA has clarified that during the SBIR/STTR
protection period, the Government is permitted some, limited or
restricted, rights to use the data.
SBA proposes that the minimum length of the SBIR/STTR Protection
Period be increased from 4 years to 12 years. SBA also proposes to
remove the provision in Section 8 of the directive that allows a
subsequent SBIR/STTR award to extend the protection period of a
related, prior SBIR/STTR award. This provision currently makes it
possible for the protection period to be continuously extended as long
as the SBC receives Phase III work. SBA believes this current provision
should be removed only if the minimum length of the protection period
is increased to at least 12 years, which is three times the length of
the current protection period. SBA believes that this longer period of
protection will provide SBIR/STTR Awardees with sufficient opportunity
to further develop and commercialize the technology represented in the
protected SBIR/STTR Data. SBA notes that the 12 year period of
protection is a minimum period and that agencies may choose to adopt a
longer period of time at their discretion.
SBA proposes that once the SBIR/STTR Protection Period expires, the
Government has Unlimited Rights in the SBIR/STTR Data. This means that,
after the protection period, the Government may use the data for any
activity and for any purpose, which would include a competitive
procurement or foreign military sale. Granting the Government Unlimited
Rights after the protection period will clarify for agencies and SBCs
participating in the program that any use or disclosure of SBIR/STTR
Data is permissible at that time. Currently, the data rights clause
contained in the directive limits the Government's use and disclosure
of SBIR/STTR Data after the protection period to Government use. The
terms ``Government use'' and ``Government purpose'' are not defined in
the directive or the FAR. While Government Purpose is defined in the
DFARS as essentially a non-commercial use, the DFARS does not currently
grant Government Purpose rights in SBIR/STTR Data either during or
after the protection period. The Government generally does not operate
for the purpose of creating a profit for itself or non-Government
entities. As such, SBA is proposing Unlimited Rights after the
protection period because this will eliminate uncertainty about, and
the need to determine, whether a Government use or release after the
protection period is considered a ``Government Purpose'' use. SBA
believes these changes simplify and clarify the Government's rights in
SBIR/STTR Data.
The SBA has also proposed clarifying that at any time during the
SBIR/STTR Protection Period, the SBIR/STTR Awardee, or entity that
holds the rights to the data, can provide the Government with greater
rights, such as Unlimited Rights. However, the Government cannot
negotiate these rights prior to an SBIR/STTR award and cannot make
[[Page 20487]]
issuance of an SBIR/STTR award conditional upon the relinquishment of
any data rights. This is not a change from the current policy.
In this section, SBA also considered whether to amend the
definition of Essentially Equivalent Work to include work funded by
State programs and is asking for public comment on whether this
proposed amendment is appropriate. Currently, SBIR/STTR Awardees may
not receive duplicate funding from federal sources for Essentially
Equivalent Work. However, an awardee may receive State or other program
funding for the same work to be performed under an SBIR/STTR award.
Such State program funding may provide effective supplemental funding
for SBIR/STTR projects, or it may tend to be redundant funding that has
the effect of drawing limited State program funds away from other
early-stage innovation efforts seeking funding. By including the term
``State programs'' in the definition of Essentially Equivalent Work,
SBIR/STTR Awardees will not be allowed to receive State program funds
for the same work performed under an SBIR/STTR award.
Finally, SBA proposes to delete several terms and definitions that
SBA believes are common and therefore do not need to be defined in a
directive. Specifically, SBA proposes to delete the following terms:
Cooperative agreement, feasibility, funding agreement officer, and
grant.
4. Section 4--Phased Structure of Programs
In this section, SBA proposes to move information concerning agency
benchmarks towards commercialization to Section 6, since these
benchmarks relate to eligibility. In addition, SBA proposes to clarify
the preferences that agencies must afford prior Phase I or Phase II
awardees with respect to Phase III awards.
The Small Business Act states that a Phase III award is one that:
. . . derives from, extends, or completes efforts made under prior
funding agreements under the SBIR program--
(i) in which commercial applications of SBIR-funded research or
research and development are funded by non-Federal sources of
capital or, for products or services intended for use by the Federal
Government, by follow-on non-SBIR Federal funding awards; or
(ii) for which awards from non-SBIR Federal funding sources are
used for the continuation of research or research and development
that has been competitively selected using peer review or merit-
based selection procedures;
15 U.S.C. 638(e)(4)(C); see id. Sec. 638(e)(6)(C). The purpose of the
Phase III award is to provide the small business that developed the
technology in Phases I or II the opportunity to commercialize it,
whether through a Federal prime or subcontract or other type of
agreement.
With respect to Phase III, Congress had directed SBA to provide,
for the SBIR/STTR participating agencies:
procedures to ensure, to the extent practicable, that an agency
which intends to pursue research, development, or production of a
technology developed by a small business concern under an SBIR
program enters into follow-on, non-SBIR funding agreements with the
small business concern for such research, development, or
production;
15 U.S.C. 638(j)(2)(C) (emphasis added). A few years ago, Congress
passed and the President signed into law the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, Public Law 112-81, which
affected the SBIR and STTR programs. Specifically, section 5001,
Division E of the Defense Authorization Act contained the SBIR/STTR
Reauthorization Act of 2011 (Reauthorization Act), which set forth
several provisions relating to the SBIR and STTR programs, including a
provision relating to Phase III.
With the Reauthorization Act, Congress amended the Small Business
Act to emphasize, again, that agencies are to utilize small business
Phase I or II awardees for Phase III awards, by adding another
provision in the Act that states:
(4) PHASE III AWARDS.--To the greatest extent practicable,
Federal agencies and Federal prime contractors shall issue Phase III
awards relating to technology, including sole source awards, to the
SBIR and STTR award recipients that developed the technology.
15 U.S.C. 638(r)(4) (emphasis added). This provision addresses the
concern that, at times, agencies have failed to use this authority,
bypassed the small business that created the technology, and pursued
the Phase III work with another business rather than actively
supporting and encouraging the commercialization or further development
of SBIR/STTR technology by the innovative small business that developed
the technology. As a result, SBA is required by statute to report to
Congress cases where agencies fail to comply with the reporting
requirements and intent of the SBIR/STTR Phase III policy set forth in
statute. Id. 638 (j)(3)(C).
Therefore, if the government is interested in pursuing further work
that was performed under an SBIR or STTR award, the government must, to
the greatest extent practicable, pursue that work with the SBIR or STTR
awardee that performed the earlier work. Notwithstanding the strong
congressional mandate codified in statute, SBA continues to hear from
small businesses, agencies and trade groups that SBIR/STTR Awardees do
not receive Phase III awards. One comment received on the notice of
proposed amendments to the policy directive suggested that some
officials do not fully understand how this policy on Phase III awards
can be implemented.
As a result, SBA has proposed to explain that agencies must, to the
greatest extent practicable, determine whether a requirement,
solicitation or intended work either is Phase III work or includes it.
If the requirement is or includes Phase III work, or if the agency is
later informed that it is or includes Phase III work, SBA proposes that
the agency must document that the requirement is Phase III and then
evaluate the practicability (to the greatest extent) of pursuing the
required work with the SBIR or STTR awardee that conducted the prior
SBIR or STTR work. This would mean that the agency must first consider
whether it can issue a sole source award to the Phase I or Phase II
awardee. Awarding the Phase III work to the SBIR or STTR firm on a sole
source basis is not practicable if, for example, the firm is no longer
in business or cannot perform the work itself or with subcontractors.
SBA proposes that the decision by the agency that it is not practicable
to issue a sole award to the SBIR/STTR Awardee must be documented in
the contract file and a copy of that decision, including the rationale,
provided to SBA.
SBA received some comments from the public concerning other
preferences that may be afforded to SBIR/STTR Awardees for Phase III.
As a result, SBA proposes that if the agency determines that it cannot
issue a sole source award for the Phase III, then it must consider
whether there are other ways to provide the preference to the SBIR/STTR
Awardee such as, for example, including a brand-name requirement for
the SBIR/STTR Awardee's deliverable within its solicitation when
appropriate or including an evaluation factor for prime contractors or
evaluation points for prime contractors that utilize SBIR/STTR
Awardees. Unless the agency finds that it is not practicable to pursue
the Phase III work with the SBIR or STTR Awardee, the agency must
provide a preference and must always consider issuing a sole source
award first and foremost when providing this preference.
[[Page 20488]]
In addition to clarifying the Phase III preference, SBA has
proposed clarifications to the notice and appeal procedures with
respect to Phase III awards or non-awards. As noted above, SBA has
proposed that the agency must notify SBA when it does not intend to
issue a Phase III award and then SBA can file a notice of intent to
appeal and then the actual appeal.
In light of the foregoing, SBA also proposes to clarify paragraph
(c)(3) concerning the competitions requirements for Phase III awards.
Specifically, SBA proposes that if a Justification and Approval are
required by the procuring agency for a Phase III sole source, the
agency can state that the SBIR/STTR Phase III award is derived from,
extends, or completes efforts made under prior SBIR/STTR funding
agreements issued competitively and sole source awards are authorized
pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 638(r)(4).
5. Section 6--Eligibility and Application (Proposal) Requirements
SBA has proposed deleting the requirement that a SBC can partner
with only one research institution under the STTR program. SBA believes
that a small business can partner with more than one research
institution under the STTR program as long as at least 30% of the work
under the award is performed by a single partnering research
institution. For example, if the SBC is performing 40% of the work
itself and subcontracting 30% to the single research institution, the
SBC may subcontract the remaining 30% to one or more other research
institutions or to another entity.
SBA has also proposed moving the agency benchmark performance
requirements from Section 3 to this section of the directive. The
benchmark performance requirements, set forth in 15 U.S.C. 638qq, are
designed to ensure a minimum degree of awardee progress towards
commercialization. Specifically, the Act requires that agencies
establish standards, or benchmarks, to measure: (1) The success of
Phase I awardees in receiving Phase II awards, and (2) the success of
Phase I awardees in receiving Phase III awards. Agencies have
established these benchmarks, which were published in the Federal
Register and are also available at www.SBIR.gov. Any subsequent changes
in the benchmarks must be approved by SBA.
SBA has proposed clarifying when SBA calculates awardee progress
towards meeting the benchmark rates, that each agency determines
whether a Phase I applicant meets both of its benchmarks, and that the
details regarding agency benchmark rates and the implementation of this
requirement are available to the public on www.SBIR.gov.
SBA proposed allowing participation by Tribally-owned SBIR/STTR
applicants and awardees. Section 9 of the Small Business Act does not
prohibit participation by small business concerns that are owned and
controlled by Indian Tribes and it was never the intent of SBA to
exclude participation of these entities in these small business
innovation programs.
6. Section 7_Program Funding Process
SBA proposed modifying the section on Dollar Value of Awards to
state that SBA will review the effects of inflation on the guideline
amounts annually to determine if program-wide changes in the amounts
are warranted, and will post the inflation amounts and any adjustments
to the guideline amount on www.sbir.gov.
7. Section 8--Terms of Agreement Under SBIR/STTR Awards
SBA's proposed amendments to this section clarify the main elements
of the SBIR/STTR Data Rights, the SBIR/STTR Protection Period, and the
terms and conditions that must be set forth in the SBIR/STTR
solicitation and award as it relates to data rights. The proposed
changes in this section relate to the proposed amendments to the data
rights definitions contained in Section 3. SBA notes that while the
Government receives SBIR/STTR Technical Data Rights and SBIR/STTR
Computer Software Rights in marked SBIR/STTR Data, these rights are
intended to provide a level of protection similar to that which is
provided to data an agency receives that was developed exclusively at
private expense. SBA also clarifies in this section that SBIR/STTR Data
Rights may be negotiated; however, an agency must not make issuance of
an SBIR/STTR award conditional upon the small business negotiating or
consenting to negotiate modification or transfer of these rights.
Section 8 is also revised to remove the provision that a subsequent
SBIR/STTR award extends the protection period of a related prior award.
The Policy Directive currently states: ``Agencies are released from
obligation to protect SBIR data upon expiration of the protection
period except that any such data that is also protected and referenced
under a subsequent SBIR award must remain protected through the
protection period of that subsequent SBIR award.'' This policy poses
administrative challenges for the funding agencies to determine, prior
to the release of SBIR/STTR Data, whether or not a subsequent award
exists that extends the Government's obligation to protect that data.
SBA believes that, if this extension provision is removed, an increase
in the minimum required protection period from 4 years to 12 years
provides an awardee firm with sufficient time to take measures to
protect the data or utilize it to its commercial advantage.
This section also contains the proposed terms of the non-disclosure
agreement that must be entered between the Government and a non-
Governmental entity receiving SBIR/STTR Data in accordance with the
Government's limited rights in that data. The proposed requirements are
that the non-Governmental entity: (1) Understands and acknowledges the
limitations on the Government's access, use, modification,
reproduction, release, performance, transmission, display or disclosure
as set forth in the agreement; (2) is prohibited from further
releasing, disclosing, or using the data without the written permission
of the SBIR/STTR Awardee; (3) agrees to destroy or return to the
Government all SBIR/STTR Data, and all copies in its possession, at or
before the time specified in the agreement, and to notify the procuring
agency that all copies have been destroyed or returned; (4) is
prohibited from using the data for a commercial purpose; and (5) agrees
that the SBIR/STTR Data will be accessed and used for the sole purpose
of providing impartial advice or technical assistance directly to the
Government. The directives do not currently require that a Government
contractor with access to SBIR/STTR Data enter a nondisclosure
agreement, however, SBA believes this is necessary to ensure that any
non-Governmental entity recipient of the data understands the
limitations on the use and disclosure of SBIR/STTR Data. These
requirements were modeled off of the nondisclosure agreement
requirements contained in the DFARS and FAR for contractor access to
SBIR/STTR Data.
SBA proposes to limit the time period during which an SBIR/STTR
Awardee may correct markings of SBIR/STTR Data or add omitted markings
to SBIR/STTR Data. Currently, there is no time limit on when an awardee
may correct or add omitted markings to its data. Several of the funding
agencies expressed concern that having no time limit can create
administrative burdens and noted that there is a 6-month time limit to
correct or add protective markings on data delivered by awardees
outside the SBIR/STTR program, including other SBCs. We are proposing a
6-month time period from the date the data was delivered during which
an
[[Page 20489]]
awardee may correct or add the appropriate markings to SBIR/STTR Data
it has submitted. SBA is requesting public comment on this change.
SBA has also proposed language to be included in section 8 of the
directive to reflect its concern regarding the treatment of prototypes,
other than Computer Software, that are developed under an SBIR/STTR
award. SBA states that agencies should handle such prototypes with
caution to prevent the potential disclosure of the innovative
technology or data developed under an SBIR/STTR award. While a
prototype may not itself be considered SBIR/STTR Data because it is not
``recorded information,'' it may be possible under certain
circumstances for an agency or non-Government entity to glean protected
aspects through observation or reverse engineering.
8. Section 9--Responsibilities of SBA
SBA proposes moving information in Appendix X relating to the
National Academy of Sciences study to this section.
9. Section 10--Reporting Requirements for Agencies, Applicants and
Awardees
In this section, SBA proposes to amend the title to clarify that
the section relates to all reporting requirements required by statute.
SBA also proposes to delete references to reports that were due in 2012
and 2014 and therefore are no longer relevant.
10. In addition, SBA has proposed deleting any references to
TechNet and replacing them with ``www.SBIR.gov.'' Any system that SBA
uses to report or collect information will be on the www.SBIR.gov Web
site, which is SBA's central Web site for everything relating to the
SBIR/STTR programs. Appendix I: Instructions for SBIR and STTR Program
Solicitation Preparation
SBA proposes amending the certifications that small businesses must
submit prior to, upon and after an SBIR/STTR award. Specifically, SBA
proposes combining the SBIR and STTR certifications into one and noting
on the document those paragraphs that are applicable to STTR only. In
addition, SBA has proposed clarifying the certification to ensure the
Federal government is not funding projects where other funding has
covered the same work, including State grants.
SBA also proposes clarifying the Instructions set forth in the
Policy Directive and adding a specific model clause that must be
reflected in all solicitations and resulting funding agreements to
ensure the SBIR/STTR Awardee's data rights are protected. This proposed
model clause would ensure that data rights are applied consistently
throughout the Federal government.
The proposed clause sets forth the pertinent terms and definitions
relating to data rights, which are also set forth and defined in
Section 3 of the directive. In addition, the proposed clause in
Appendix I states that the awardee small business owns the data
developed or generated during the award, defines the protection period
during which the Government has SBIR/STTR Technical Data Rights and
SBIR/STTR Computer Software Rights in the data, and states that the
Government has Unlimited Rights upon expiration of the protection
period. The proposed clause requires the awardee to mark its protected
data, which is the current practice in the Federal government.
11. Appendix II: SBIR/STTR Program Database
SBA is proposing to remove this appendix of database codes from the
directive and to instead maintain a current list of the database codes
on www.SBIR.gov as a ready reference for the funding agencies.
12. Appendix III: Performance Areas and Metrics
SBA is proposing to remove this list of examples of performance
metrics and to instead maintain a current example list, in addition to
the required metrics, as a ready reference on www.sbir.gov.
III. Request for Comments
SBA worked with the various SBIR and STTR participating agencies to
gather input and feedback and issued an advanced notice seeking
comments on the topics presented in this notice. SBA now requests
comments on the specific amendments proposed.
In particular, SBA is requesting feedback on its proposed
clarification of the Government's SBIR/STTR data rights in SBIR/STTR
Data during an SBIR/STTR Protection Period of not less than 12 years.
SBA is interested in whether the public believes that these limitations
on the Government's use and disclosure are sufficient to protect SBIR/
STTR Data from use or release that could harm the ability of the
awardee to benefit commercially from its SBIR/STTR work. Similarly, do
the rights in SBIR/STTR Data that are proposed create potential adverse
impacts on the Government's research and development goals? Has SBA
achieved a sufficient balance between the interests of the SBIR/STTR
awardees and the Government during the protection period by proposing
rights in data that are similar to the Government's rights in data
developed exclusively at private expense? SBA also seeks input on
whether the proposed minimum length of the protection period is
appropriate to achieve the policy goals associated with protecting
SBIR/STTR Data. If the public feels that the proposed SBIR/STTR Data
Rights and protection period do not adequately protect SBIR/STTR Data,
please provide alternative suggestions and a rationale for their
adoption.
Additionally, SBA seeks comment on its proposal that the Government
receives Unlimited Rights in the SBIR/STTR Data following the
expiration of the protection period. Is there a specific need to
protect SBIR/STTR Data from the Government's commercial use of such
data after the protection period? If so, please provide examples of
when the Government has used such data for commercial purposes to the
disadvantage of the SBIR/STTR Awardee and alternatives to Unlimited
Rights.
SBA is also specifically seeking comments on its proposal to
eliminate the extension of the protection period when a subsequent,
related SBIR/STTR award is made. Will the elimination of this policy
create unforeseen harm to SBIR/STTR Awardees even if the protection
period is increased to a minimum of 12 years? If so, explain any
perceived negative effect of this proposed policy change, given the
longer protection period. SBA also seeks alternative approaches that
would address the current administrative burden on agencies to
determine whether data may be released when subsequent awards are made
by different agencies.
Additionally, SBA specifically requests comments on the proposed
language added to section 8 regarding prototypes. SBA is concerned that
agencies may reverse engineer, use, and release prototypes other than
software, or enable others to do so, for any purpose and at any time
because agencies do not consider prototypes to be within the definition
of SBIR/STTR Data, and as a result do not consider prototypes protected
by SBIR/STTR Technical Data Rights and SBIR/STTR Computer Software
Rights. The concept of a prototype or item appears distinguishable from
the concept of data, as defined in the FAR and DFAR as ``recorded
information.'' SBA is concerned that even though participating agencies
do not consider prototypes to be ``recorded information,'' a prototype
may be reverse engineered to reveal the innovative technology developed
by the SBIR/STTR Awardee in its performance
[[Page 20490]]
of the SBIR/STTR award. In these cases, reverse engineering the
prototype and using that information to either manufacture the product
internally within the Government or through a procurement could harm
the ability of an SBIR/STTR Awardee to commercialize the technology.
SBA intends that the combination of its proposed changes to the Phase
III award process in addition to the proposed language to be included
in section 8 will address its concerns. SBA seeks public input on
whether this is the best way to encourage agencies to prevent harmful
use or disclosure of prototypes. SBA also seeks input on whether the
directive adequately addresses protections against possible uses of
delivered SBIR/STTR Data that is computer software that would
inappropriately harm the SBC's prospects of commercializing the
technology.
SBA is also seeking public comment on the proposed establishment of
a time limit of 6 months for SBIR/STTR Awardees to correct or add
omitted markings on SBIR/STTR Data it has delivered. Does this present
a significant challenge or hardship for the Awardee?
SBA will review and consider all comments received to determine
whether amendments are needed to improve the general conduct of the
programs.
Notice of Proposed Amendments to the Policy Directive for the Small
Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology
Transfer Research (STTR) Programs
To: The SBIR and STTR Program Managers
Subject: SBIR/STTR Policy Directive Proposed Revisions
1. Purpose. The Small Business Administration (SBA) proposes to
revise its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business
Technology Transfer Research (STTR) program Policy Directives.
Specifically, SBA proposes to combine the two directives into one
document, clarify the data rights afforded to SBIR and STTR small
business awardees, add definitions relating to data rights, clarify the
Phase III preference to be afforded to SBIR and STTR awardees, and
clarify the benchmarks for progress towards commercialization.
2. Authority. The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(j) and (p))
requires the SBA Administrator to issue an SBIR and STTR program Policy
Directive for the general conduct of the programs.
3. Procurement Regulations. It is recognized that the Federal
Acquisition Regulations and agency supplemental regulations may need to
be modified to conform to the requirements of a final Policy Directive.
SBA's Administrator or designee has a role in reviewing any regulatory
provisions that pertain to programs authorized by the Small Business
Act.
4. Personnel Concerned. This Policy Directive serves as guidance
for all Federal government personnel who are involved in the
administration of the SBIR and STTR programs, issuance and management
of funding agreements or contracts pursuant to the programs, and the
establishment of goals for small business concerns in research or
research and development acquisition or grants.
5. Originator. SBA's Office of Innovation and Investment.
6. Date. Public comments on the proposed amendments to the Policy
Directive must be submitted within 60 days following publication in the
Federal Register.
Dated: March 25, 2016.
Mark L. Walsh,
Associate Administrator for the Office of Investment and Innovation.
Dated: March 25, 2016.
Maria Contreras-Sweet,
Administrator.
1. Purpose
(a) Sections 9(j) and 9(p) of the Small Business Act (Act) require
that the Small Business Administration (SBA) issue Policy Directives
for the general conduct of the SBIR and STTR programs within the
Federal Government.
(b) This Policy Directive fulfills SBA's statutory obligation to
provide guidance to the participating Federal agencies for the general
operation of the SBIR and STTR programs. Because most of the policy for
the SBIR and STTR program is the same, SBA issues a single Policy
Directive for both programs. Unless one of the programs is specifically
mentioned, the term ``program'' or ``programs'' refers to both the SBIR
and STTR programs. In addition, ``SBIR/STTR'' is used throughout to
refer to both programs.
(1) The following sections pertain only to the STTR program: Sec.
3(ff)--Definition of ``Research Institution,'' Sec. 7(k)--Management
of the STTR Project, Sec. 8(c)--Allocation of Intellectual Property
Rights in STTR Award, and Sec. 12(e)--Phase 0 Proof of Concept
Partnership Pilot Program.
(2) The following sections pertain only to the SBIR program: Sec.
3(b)--Definition of ``Additionally Eligible State,'' Sec. 3(l)--
Definition of ``Covered Small Business,'' Sec. 4(b)(1)(ii)--Direct to
Phase II Awards, Sec. 6(a)(6)--Majority-Owned by Multiple VCOCs, Hedge
Funds or Private Equity Firms, Sec. 6(b)(1)(ii)--Registration and
Certifications for Proposal and Award for Majority-Owned by Multiple
VCOCs, Hedge Funds or Private Equity Firms, and Appendix I--
Certifications for Proposal and Award for Majority-Owned by Multiple
VCOCs, Hedge Funds or Private Equity Firms.
(3) Additional or modified instructions may be issued by SBA as a
result of public comment or experience. With this directive, SBA
fulfills the statutory requirement to simplify and standardize the
program proposal, selection, contracting, compliance, and audit
procedures for the programs to the extent practicable, while allowing
the participating agencies flexibility in the operation of their
individual programs. Wherever possible, SBA has attempted to reduce the
paperwork and regulatory compliance burden on SBCs applying to and
participating in the SBIR/STTR programs, while still meeting the
statutory reporting and data collection requirements.
(c) The statutory purpose of the SBIR program is to strengthen the
role of innovative small business concerns (SBCs) in Federally-funded
research or research and development (R/R&D). Specific program purposes
are to: (1) stimulate technological innovation; (2) use small business
to meet Federal R/R&D needs; (3) foster and encourage participation by
socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses (SDBs), and by
women-owned small businesses (WOSBs), in technological innovation; and
(4) increase private sector commercialization of innovations derived
from Federal R/R&D, thereby increasing competition, productivity and
economic growth.
(d) In addition to the broad goals of the SBIR program, the
statutory purpose of the STTR program is to stimulate a partnership of
ideas and technologies between innovative SBCs and non-profit Research
Institutions. By providing awards to SBCs for cooperative R/R&D efforts
with Research Institutions, the STTR program assists the U.S. small
business and research communities by supporting the commercialization
of innovative technologies.
(e) Federal agencies participating in the programs (participating
agencies) are obligated to follow the guidance provided by this Policy
Directive. Each agency is required to review its rules, policies, and
guidance on the programs to ensure consistency with this Policy
Directive and to make any necessary changes in accordance with each
agency's normal procedures. This is
[[Page 20491]]
consistent with the statutory authority provided to SBA concerning the
SBIR/STTR programs.
2. Summary of Statutory Provisions
(a) The SBIR program is codified at Sec. 9 of the Small Business
Act, 15 U.S.C. 638. The SBIR program is authorized until September 30,
2017, or as otherwise provided in law subsequent to that date.
(b) Each Federal agency with an extramural budget for R/R&D in
excess of $100,000,000 must participate in the SBIR program and spend
(obligate) the following minimum percentages of their extramural R/R&D
budgets for awards to small business concerns for R/R&D under the SBIR
program:
(1) not less than 2.9% of such budget in fiscal year 2015;
(2) not less than 3.0% of such budget in fiscal year 2016; and
(3) not less than 3.2% of such budget in fiscal year 2017 and each
fiscal year after.
A Federal agency may exceed these minimum percentages.
(c) The STTR program is also codified at Sec. 9 of the Small
Business Act, 15 U.S.C. 638. The STTR program is authorized until
September 30, 2017, or as otherwise provided in law subsequent to that
date.
(d) Each Federal agency with an extramural budget for R/R&D in
excess of $1,000,000,000 must participate in the STTR program and spend
(obligate) the following minimum percentages of their extramural R/R&D
budgets (obligations) on awards to small business concerns under the
STTR program:
(1) not less than 0.40% of such budget in fiscal years 2014 and
2015; and
(2) not less than 0.45% of such budget in fiscal year 2016 and each
fiscal year after.
A Federal agency may exceed these minimum percentages.
(e) In general, each participating agency must make SBIR/STTR
awards for R/R&D through the following uniform, three-phase process:
(1) Phase I awards to determine, insofar as possible, the
scientific and technical merit and feasibility of ideas that appear to
have commercial potential.
(2) Phase II awards to further develop work from Phase I that meets
particular program needs and exhibits potential for commercial
application.
(3) Phase III awards where commercial applications of SBIR/STTR
program-funded R/R&D are funded by non-Federal sources of capital; or
where products, services or further research intended for use by the
Federal Government are funded by non-SBIR/STTR sources of Federal
funding.
(f) Participating agencies must report to SBA on the calculation of
the agency's extramural R&D budget, for the purpose of determining
SBIR/STTR program funding, within four months of enactment of each
agency's annual Appropriations Act.
(g) The Act explains that agencies are authorized and directed to
cooperate with SBA in order to carry out and accomplish the purpose of
the programs. As a result, each participating agency shall provide
information to SBA for SBA to monitor and analyze each agency's SBIR/
STTR program and to report annually to the Senate Committee on Small
Business and Entrepreneurship and to the House Committees on Science
and Small Business. For more information on the agency's reporting
requirements, including the frequency for specific reporting
requirements, see Sec. 10 of the Policy Directive.
(h) SBA establishes databases and Web sites to collect and
maintain, in a common format, information that is necessary to assist
SBCs and assess the SBIR/STTR programs.
(i) SBA implements the Federal and State Technology (FAST)
Partnership Program to strengthen the technological competitiveness of
SBCs, to the extent that FAST is authorized by law.
(j) The competition requirements of the Armed Services Procurement
Act of 1947 (10 U.S.C. 2302, et seq.) and the Federal Property and
Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 3101, et seq.) must be
read in conjunction with the procurement notice publication
requirements of Sec. 8(e) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
637(e)). The following notice publication requirements of Sec. 8(e) of
the Small Business Act apply to SBIR/STTR participating agencies using
contracts as a SBIR or STTR funding agreement.
(1) Any Federal executive agency intending to solicit a proposal to
contract for property or services valued above the amounts set forth in
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Sec. 5.101, must transmit a
notice of the impending solicitation to the Government wide point of
entry (GPE) for access by interested sources. See FAR Sec. 5.201. The
GPE, located at www.fbo.gov, is the single point where Government
business opportunities, including synopses of proposed contract
actions, solicitations, and associated information, can be accessed
electronically by the public. In addition, an agency must not issue its
solicitation for at least 15 days from the date of the publication of
the GPE. The agency must establish a deadline for submission of
proposals in response to a solicitation in accordance with FAR Sec.
5.203.
(2) The contracting officer must generally make available through
the GPE those solicitations synopsized through the GPE, including
specifications and other pertinent information determined necessary by
the contracting officer. See FAR Sec. 5.102.
(3) Any executive agency awarding a contract for property or
services must synopsize the award through the GPE in accordance with
FAR subpart 5.3.
(4) The following are exemptions from the notice publication
requirements:
(i) In the case of agencies intending to solicit Phase I proposals
for contracts in excess of $25,000, the head of the agency may exempt a
particular solicitation from the notice publication requirements if
that official makes a written determination, after consulting with the
Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy and the SBA
Administrator, that it is inappropriate or unreasonable to publish a
notice before issuing a solicitation.
(ii) The SBIR/STTR Phase II award process.
(iii) The SBIR/STTR Phase III award process.
3. Definitions
(a) Act. The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631, et seq.), as
amended.
(b) Additionally Eligible State. (SBIR only) A State in which the
total value of funding agreements awarded to SBCs under all agency SBIR
programs is less than the total value of funding agreements awarded to
SBCs in a majority of other States, as determined by SBA's
Administrator in biennial fiscal years and based on the most recent
statistics compiled by the Administrator.
(c) Applicant. The organizational entity that qualifies as an SBC
at all pertinent times and that submits a contract proposal or a grant
application for a funding agreement under the SBIR/STTR programs.
(d) Affiliate. This term has the same meaning as set forth in 13
CFR part 121--Small Business Size Regulations, Sec. 121.103, ``How
Does SBA Determine Affiliation?''. Further information about SBA's
affiliation rules and a guide on affiliation is available at
www.SBIR.gov and www.SBA.gov/size.
(e) Awardee. The organizational entity that receives an SBIR or
STTR Phase I, Phase II, or Phase III award.
(f) Commercialization. The process of developing products,
processes, technologies, or services and the
[[Page 20492]]
production and delivery (whether by the originating party or others) of
the products, processes, technologies, or services for sale to or use
by the Federal government or commercial markets.
(g) Computer Database. A collection of data recorded in a form
capable of being processed by a computer. The term does not include
Computer Software.
(h) Computer Programs. A set of instructions, rules, or routines
recorded in a form that is capable of causing a computer to perform a
specific operation or series of operations.
(i) Computer Software. Computer programs, source code, source code
listings, object code listings, design details, algorithms, processes,
flow charts, formulae, and related material that would enable the
software to be reproduced, recreated, or recompiled. Computer Software
does not include Computer Databases or Computer Software Documentation.
(j) Computer Software Documentation. Owner's manuals, user's
manuals, installation instructions, operating instructions, and other
similar items, regardless of storage medium, that explain the
capabilities of the Computer Software or provide instructions for using
the software.
(k) Covered Small Business Concern. [SBIR only] A small business
concern that: (1) was not majority-owned by multiple venture capital
operating companies (VCOCs), hedge funds, or private equity firms on
the date on which it submitted an application in response to a
solicitation under the SBIR program; and (2) is majority-owned by
multiple venture capital operating companies, hedge funds, or private
equity firms on the date of the SBIR award.
(l) Data. All recorded information, regardless of the form or
method of recording or the media on which it may be recorded. The term
does not include information incidental to contract or grant
administration, such as financial, administrative, cost or pricing or
management information.
(m) Essentially Equivalent Work. Work that is substantially the
same research, which is proposed for funding in more than one contract
proposal or grant application submitted to the same Federal agency or a
State program, or submitted to two or more different Federal agencies
or State programs for review and funding consideration; or work where a
specific research objective and the research design for accomplishing
the objective are the same or closely related to another proposal or
award, regardless of the funding source.
(n) Extramural R/R&D Budget/Obligations. The sum of the total
obligations for R/R&D minus amounts obligated during a given fiscal
year for R/R&D activities by employees of a Federal agency in or
through Government-owned, Government-operated facilities. For the
Agency for International Development, the ``extramural budget'' does
not include amounts obligated solely for general institutional support
of international research centers or for grants to foreign countries.
For the Department of Energy, the ``extramural budget'' does not
include amounts obligated for atomic energy defense programs solely for
weapons activities or for naval reactor programs. (See also Sec. 7(i)
of this Policy Directive for additional exemptions related to national
security.)
(o) Feasibility. The practical extent to which a project can be
performed successfully.
(p) Federal Agency. An executive agency as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105,
and a military department as defined in 5 U.S.C. 102 (Department of the
Army, Department of the Navy, Department of the Air Force), except that
it does not include any agency within the Intelligence Community as
defined in Executive Order 12333, Sec. 3.4(f), or its successor
orders.
(q) Federal Laboratory. As defined in 15 U.S.C. 3703, means any
laboratory, any federally funded research and development center, or
any center established under 15 U.S.C. 3705 & 3707 that is owned,
leased, or otherwise used by a Federal agency and funded by the Federal
Government, whether operated by the Government or by a contractor.
(r) Funding Agreement. Any contract, grant, or cooperative
agreement entered into between any Federal agency and any SBC for the
performance of experimental, developmental, or research work, including
products or services, funded in whole or in part by the Federal
Government.
(s) Form, Fit, and Function Data. Data relating to items,
components, or processes that are sufficient to enable physical and
functional interchangeability, and data identifying source, size,
configuration, mating and attachment characteristics, functional
characteristics, and performance requirements. For computer software it
means data identifying source, functional characteristics, and
performance requirements, but specifically excludes the source code,
algorithms, processes, formulas, and flow charts of the software.
(t) Innovation. Something new or improved, having marketable
potential, that includes the development of new technology, the
refinement of existing technology, or the development of new
applications for existing technology.
(u) Intellectual Property. The separate and distinct types of
intangible property that are referred to collectively as ``intellectual
property,'' including but not limited to: patents, trademarks,
copyrights, trade secrets, and mask works..
(v) Joint Venture. See 13 CFR 121.103(h).
(w) Key Individual. The principal investigator/project manager and
any other person named as a ``key'' employee in a proposal submitted in
response to a program solicitation.
(x) Operations, Maintenance, Installation, or Training Purposes
(OMIT) Data. Data that is necessary for operation, maintenance,
installation, or training purposes (but not including detailed
manufacturing or process data).
(y) Participating Agency(ies). A federal agency with an SBIR or
STTR program. An ``SBIR/STTR Agency.''
(z) Principal Investigator/Project Manager. The one individual
designated by the applicant to provide the scientific and technical
direction to a project supported by the funding agreement.
(aa) Program Solicitation. A formal solicitation for proposals
issued by a Federal agency that notifies the small business community
of its R/R&D needs and interests in broad and selected areas, as
appropriate to the agency, and requests for proposals from SBCs in
response to these needs and interests.
(bb) Prototype. A product, material, thing, system, or process, or
a model thereof, that is in development, regardless of whether it is in
tangible, electronic, graphic or other form, at any stage of
development prior to its intended ultimate commercial production and
sale. The term ``Prototype'' includes computer programs embedded in
hardware or devices.
(cc) Research or Research and Development (R/R&D). Any activity
that is: (1) a systematic study directed toward greater knowledge or
understanding of the subject studied; (2) a systematic study directed
specifically toward applying knowledge and innovation to meet a
recognized but unmet need; or (3) a systematic application of knowledge
and innovation toward the production of useful materials, devices, and
systems or methods, including design, development, and improvement of
Prototypes and new processes to meet specific requirements.
(dd) Research Institution. One that has a place of business located
in the United States, which operates primarily
[[Page 20493]]
within the United States or which makes a significant contribution to
the U.S. economy through payment of taxes or use of American products,
materials or labor, and is: (1) A non-profit institution as defined in
section 4(3) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980
(that is, an organization that is owned and operated exclusively for
scientific or educational purposes, no part of the net earnings of
which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual);
or (2) A Federally-funded R&D center as identified by the National
Science Foundation in accordance with the Federal Acquisition
Regulation issued in accordance with section 35(c)(1) of the Office of
Federal Procurement Policy Act (or any successor regulation). A non-
profit institution can include hospitals and military educational
institutions, if they meet the definition above.
(ee) SBIR/STTR Computer Software Rights. The Government's rights
during the SBIR/STTR Protection Period in specific types of SBIR/STTR
Data that are Computer Software.
(1) The Government may use, modify, reproduce, release, perform,
display, or disclose SBIR/STTR Data that are Computer Software within
the Government. The Government may exercise SBIR/STTR Computer Software
Rights within the Government for:
(i) Use in Government computers;
(ii) Modification, adaptation, or combination with other computer
software, provided that the Data incorporated into any derivative
software are subject to the rights in paragraph (ee) and that the
derivative software is marked as containing SBIR/STTR Data;
(iii) Archive or backup; or
(iv) Distribution of a computer program to another Government
agency, without further permission of the awardee, if the awardee is
notified of the distribution and the identity of the recipient prior to
the distribution, and a copy of the SBIR/STTR Computer Software Rights
included in the funding agreement is provided to the recipient.
(2) The Government shall not release, disclose, or permit access to
SBIR/STTR Data that is Computer Software for commercial, manufacturing,
or procurement purposes without the written permission of the awardee.
The Government shall not release, disclose, or permit access to SBIR/
STTR Data outside the Government without the written permission of the
awardee unless:
(i) The non-Governmental entity has entered into a non-disclosure
agreement with the Government that complies with the terms for such
agreements outlined in section 8 of this Policy Directive; and
(ii) The release or disclosure is--
(A) To a Government support service contractor for purposes of
supporting Government internal use or activities, including evaluation,
diagnosis and correction of deficiencies, and adaptation, combination,
or integration with other Computer Software provided that SBIR/STTR
Data incorporated into any derivative software are subject to the
rights in paragraph (ee); or
(B) Necessary to support certain narrowly-tailored essential
Government activities for which law or regulation permits access of a
non-Government entity to a contractors' data developed exclusively at
private expense, non-SBIR/STTR Data, such as for emergency repair and
overhaul.
(ff) SBIR/STTR Data. All appropriately marked Data developed or
generated in the performance of an SBIR or STTR award, including
Technical Data and Computer Software developed or generated in the
performance of an SBIR or STTR award. The term does not include
information incidental to contract or grant administration, such as
financial, administrative, cost or pricing or management information.
(gg) SBIR/STTR Data Rights. The Government's license rights in
SBIR/STTR Data during the SBIR/STTR Protection Period as follows: SBIR/
STTR Technical Data Rights in SBIR/STTR Data that are Technical Data or
any other type of Data other than Computer Software that is properly
marked, and SBIR/STTR Computer Software Rights in SBIR/STTR Data that
is Computer Software. Upon expiration of the protection period for
SBIR/STTR Data, the Government's obligation to protect that data
expires and the Government's rights in that data convert to Unlimited
rights. The Government receives Unlimited Rights in all unmarked data.
(hh) SBIR/STTR Protection Period. The period of time during which
the Government is obligated to protect SBIR/STTR Data against
unauthorized use and disclosure in accordance with SBIR/STTR Data
Rights. The SBIR/STTR Protection Period begins at award of an SBIR/STTR
funding agreement and ends not less than twelve years after acceptance
of the last deliverable under that agreement (See Sec. 8(b)(4) below).
(ii) SBIR/STTR Technical Data Rights. The Government's rights
during the SBIR/STTR Protection Period in SBIR/STTR Data that are
Technical Data or any other type of Data other than Computer Software.
(1) The Government may, use, modify, reproduce, perform, display,
release, or disclose SBIR/STTR Data that are Technical Data within the
Government; however, the Government shall not use, release, or disclose
the data for procurement, manufacture or commercial purposes; or
release or disclose the SBIR/STTR Data outside the Government except as
permitted by paragraph (2) below or by written permission of the
awardee.
(2) SBIR/STTR Data that are Technical Data may be released outside
the Government without any additional written permission of the awardee
only if the non-Governmental entity or foreign government has entered
into a non-disclosure agreement with the Government that complies with
the terms for such agreements outlined in section 8 of this Policy
Directive and the release is:
(i) Necessary to support certain narrowly-tailored essential
Government activities for which law or regulation permits access of a
non-Government entity to a contractors' data developed exclusively at
private expense, non-SBIR/STTR Data, such as for emergency repair or
overhaul;
(ii) To a Government support services contractor in the performance
of a Government support services contract and the release is not for
commercial purposes or manufacture;
(iii) To a foreign government for purposes of information and
evaluation if required to serve the interests of the U.S. Government;
or
(iv) To non-Government entities or individuals for purposes of
evaluation.
(jj) Small Business Concern. A concern that meets the SBIR/STTR
program eligibility requirements set forth in 13 CFR 121.702, ``What
size and eligibility standards are applicable to the SBIR and STTR
programs?''.
(kk) Socially and Economically Disadvantaged SBC (SDB). See 13 CFR
part 124, subpart B.
(ll) Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Individual. See 13 CFR
124.103 & 124.104.
(mm) Student/Faculty-owned small business. A small business that is
majority-owned by a faculty member or a student of an institution of
higher education as defined in 20 U.S.C. 1001.
(nn) Subcontract. Any agreement, other than one involving an
employer-employee relationship, entered into by an awardee of a funding
agreement calling for supplies or services for the performance of the
original funding agreement.
(oo) Technology Development Program.
(1) the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research of
the
[[Page 20494]]
National Science Foundation as established under 42 U.S.C. 1862g;
(2) the Defense Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive
Research of the Department of Defense;
(3) the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research of
the Department of Energy;
(4) the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research of
the Environmental Protection Agency;
(5) the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research of
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration;
(6) the Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Program of the
National Institutes of Health; and
(7) the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) of the
Department of Agriculture.
(pp) Technical Data. Recorded information, regardless of the form
or method of the recording, of a scientific or technical nature
(including Computer Software Documentation and Computer Databases). The
term does not include Computer Software or financial, administrative,
cost or pricing, or management information, or other data incidental to
contract or grant administration. The term includes recorded Data of a
scientific or technical nature that is included in Computer Databases.
(qq) United States. The 50 states, the territories and possessions
of the Federal Government, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the
District of Columbia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the
Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.
(rr) Unlimited Rights. The Government's rights to access, use,
modify, prepare derivative works, reproduce, release, perform, display,
disclose, or distribute Data in whole or in part, in any manner and for
any purpose whatsoever, and to have or authorize others to do so.
(ss) Women-Owned SBC (WOSB). An SBC that is at least 51% owned by
one or more women, or in the case of any publicly owned business, at
least 51% of the stock is owned by women, and women control the
management and daily business operations.
4. Phased Structure of Programs
The SBIR/STTR programs employ a phased process, uniform throughout
the Federal Government, of soliciting proposals and awarding funding
agreements for R/R&D, production, services, or any combination, to meet
stated agency needs or missions. Agencies must issue SBIR/STTR awards
pursuant to competitive and merit-based selection procedures. Agencies
may not use investment of venture capital or investment from hedge
funds or private equity firms as a criterion for an SBIR/STTR award.
Although matching funds are not required for Phase I or Phase II
awards, agencies may require a small business to have matching funds
for certain special awards (e.g., to reduce the gap between a Phase II
and Phase III award). In order to stimulate and foster scientific and
technological innovation, including increasing commercialization of
Federal R/R&D, the program must follow a uniform competitive process of
the following three phases, unless an exception applies:
(a) Phase I. Phase I involves a solicitation of contract proposals
or grant applications to conduct feasibility-related experimental or
theoretical R/R&D related to described agency requirements. These
requirements, as defined by agency topics contained in a solicitation,
may be general or narrow in scope, depending on the needs of the
agency. The object of this phase is to determine the scientific and
technical merit and feasibility of the proposed effort and the quality
of performance of the SBC with a relatively small agency investment
before consideration of further Federal support in Phase II.
(1) Several different proposed solutions to a given problem may be
funded.
(2) Proposals will be evaluated on a competitive basis. Agency
criteria used to evaluate SBIR/STTR proposals must give consideration
to the scientific and technical merit and feasibility of the proposal
along with its potential for commercialization. Considerations may also
include program balance with respect to market or technological risk or
critical agency requirements.
(3) Agency benchmarks for progress towards commercialization must
be met to be eligible to participate in Phase I of the program. See
section 6(a) for a description of this Phase I eligibility requirement.
(4) Agencies may require the submission of a Phase II proposal as a
deliverable item under Phase I.
(b) Phase II.
(1) The object of Phase II is to continue the R/R&D effort from the
completed Phase I. Unless an exception set forth in paragraphs (i) or
(ii) below applies, only SBIR/STTR Phase I awardees are eligible to
participate in Phase II.
(i) A Federal agency may issue an SBIR Phase II award to an STTR
Phase I awardee to further develop the work performed under the STTR
Phase I award. Similarly, an agency may issue an STTR Phase II award to
an SBIR Phase I awardee to further develop the work performed under the
SBIR Phase I award. The agency must base its decision upon the results
of work performed under the Phase I award and the scientific and
technical merit and commercial potential of the Phase II proposal. The
Phase I awardee must meet the eligibility and program requirements of
the Phase II program from which it will receive the award in order to
receive the Phase II award.
(ii) [SBIR only] During fiscal years (FY) 2012 through 2017, the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense (DoD) and
the Department of Education (DoEd) may issue a Phase II SBIR award to a
small business concern that did not receive a Phase I SBIR award for
that R/R&D. Prior to such an award, the heads of those agencies, or
designees, must issue a written determination that the small business
has demonstrated the scientific and technical merit and feasibility of
the ideas that appear to have commercial potential. The determination
must be submitted to SBA prior to issuing the Phase II award.
(2) Funding must be based upon the results of work performed under
a Phase I award and the scientific and technical merit, feasibility and
commercial potential of the Phase II proposal. Phase II awards may not
necessarily complete the total research and development that may be
required to satisfy commercial or Federal needs beyond the SBIR/STTR
program. The Phase II funding agreement with the awardee may, at the
discretion of the awarding agency, establish the procedures applicable
to Phase III agreements. The Government is not obligated to fund any
specific Phase II proposal.
(3) The SBIR/STTR Phase II award decision process requires, among
other things, consideration of a proposal's commercial potential.
Commercial potential includes the potential to transition the
technology to private sector applications, Government applications, or
Government contractor applications. Commercial potential in a Phase II
proposal may be evidenced by:
(i) the SBC's record of successfully commercializing SBIR/STTR or
other research;
(ii) the existence of Phase II funding commitments from private
sector or other non-SBIR/STTR funding sources;
(iii) the existence of Phase III, follow-on commitments for the
subject of the research; and
(iv) other indicators of commercial potential of the idea.
(4) Agencies may not use an invitation, pre-screening, or pre-
selection process for eligibility for Phase II. Agencies must note in
each
[[Page 20495]]
solicitation that all Phase I awardees may apply for a Phase II award
and provide guidance on the procedure for doing so.
(5) A Phase II awardee may receive one additional, sequential Phase
II award to continue the work of an initial Phase II award. The
additional, sequential Phase II award has the same guideline amounts
and limits as an initial Phase II award.
(6) Agencies may offer special SBIR/STTR awards, such as Phase IIB
awards, that supplement or extend Phase II awards. For example, some
agencies administer Phase IIB awards that differ from the base Phase II
in that they require third party matching of the SBIR/STTR funds. Each
such supplemental award must be linked to a base Phase II award (the
initial Phase II, or the second sequential Phase II award). Any SBIR/
STTR funds used for such special or supplementary awards are aggregated
with the amount of the base Phase II to determine the size of that
Phase II award. Therefore, while there is no limit on the number of
such special/supplementary awards, there is a limit on the total amount
of SBIR/STTR funds that can be administered through them--the amounts
of these awards count towards the size of the initial Phase II or the
sequential Phase II, each of which has a guideline amount of $1 million
and a limit of $1.5 million. (Note that Phase IIB awards under the NIH
SBIR program are administered as second, sequential Phase II awards,
not supplemental awards. As such, they are base Phase II awards and
subject to the Phase II guideline amounts and limits of $1 million and
$1.5 million).
(7) A concern that has received a Phase I award from an agency may
receive a subsequent Phase II award from another agency if each agency
makes a written determination that the topics of the relevant awards
are the same and both agencies report the awards to the SBA including a
reference to the related Phase I award and initial Phase II award if
applicable.
(8) Agencies may issue Phase II awards for testing and evaluation
of products, services, or technologies for use in technical or weapons
systems.
(c) Phase III. Phase III refers to work that derives from, extends,
or completes an effort made under prior SBIR/STTR funding agreements,
but is funded by sources other than the SBIR/STTR programs. Phase III
work is typically oriented towards commercialization of SBIR/STTR
research or technology.
(1) Phase III work: Each of the following types of activity
constitutes SBIR/STTR Phase III work:
(i) Commercial application (including testing and evaluation of
products, services or technologies for use in technical or weapons
systems) of SBIR/STTR-funded R/R&D that is financed by non-Federal
sources of capital. (Note: The guidance in this Policy Directive
regarding SBIR/STTR Phase III pertains to the non-SBIR/STTR federally-
funded work described in (ii) and (iii) below. It does not address
private agreements an SBIR/STTR firm may make in the commercialization
of its technology, except for a subcontract to a Federal contract that
may be a Phase III.).
(ii) SBIR/STTR-derived products or services intended for use by the
Federal Government, funded by non-SBIR/STTR sources of Federal funding.
(iii) Continuation of SBIR/STTR work, funded by non-SBIR/STTR
sources of Federal funding.
(2) Data Rights. A Phase III award is, by its nature an SBIR/STTR
award, has SBIR/STTR status, and must provide for SBIR/STTR Data
Rights. If an SBIR/STTR Awardee receives a funding agreement (whether
competed, sole sourced or a subcontract) for work that derives from,
extends, or completes efforts made under prior SBIR/STTR funding
agreements, then the funding agreement for the new work must have all
SBIR/STTR Phase III status and SBIR/STTR Data Rights.
(3) Competition Requirement. The competitions for SBIR/STTR Phase I
and Phase II awards satisfy any competition requirement of the Armed
Services Procurement Act, the Federal Property and Administrative
Services Act, and the Competition in Contracting Act. An agency that
wishes to fund an SBIR/STTR Phase III award, which is an extension of
prior Phase I and/or Phase II awards, is not required to conduct
another competition for the Phase III award in order to satisfy those
statutory provisions. As a result, in conducting actions relative to a
Phase III SBIR/STTR award, it is sufficient to state for purposes of a
Justification and Approval, if one is deemed required by the agency,
that the project is an SBIR/STTR Phase III award that is derived from,
extends, or completes efforts made under prior SBIR/STTR funding
agreements and is authorized pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 638(r)(4).
(4) Phase III work may be for products, production, services, R/
R&D, or any such combination.
(5) There is no limit on the number, duration, type, or dollar
value of Phase III awards made to a business concern. There is no limit
on the time that may elapse between a Phase I or Phase II award and
Phase III award, or between a Phase III award and any subsequent Phase
III award. A Federal agency may enter into a Phase III SBIR/STTR
agreement at any time with a Phase II awardee. Similarly, a Federal
agency may enter into a Phase III SBIR/STTR agreement at any time with
a Phase I awardee. A subcontract to a Federally-funded prime contract
may be a Phase III award.
(6) Size. The small business size limits for Phase I and Phase II
awards do not apply to Phase III awards.
(7) Special acquisition requirement. Agencies or their Government-
owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) facilities, Federally-funded research
and development centers (FFRDCs), or Government prime contractors that
pursue R/R&D or production of technology developed under the SBIR/STTR
program shall issue Phase III awards relating to the technology,
including sole source awards, to the Awardee that developed the
technology under an SBIR/STTR award, to the greatest extent
practicable.
(i) Implementing the requirement. In recognition of the prior
merit-based competitive selection of, and subsequent commitment of
agency funds to SBIR/STTR Awardees and the broad intent of the program
to promote the commercial success of these small businesses, Agencies
must make a good faith effort to negotiate with such Awardees regarding
the performance of the new, related, work and to issue Phase III awards
for the work. When implementing this requirement, the agency must
identify the planned work as SBIR/STTR Phase III and consider the
practicability of pursuing the work with the Awardee through a sole
source award by performing market research to determine whether the
firm is available, capable and willing to perform the work. In every
case, the funding agency must act in ways consistent with the
Congressional intent to support the commercialization of an SBIR/STTR-
develop technology by the SBIR/STTR Awardee, and all parties must
proceed along these steps in good faith.
(ii) Sole Source Awards. If pursuing the Phase III work with the
Awardee is found to be practicable, the agency must award a non-
competitive contract to the firm.
(iii) Other Preference. If pursuing the Phase III work with the
Awardee on a sole source/non-competitive basis is not practicable, the
Agency must document the file and provide a copy of the decision,
including the rationale, to the SBA. In addition, the agency must
consider whether there are other means of affording preference for the
Phase III work and the SBIR/STTR Awardee, such as, for example, using a
brand-
[[Page 20496]]
name requirement for the SBIR/STTR Awardee's deliverable in the
solicitation when appropriate, or using an evaluation factor that gives
preference or priority to offerors utilizing SBIR/STTR Awardees for the
Phase III work.
(iv) Agency Notice of Intent to Award. An agency, or its GOCOs or
FFRDCs, that intends to pursue Phase III work (which includes R/R&D,
production, services, or any combination thereof of a technology
developed under an SBIR/STTR award), with an entity other than the
Phase I or Phase II SBIR/STTR Awardee, must notify SBA in writing prior
to such an award. This notification must include, at a minimum:
(A) The steps the agency has taken to fulfill the special
acquisition requirement (e.g., a good faith effort to make the award to
the SBIR/STTR Awardee).
(B) The reasons why a follow-on funding agreement with the SBIR/
STTR Awardee is not practicable (e.g., SBIR/STTR Awardee was not
willing or interested in the work, not capable of doing the work or
functioning as a prime and subcontracting the work, or no longer in
business).
(C) The identity of the entity with which the agency intends to
make an award to perform the research, development, or production; the
type of funding agreement to be used; and the amounts of the agreement.
(v) SBA Notice of Intent to Appeal. SBA may appeal a decision by an
agency (or its GOCOs or FFRDCs) to pursue Phase III work with a
business concern other than the SBIR/STTR Awardee that developed the
technology to the head of the contracting activity.
(A) If SBA receives an agency's notice of intent to make an award
under (iv) above, SBA may file a notice of intent to appeal with the
funding agreement officer no later than 5 business days after receiving
the agency's notice of intent to make award.
(B) If an agency is pursuing work that SBA has determined is Phase
III work and has not complied with either of the reporting requirements
above, SBA may notify the agency at any time of its intent to appeal
the decision to proceed with the work. SBA makes such determinations
based on all information it receives, including information presented
directly to SBA by an SBIR/STTR Awardee.
(vi) Suspension of Work. Upon receipt of SBA's notice of intent to
appeal, the funding agreement officer must suspend further action on
the acquisition until the head of the contracting activity issues a
written decision on the appeal. The funding agreement officer may
proceed with award only if he or she determines in writing that the
award must be made to protect the public interest. The funding
agreement officer must include a statement of the facts justifying such
a determination and provide a copy of its determination to SBA.
(vii) SBA Appeal. Within 10 business days of SBA's Notice of Intent
to appeal, SBA may file a formal appeal with the head of the agency.
SBA's appeal will state with specificity SBA's conclusion that the
agency's obligation to make a Phase III award ``to the greatest extent
practicable'' has not been fulfilled.
(viii) Agency Decision. Within 30 business days of receiving SBA's
appeal, the head of the agency's contracting activity must render a
written decision setting forth the basis of his or her determination.
During this period, the agency should consult with SBA and review any
case-specific information SBA believes to be pertinent.
(ix) SBA case report to Congress. SBA notifies Congress of all
instances in which an agency pursued Phase III R/R&D, or production of
a technology developed under an SBIR/STTR award, with a business or
entity other than the SBIR/STTR Awardee. SBA will notify Congress of
such instances, of any agency determination or decision justifying an
award to other than the Phase III SBIR/STTR Awardee, and of any SBA
appeals of agency decisions under this section.
5. Program Solicitation Process
(a) Topics/Subtopics. At least annually, each agency must issue a
program solicitation that sets forth a substantial number of R/R&D
topics and subtopic areas consistent with stated agency needs or
missions. Agencies may decide to issue joint solicitations. Both the
list of topics and the description of the topics and subtopics must be
sufficiently comprehensive to provide a wide range of opportunities for
SBCs to participate in the agency R&D programs. Topics and subtopics
must emphasize the need for proposals with advanced concepts to meet
specific agency R/R&D needs. Each topic and subtopic must describe the
needs in sufficient detail to assist in providing on-target responses,
but cannot involve detailed specifications to prescribed solutions of
the problems.
(b) Master Schedule. The Act requires issuance of SBIR/STTR Phase I
program solicitations in accordance with a Master Schedule coordinated
between SBA and the SBIR/STTR agency. The SBA office responsible for
coordination is: Office of Innovation, U.S. Small Business
Administration, 409 Third Street, SW, Washington, DC 20416. Phone:
(202) 205-6450. Fax: (202) 205-7754. Email: technology@sba.gov. Web
site: www.SBIR.gov.
(c) Coordination of Agency Schedules. For maximum participation by
interested SBCs, it is important that the planning, scheduling and
coordination of agency program solicitation release dates be completed
as early as practicable to coincide with the commencement of the fiscal
year on October 1. Bunching of agency program solicitation release and
closing dates may prohibit SBCs from preparation and timely submission
of proposals for more than one SBIR/STTR project. SBA's coordination of
agency schedules minimizes the bunching of proposed release and closing
dates. SBIR/STTR agencies may elect to publish multiple program
solicitations within a given fiscal year to facilitate in-house agency
proposal review and evaluation scheduling.
(d) Posting of Master Schedule. SBA posts a Master Schedule of
release dates of program solicitations with links to the participating
agency Web sites. For more information see section 10(c).
(e) Simplified, Standardized, and Timely SBIR/STTR Program
Solicitations
(1) The Act requires simplified, standardized and timely SBIR/STTR
solicitations and for agencies to use a ``uniform process'' minimizing
the regulatory burden for SBCs. Therefore, the instructions in Appendix
I to this Policy Directive purposely depart from normal Government
solicitation format and requirements.
(2) Agencies must update SBIR.gov with information on each
solicitation and modification no later than 5 days after the date of
release of the solicitation or modification to the public. This must
include any update to the Web site link for the program solicitation.
(3) SBA does not intend that the SBIR/STTR program solicitation
replace or be used as a substitute for unsolicited proposals for R/R&D
awards to SBCs. In addition, the SBIR/STTR program solicitation
procedures do not prohibit other agency R/R&D actions with SBCs that
are carried on in accordance with applicable statutory or regulatory
authorizations.
6. Eligibility and Application (Proposal) Requirements
(a) Eligibility Requirements
(1) Certification. To receive SBIR/STTR funds, each awardee of a
Phase I or Phase II award must qualify as an SBC at the time of award
and at any other time set forth in SBA's regulations at 13 CFR 121.701-
121.705. Each Phase
[[Page 20497]]
I and Phase II awardee must submit a certification stating that it
meets the size, ownership and other requirements of the SBIR or STTR
program at the time of award, and at any other time set forth in SBA's
regulations at 13 CFR 121.701-705. SBA's size regulations for the SBIR/
STTR program require that an awardee be directly owned and controlled
by individuals or small business concerns; however, SBA is clarifying
that a small business concern directly owned and controlled by an
Indian Tribe or by another small business concern that is directly
owned and controlled by an Indian Tribe may also be eligible to
participate in the SBIR/STTR programs.
(2) Performance of Work Requirements. For SBIR Phase I, a minimum
of two-thirds of the research or analytical effort must be performed by
the awardee. For SBIR Phase II, a minimum of one-half of the research
or analytical effort must be performed by the awardee. For STTR Phase I
and Phase II, not less than 40 percent of the R/R&D work must be
performed by the SBC, and not less than 30 percent of the R/R&D work
must be performed by a partnering Research Institution. Occasionally,
deviations from these requirements may occur, and must be approved in
writing by the funding agreement officer after consultation with the
agency SBIR/STTR Program Manager/Coordinator. An agency can measure
this research or analytical effort using the total contract dollars or
labor hours, and must explain to the small business in the solicitation
how it will be measured.
(3) Employment of the Principal Investigator. For both Phase I and
Phase II, the primary employment of the principal investigator must be
with the SBC (or the research institution--STTR only) at the time of
award and during the conduct of the proposed project. Primary
employment means that more than one-half of the principal
investigator's employment time is spent in the employ of the SBC (or
research institution--STTR only). This precludes full-time employment
with another organization. Occasionally, deviations from this
requirement may occur, and must be approved in writing by the funding
agreement officer after consultation with the agency SBIR/STTR Program
Manager/Coordinator. Further, an SBC may replace the principal
investigator on an SBIR/STTR Phase I or Phase II award, subject to
approval in writing by the funding agreement officer. For purposes of
the SBIR/STTR programs, personnel obtained through a Professional
Employer Organization or other similar personnel leasing company may be
considered employees of the awardee. This is consistent with SBA's size
regulations, 13 CFR 121.106, ``How Does SBA Calculate Number of
Employees?''.
(4) Location of the work. For both Phase I and Phase II, the R/R&D
work must be performed in the United States. However, based on a rare
and unique circumstance, agencies may approve a particular portion of
the R/R&D work to be performed or obtained in a country outside of the
United States, for example, if a supply or material or other item or
project requirement is not available in the United States. The funding
agreement officer must approve each such specific condition in writing.
(5) Novated/Successor in Interested/Revised Funding Agreements. An
SBIR/STTR Awardee may include, and SBIR/STTR work may be performed by,
those identified via a ``novated'' or ``successor in interest'' or
similarly-revised funding agreement. For example, in order to receive a
Phase III award, the awardee must have either received a prior Phase I
or Phase II award or been novated a Phase I or Phase II award (or
received a revised Phase I or Phase II award if a grant or cooperative
grant). In addition, an SBIR/STTR Awardee may include those that have
merely reorganized with the same key staff (e.g., reorganized from a
partnership to an LLC), regardless of whether they have been assigned a
different tax identification number. In cases where there is a novation
or similarly revised funding agreement, agencies may require the
original awardee to relinquish its rights and interests in an SBIR/STTR
project in favor of another applicant as a condition for that
applicant's eligibility to participate in the programs for that
project.
(6) Majority-Owned by Multiple VCOCs, Hedge Funds or Private Equity
Firms [SBIR Only]. NIH, Department of Energy, and National Science
Foundation may each award not more than 25% of the agency's SBIR funds
to SBCs that are owned in majority part by multiple venture capital
operating companies, hedge funds, or private equity firms through
competitive, merit-based procedures that are open to all eligible small
business concerns. Any other SBIR participating agency may award not
more than 15% of the agency's SBIR funds to such SBCs. SBIR agencies
may or may not choose to utilize this funding option. A table listing
the agencies that are currently using this authority can be found at
www.SBIR.gov. This authority is set forth in 13 CFR 121.701-121.705.
(i) Before permitting participation in the SBIR program by SBCs
that are owned in majority part by multiple venture capital operating
companies, hedge funds, or private equity firms, the SBIR agency must
submit a written determination to SBA, the Senate Committee on Small
Business and Entrepreneurship, the House Committee on Small Business
and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology at least 30
calendar days before it begins making awards to such SBCs. The
determination must be made by the head of the Federal agency or
designee and explain how awards to such SBCs in the SBIR program will:
(A) induce additional venture capital, hedge fund, or private
equity firm funding of small business innovations;
(B) substantially contribute to the mission of the Federal agency;
(C) address a demonstrated need for public research; and
(D) otherwise fulfill the capital needs of small business concerns
for additional financing for SBIR projects.
(ii) The SBC that is majority-owned by multiple venture capital
operating companies, hedge funds, or private equity firms must register
with SBA in the Company Registry Database, at www.SBIR.gov, prior to
the date it submits an application for an SBIR award.
(iii) The SBC that is majority-owned by multiple venture capital
operating companies, hedge funds, or private equity firms must submit a
certification with its proposal stating, among other things, that it
has registered with SBA.
(iv) Any agency that makes an award under this paragraph during a
fiscal year shall collect and submit to SBA data relating to the number
and dollar amount of Phase I awards, Phase II awards, and any other
category of awards by the Federal agency under the SBIR program during
that fiscal year. See section 10 of this directive for the specific
reporting requirements.
(v) If an agency awards more than the percentage of the funds
authorized under section 6(a)(6) of the Policy Directive, the agency
shall transfer from its non-SBIR and non-STTR R&D funds to the agency's
SBIR funds any amount that is in excess of the authorized amount. The
agency must transfer the funds not later than 180 days after the date
on which the Federal agency made the award that exceeded the authorized
amount.
(vi) If a Federal agency makes an award under a solicitation more
than 9 months after the date on which the period for submitting
applications under the solicitation ends, a Covered Small Business
Concern is eligible to receive the award, without regard to whether it
meets the eligibility requirements of the program for a SBC
[[Page 20498]]
that is majority-owned by multiple venture capital operating companies,
hedge funds, or private equity firms, if the Covered Small Business
Concern meets all other requirements for such an award. In addition,
the agency must transfer from its non-SBIR and non-STTR R&D funds to
the agency's SBIR funds any amount that is so awarded to a Covered
Small Business Concern. The funds must be transferred not later than 90
days after the date on which the Federal agency makes the award.
(7) Agency benchmarks for progress towards commercialization.
(i) Before making a new Phase I award to an awardee that has won
multiple prior SBIR/STTR awards, each agency must establish benchmarks
for progress towards commercialization and determine whether an
applicant meets those benchmarks. Agencies must apply two SBA-approved
performance standards (benchmarks) addressing an awardee's progress
towards commercialization: a Phase II Transition Rate that sets a
minimum required rate of progress from Phase I to Phase II over a
specified period, and a Commercialization Rate Benchmark that sets the
minimum commercialization results an awardee must have realized from
its prior SBIR/STTR awards over a specified period.
(ii) If an awardee fails to meet either of the benchmarks, that
awardee is not eligible for a new Phase I award (and any new Phase II
award issued pursuant to paragraph 4(b)(1)(ii)) for a period of one
year from the time of the determination.
(iii) For each benchmark, agencies establish a threshold number of
prior awards an awardee must have won for the benchmark requirement to
be applied.
(iv) Using information received from the agencies and from SBIR/
STTR Awardees, SBA identifies the companies that have won more than the
threshold number of awards and calculates the Phase II Transition Rates
and Commercialization Rates for those companies. The results of this
assessment are used by each agency to determine if a company fails to
meet a benchmark rate and is therefore not eligible for a new Phase I
award. Agencies must notify SBA of any applications denied because of
failure to meet the benchmarks. The assessment results and eligibility
determinations are not made public. Participating agencies and SBA
officials view the results through secure user accounts on
www.SBIR.gov. Each participating company can view the results of the
last benchmark assessment once it has created a Small Business User
account on www.SBIR.gov. If an awardee believes its assessment was made
in error, it may provide SBA with the pertinent award information and
request a reassessment.
(v) Current details of these requirements and the implementation
processes used by the agencies are posted on www.SBIR.gov under the
``Performance Benchmark Requirements'' tab. Changes to these benchmarks
requirements and procedures become effective when posted on the
www.SBIR.gov. Agencies must submit any changes to the benchmarks to SBA
for prior approval. If approved, SBA will publish the benchmarks and
allow for public comment at least 60 days before becoming effective.
(b) Proposal (Application) Requirements.
(1) Registration and Certifications for Proposal and Award.
(i) Each applicant must register in SBA's Company Registry Database
at www.SBIR.gov (see Appendix I) and submit a .pdf document of the
registration and any required certifications with its application if
the information cannot be transmitted automatically to the SBIR/STTR
agencies from www.SBIR.gov. Applicants must have updated their
information on the Company Registry no more than 6 months prior to the
date of a proposal submission.
(ii) Agencies may request the SBIR/STTR applicant to submit a
certification at the time of submission of the application, which
requires the applicant to state that it intends to meet the size,
ownership and other requirements of the SBIR/STTR program at the time
of award of the funding agreement, if selected for award. See Appendix
I for the required text of the certification.
(iii) [SBIR Only] For those agencies using the authority under
section 6(a)(6) of the Directive, each Phase I and Phase II applicant
that is majority-owned by multiple venture capital operating companies,
hedge funds, or private equity firms is required to submit a specific
certification with its SBIR application to the SBIR agency (see
Appendix I for the required text of the certification).
(2) Commercialization Plan. A succinct commercialization plan must
be included with each proposal for an SBIR/STTR Phase II award.
Elements of a commercialization plan will include the following, as
applicable:
(i) Company information. Focused objectives/core competencies;
specialization area(s); products with significant sales; and history of
previous Federal and non-Federal funding, regulatory experience, and
subsequent commercialization.
(ii) Customer and Competition. Clear description of key technology
objectives, current competition, and advantages compared to competing
products or services; description of hurdles to acceptance of the
innovation.
(iii) Market. Milestones, target dates, analyses of market size,
and estimated market share after first year sales and after 5 years;
explanation of plan to obtain market share.
(iv) Intellectual Property. Patent status, technology lead, trade
secrets or other demonstration of a plan to achieve sufficient
protection to realize the commercialization stage and attain at least a
temporal competitive advantage.
(v) Financing. Plans for securing necessary funding in Phase III.
(vi) Assistance and mentoring. Plans for securing needed technical
or business assistance through mentoring, partnering, or through
arrangements with state assistance programs, SBDCs, Federally-funded
research laboratories, Manufacturing Extension Partnership centers, or
other assistance providers.
(3) Data Collection. Each Phase I and II applicant is required to
provide information on www.SBIR.gov (see Appendix II). Each SBC
applying for a Phase II award is required to update its
commercialization information on www.SBIR.gov for all of its prior
Phase II awards (see Appendix II).
7. Program Funding Process
Because the Act requires a ``simplified, standardized funding
process,'' specific attention must be given to the following areas of
SBIR/STTR program administration:
(a) Timely Receipt of Proposals. Program solicitations must
establish proposal submission dates for Phase I and may establish
proposal submission dates for Phase II. However, agencies may also
negotiate mutually acceptable Phase II proposal submission dates with
individual Phase I awardees.
(b) Review of Proposals. SBA encourages Participating Agencies to
use their routine review processes for SBIR/STTR proposals whether
internal or external evaluation is used. A more limited review process
may be used for Phase I due to the larger number of proposals
anticipated. Where appropriate, ``peer'' reviews external to the agency
are authorized by the Act. SBA cautions Participating Agencies that all
review procedures must be designed to minimize any possible conflict of
interest as it pertains to applicant proprietary data. The standardized
SBIR/STTR solicitation
[[Page 20499]]
advises potential applicants that proposals may be subject to an
established external review process and that the applicant may include
company designated proprietary information in its proposal.
(c) Selection of Awardees.
(1) Time period for decision on proposals.
(i) The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National
Science Foundation (NSF) must issue a notice to an applicant for each
proposal submitted stating whether it was recommended or not for award
no more than one year after the closing date of the solicitation. NIH
and NSF agencies should issue the award no more than 15 months after
the closing date of the solicitation. Pursuant to paragraph (iii)
below, NIH and NSF are encouraged to reduce these timeframes.
(ii) All other participating agencies must issue a notice to an
applicant for each proposal submitted stating whether it was
recommended or not for award no more than 90 calendar days after the
closing date of the solicitation. Agencies should issue the award no
more than 180 calendar days after the closing date of the solicitation.
(iii) Agencies are encouraged to develop programs or measures to
reduce the time periods between the close of a Phase I solicitation/
receipt of a Phase II application and notification to the applicant as
well as the time to the issuance of the Phase I and Phase II awards. As
appropriate, agencies should adopt accelerated proposal, evaluation,
and selection procedures designed to address the gap in funding these
competitive awards to meet or reduce the timeframes set forth above.
With respect to Phase II awards, SBA recognizes that Phase II
arrangements between the agency and applicant may require more detailed
negotiation to establish terms acceptable to both parties; however,
agencies must not sacrifice the R/R&D momentum created under Phase I by
engaging in unnecessarily protracted Phase II proceedings.
(iv) Request for Waiver.
(A) If the agency determines that it requires additional time
between the solicitation closing date and the notification of
recommendation for award, it must submit a written request for an
extension to SBA. The written request must specify the number of
additional calendar days needed to issue the notice for a specific
applicant and the reasons for the extension. If an agency believes it
will not meet the timeframes for an entire solicitation, the request
for an extension must state how many awards will not meet the statutory
timeframes, as well as the number of additional calendar days needed to
issue the notice and the reasons for the extension. The written request
must be submitted to SBA at least 10 business days prior to when the
agency must issue its notice to the applicant. Agencies must send their
written request to: Office of Innovation, U.S. Small Business
Administration, 409 Third Street SW., Washington, DC 20416. Phone:
(202) 205-6450. Fax: (202) 205-7754. Email: technology@sba.gov.
(B) SBA will respond to the request for an extension within 5
business days, as practicable. SBA may authorize an agency to issue the
notice up to 90 calendar days after the timeframes set forth in
paragraphs (c)(1)(i) and (ii).
(C) Even if SBA grants an extension of time, the SBIR/STTR agency
is required to develop programs or measures to reduce the time periods
between the close of a Phase I solicitation/receipt of a Phase II
application and notification to the applicant as well as the time to
the issuance of the Phase I and Phase II awards as set forth in
paragraph (c)(1)(3) above.
(D) If an SBIR/STTR agency does not receive an extension of time,
it may still proceed with the award to the small business and must
complete the requirements in (C) above.
(2) Standardized solicitation.
(i) The standardized SBIR/STTR program solicitation must advise
Phase I applicants that additional information may be requested by the
awarding agency to evidence awardee responsibility for project
completion and advise applicants of the proposal evaluation criteria
for Phase I and Phase II.
(ii) The SBIR/STTR agency will provide information to each Phase I
awardee considered for a Phase II award regarding Phase II proposal
submissions, reviews, and selections.
(d) Essentially Equivalent Work. SBIR/STTR applicants often submit
duplicate or similar proposals to more than one soliciting agency when
the announcement or solicitation appears to involve similar topics or
requirements. However, ``essentially equivalent work'' must not be
funded in the SBIR/STTR or other Federal agency or State programs,
unless an exception to this rule applies. Agencies must verify with the
applicant that this is the case by requiring them to certify at the
time of award and during the lifecycle of the award that they do not
have essentially equivalent work funded by another Federal agency or
State program.
(e) Cost Sharing. Cost sharing can serve the mutual interests of
the participating agencies and certain program awardees by assuring the
efficient use of available resources. However, cost sharing on SBIR/
STTR projects is not required, although it may be encouraged.
Therefore, cost sharing cannot be an evaluation factor in the review of
proposals. The standardized SBIR/STTR program solicitation (Appendix I)
will provide information to prospective program applicants concerning
cost sharing.
(f) Payment Schedules and Cost Principles.
(1) SBIR/STTR Awardees may be paid under an applicable, authorized
progress payment procedure or in accordance with a negotiated/
definitized price and payment schedule. Advance payments are optional
and may be made under appropriate law. In all cases, agencies must make
payment to recipients under SBIR/STTR funding agreements in full,
subject to audit, on or before the last day of the 12-month period
beginning on the date of completion of the funding agreement
requirements.
(2) All SBIR/STTR funding agreements must use, as appropriate,
current cost principles and procedures authorized for use by the
participating agencies. By the time of award, agencies must have
informed each Awardee of the applicable Federal regulations and
procedures that refer to the costs that, generally, are allowable under
funding agreements.
(3) Agencies must, to the extent possible, attempt to shorten the
amount of time between the notice of an award under the SBIR/STTR
program and the subsequent release of funding with respect to the
award.
(g) Funding Agreement Types and Fee or Profit. Statutory
requirements for uniformity and standardization require consistency in
application of SBIR/STTR program provisions among SBIR/STTR agencies.
However, consistency must allow for flexibility by the various agencies
in missions and needs as well as the wide variance in funds required to
be devoted to SBIR/STTR programs in the agencies. The following
instructions meet all of these requirements:
(1) Funding Agreement. The type of funding agreement (contract,
grant, or cooperative agreement) is determined by the awarding agency,
but must be consistent with 31 U.S.C. 6301-6308. Contracting agencies
may issue SBIR/STTR awards as fixed price contracts (including firm
fixed price, fixed price incentive or fixed price level of effort
contracts) or cost type contracts, consistent with the Federal
Acquisition Regulations and agency supplemental acquisition
regulations. In some cases,
[[Page 20500]]
small businesses seek progress payments, which may be appropriate under
fixed-price R&D contracts and are a form of contract financing for
firm-fixed-price contracts. However, for certain agencies, in order to
qualify for progress payments or an incentive type contract, the small
business's accounting system would have to be audited, which can delay
award, unless the contractor has an already approved accounting system.
Therefore SBIR/STTR agencies should consider using partial payments
methods or on a deliverable item basis or consider other available
options to work with the SBIR/STTR Awardee.
(2) Fee or Profit. Except as expressly excluded or limited by
statute, awarding agencies must provide for a reasonable fee or profit
on SBIR/STTR funding agreements, consistent with normal profit margins
provided to profit-making firms for R/R&D work.
(h) Periods of Performance and Extensions.
(1) In keeping with the legislative intent to make a large number
of relatively small awards, modification of funding agreements to
increase the dollar amount should be kept to a minimum, except for
options in original Phase I or II awards.
(2) Phase I. Period of performance normally should not exceed 6
months for SBIR or 1 year for STTR. However, agencies may provide a
longer performance period where appropriate for a particular project.
(3) Phase II. Period of performance under Phase II is a subject of
negotiation between the awardee and the issuing agency. The duration of
Phase II normally should not exceed 2 years. However, agencies may
provide a longer performance period where appropriate for a particular
project.
(i) Dollar Value of Awards.
(1) Generally, a Phase I award (including modifications) may not
exceed $150,000 and a Phase II award (including modifications) may not
exceed $1,000,000. Agencies may issue an award that exceeds these award
guideline amounts by no more than 50%.
(2) SBA reviews these amounts every year for the effects of
inflation and posts these inflation effects and any resulting
adjustments on www.SBIR.gov. Adjusted guidelines are effective for all
solicitations issued on or after the date of the adjustment, and may be
used by agencies to amend the solicitation and other program
literature. Agencies have the discretion to issue awards for less than
the guidelines.
(3) There is no dollar limit associated with Phase III SBIR/STTR
awards.
(4) Agencies may request a waiver to exceed the award guideline
amounts established in paragraph (i)(1) by more than 50% for a specific
topic. Agencies must submit this request for a waiver to SBA prior to
release of the solicitation, contract award, or modification to the
award for the topic. The request for a waiver must explain and provide
evidence that the limitations on award size will interfere with the
ability of the agency to fulfill its research mission through the SBIR
or STTR program; that the agency will minimize, to the maximum extent
practicable, the number of awards that exceed the guideline amounts by
more than 50%; and that research costs for the topic area differ
significantly from those in other areas. After review of the agency's
justification, SBA may grant the waiver for the agency to exceed the
award guidelines by more than 50% for a specific topic. SBA will issue
a decision on the request within 10 business days. The waiver will be
in effect for one fiscal year.
(5) Agencies must maintain information on all awards exceeding the
guidelines set forth in paragraph (i)(1), including the amount of the
award, a justification for exceeding the guidelines for each award, the
identity and location of the awardee, whether the awardee has received
any venture capital, hedge fund, or private equity firm investment, and
whether the awardee is majority-owned by multiple VCOCs, hedge funds,
or private equity firms.
(6) The award guidelines do not prevent an agency from funding
SBIR/STTR projects from other (non-SBIR/STTR) agency funds. Non-SBIR/
STTR funds used on SBIR/STTR efforts do not count toward the award
guidelines set forth in (i)(1).
(j) National Security Exemption. The Act provides for exemptions
related to the simplified standardized funding process ``if national
security or intelligence functions clearly would be jeopardized.'' This
exemption should not be interpreted as a blanket exemption or
prohibition of SBIR/STTR participation related to the acquisition of
effort on national security or intelligence functions except as
specifically defined under Sec. 9(e)(2) of the Act, 15 U.S.C.
638(e)(2). Agency technology managers directing R/R&D projects under
the SBIR and STTR programs, where the project subject matter may be
affected by this exemption, must first make a determination on which,
if any, of the standardized proceedings clearly place national security
and intelligence functions in jeopardy, and then proceed with an
acceptable modified process to complete the SBIR/STTR action. SBA's
SBIR/STTR program monitoring activities, except where prohibited by
security considerations, must include a review of nonconforming SBIR/
STTR actions justified under this public law provision.
(k) Management of the STTR Project [STTR only]. The SBC, and not
its partnering Research Institution(s), is to provide satisfactory
evidence that it will exercise management direction and control of the
performance of the STTR funding agreement. Regardless of the proportion
of the work or funding allocated to each of the performers under the
funding agreement, the SBC is to be the primary party with overall
responsibility for performance of the project. All agreements between
the SBC and the Research Institution cooperating in the STTR funding
agreement, or any business plans reflecting agreements and
responsibilities between the parties during performance of STTR Phase I
or Phase II funding agreement, or for the commercialization of the
resulting technology, should reflect the controlling position of the
SBC.
8. Terms of Agreement Under SBIR/STTR Awards
(a) Proprietary Information Contained in Proposals. The
standardized SBIR/STTR Program solicitation shall include provisions
requiring the confidential treatment of any proprietary information to
the extent permitted by law. The solicitation will require that all
proprietary information be identified clearly and marked with a
prescribed legend. Agencies may elect to require SBCs to limit
proprietary information to that essential to the proposal and to have
such information submitted on a separate page or pages keyed to the
text. The Government, except solely for proposal review purposes, shall
not use or disclose, or authorize any other person or entity to use or
disclose, all proprietary information, regardless of type, submitted in
a contract proposal or grant application for a funding agreement under
the SBIR/STTR programs.
(b) Rights in Data Developed under An SBIR/STTR Funding Agreement.
(1) General. The Act provides for retention by an SBC Awardee of
the rights to data generated by the concern in the performance of an
SBIR/STTR award. These data rights provide an incentive for SBCs to
participate in Federally-funded research projects and contribute to the
ability of small business Awardees to commercialize the technology
developed under the program. The central purpose of SBIR/
[[Page 20501]]
STTR Data Rights is to provide the Federal Government with the degree
of access to an Awardee's SBIR/STTR Data needed to evaluate the work
and effectively utilize the results and at the same time ensure that
the Federal Government or competitors of the SBIR/STTR Awardee cannot
use SBIR/STTR Data in ways (e.g., for commercial purposes or to produce
future technical procurement specifications) that would inappropriately
diminish the rights or associated economic opportunities of the small
business that developed the data. The data rights provisions and
definitions provided in this PD are designed to ensure that, for
properly marked SBIR/STTR Data, during the SBIR/STTR Protection Period,
the Government provides effective protection of the data that is
comparable to and at least as strong as the protection the Government
gives to delivered proprietary data that is developed exclusively at
private expense.
(2) Application of SBIR/STTR Data Rights. SBIR/STTR Agencies must
ensure that awardees of an SBIR/STTR funding agreement retain
appropriate proprietary rights for all SBIR/STTR Data generated in the
performance of the award. In general, this results in the Government
receiving SBIR/STTR Data Rights in all SBIR/STTR Data during the SBIR/
STTR Protection Period, except for certain types of Data that are not
subject to such data rights restrictions due to the nature of the data
(e.g., Form, Fit, and Function Data or Operations, Maintenance,
Installation, and Training Purposes (OMIT Data). SBIR/STTR Data Rights
apply to all SBIR/STTR awards, including subcontracts or subgrants to
such awards, that fall within the statutory definition of Phase I, II,
or III of the SBIR/STTR programs, as described in Sec. 4 of this
Policy Directive. The scope and extent of the SBIR/STTR Data Rights
applicable to Federally-funded Phase III awards are identical to the
SBIR/STTR Data Rights applicable to Phases I and II SBIR/STTR awards.
SBIR/STTR Data Rights provide license rights to the Federal Government.
SBIR/STTR Data Rights restrict the Federal Government's use and release
of properly marked SBIR/STTR Data only during the SBIR/STTR Protection
Period; after the Protection Period the Government receives Unlimited
Rights in that data. The Government receives Unlimited Rights in all
unmarked data.
(3) SBIR/STTR Data Rights--Main Elements:
(A) An SBC retains title and ownership of all SBIR/STTR Data it
develops or generates in the performance of an SBIR/STTR award. The SBC
retains all rights in SBIR/STTR Data that are not granted to the
Government in accordance with this Policy Directive. These rights of
the SBC do not expire.
(B) The Government receives SBIR/STTR Data Rights during the SBIR/
STTR Protection Period on all appropriately marked SBIR/STTR Data.
These rights enable the Federal Government to use SBIR/STTR Data in
limited ways within the Government, such as for project evaluation
purposes, but are intended to prohibit uses and disclosures that can
result in the disclosure of the SBIR/STTR Data that may undermine the
SBC's future commercialization of the associated technology. The
Government receives Unlimited Rights in all unmarked data.
(C) After the SBIR/STTR Protection Period has expired, the Federal
Government receives Unlimited Rights in SBIR/STTR Data that was subject
to SBIR/STTR Data Rights during the protection period. Unlimited Rights
allows for any type of use or release of the SBIR/STTR Data within the
Government, and permits the Government to release SBIR/STTR Data
outside the Government, and to authorize others to use that data, for
any purpose.
(4) SBIR/STTR Protection Period. The SBIR/STTR Protection Period
begins with award of an SBIR/STTR funding agreement and ends twelve
years, or longer at the discretion of the Funding Agency, after
acceptance of the last deliverable under that agreement (either Phase
I, Phase II, or Federally-funded SBIR/STTR Phase III) unless,
subsequent to the award, the agency negotiates for some other
protection period for the SBIR/STTR Data.
(5) Marking Requirements, and Requirements for Omitted or Incorrect
Markings. To receive the protections accorded to SBIR/STTR Data
pursuant to SBIR/STTR Data Rights, any SBIR/STTR Data that is delivered
must be marked with the appropriate SBIR/STTR Data Rights legend or
notice, in accordance with agency procedures. The Government assumes no
liability for the access, use, modification, reproduction, release,
performance, display, disclosure, or distribution of SBIR/STTR Data
delivered without markings. If SBIR/STTR Data is delivered without the
required legend or notice, the SBIR/STTR Awardee may, within 6 months
of such delivery (or a longer period approved by the agency for good
cause shown), request to have an omitted SBIR/STTR Data legend or
notice, as applicable, placed on qualifying Data. If SBIR/STTR Data is
delivered with an incorrect or nonconforming legend or notice, the
agency may correct, or permit correction at the awardee's expense, of
such incorrect or nonconforming notice(s).
(6) Negotiated Rights.
(A) Specially Negotiated Licenses Authorized Only After Award. An
agency must not, in any way, make issuance of an SBIR/STTR award
conditional upon the Awardee negotiating or consenting to negotiate a
specially negotiated license or other agreement regarding SBIR/STTR
Data. The negotiation of any such specially negotiated license
agreements shall be permitted only after award.
(B) Following issuance of an SBIR/STTR award, the Awardee may enter
into a written agreement with the awarding agency to modify the license
rights that would otherwise be granted to the agency during the
Protection Period. However, any such agreement must be entered into
voluntarily and by mutual agreement of the SBIR/STTR Awardee and
agency, and not a condition for additional work under the funding
agreement or the exercise of options. Such a bilateral data rights
agreement must be entered into only after the subject SBIR/STTR award
(which award must include an appropriate SBIR/STTR Data Rights clause)
has been signed. Any such specially negotiated license must be in
writing under a separate agreement after the SBIR/STTR funding
agreement is signed. A decision by the awardee to relinquish, transfer,
or modify in any way its rights in SBIR/STTR Data must be made without
pressure or coercion by the agency or any other party. Any provision in
a competitive non-SBIR or SBIR solicitation that would have the effect
of diminishing SBIR/STTR Data Rights shall have no effect on the
provision of SBIR/STTR Data Rights in a resulting Phase I, Phase II, or
Phase III award.
(7) SBIR/STTR Data Rights Clause. To ensure that SBIR/STTR Awardees
receive the applicable data rights, all SBIR and STTR solicitations and
resulting funding agreements must fully implement all of the policies,
procedures, and requirements set forth in this Policy Directive in
appropriate provisions and clauses incorporated into the SBIR/STTR
solicitations and awards. Paragraph (5)(d)(3) of Appendix I:
Instructions for Preparation of SBIR/STTR Program Solicitations
provides a sample SBIR/STTR data rights clause containing the key
elements that must be reflected in the clause used in agency
solicitations. SBA will report to the Congress any attempt or action by
an agency, that it is aware of, to condition an SBIR or STTR award on
the negotiation of lesser data rights or to
[[Page 20502]]
exclude the appropriate data rights clause from the award.
(c) Nondisclosure Agreement for Releases Outside the Government. In
accordance with the Government's SBIR/STTR Data Rights, the Government
must enter into an appropriate nondisclosure agreement (NDA) with any
non-governmental entity that is authorized to receive SBIR/STTR Data
(that is subject to SBIR/STTR Data Rights) during the SBIR/STTR
Protection Period, except as otherwise permitted by the Awardee
asserting the SBIR/STTR Data Rights. The NDA must contain terms and
conditions to ensure that the non-governmental entity:
(1) Understands, acknowledges, and agrees that it's use,
modification, reproduction, release, display, disclosure, and
distribution of the SBIR/STTR Data is permitted only for the specific
activities authorized by the NDA (which must be authorized by SBIR/STTR
Data Rights, or otherwise authorized by the SBIR/STTR Awardee);
(2) Is prohibited from further using, modifying, reproducing,
releasing, displaying, disclosing, or distributing the data unless it
receives the written permission of the Government (when authorized by
the SBIR/STTR Awardee) or the written permission of the SBIR/STTR
Awardee;
(3) Agrees to destroy (or return to the Government at the request
of the Government), all SBIR/STTR Data, and all copies in its
possession, at or before the time specified in the agreement, and to
notify the procuring agency that all copies have been destroyed (or
returned as requested by the Government);
(4) Is prohibited from using the data for a commercial purpose
unless it receives the written permission of the Government (when
authorized by the SBIR/STTR Awardee) or the written permission of the
SBIR/STTR Awardee itself; and
(5) Ensures that its employees, subcontractors, and other entities
that are authorized to receive SBIR/STTR Data are bound by use and
nondisclosure restrictions consistent with the NDA prior to being
provided access to such SBIR/STTR Data.
(d) [STTR only] Allocation of Intellectual Property Rights in STTR
Award.
(1) An SBC, before receiving an STTR award, must negotiate a
written agreement between the SBC and the partnering Research
Institution, allocating intellectual property rights and rights, if
any, to carry out follow-on research, development, or
commercialization. The SBC must submit this agreement to the awarding
agency with the proposal. The SBC must certify in all proposals that
the agreement is satisfactory to the SBC.
(2) The awarding agency may accept an existing agreement between
the two parties if the SBC certifies its satisfaction with the
agreement, and such agreement does not conflict with the interests of
the Government. SBA will provide a model agreement to be adopted by the
agencies and used as guidance by the SBC in the development of an
agreement with the Research Institution. The model agreement will
direct the parties to, at a minimum:
(A) State specifically the degree of responsibility, and ownership
of any product, process, or other invention or innovation resulting
from the cooperative research. The degree of responsibility shall
include responsibility for expenses and liability, and the degree of
ownership shall also include the specific rights to revenues and
profits.
(B) State which party may obtain United States or foreign patents
or otherwise protect any inventions resulting from the cooperative
research.
(C) State which party has the right to any continuation of
research, including non-STTR follow-on awards.
(3) The Government will not normally be a party to any agreement
between the SBC and the Research Institution. Nothing in the agreement
is to conflict with any provisions setting forth the respective rights
of the United States and the SBC with respect to intellectual property
rights and with respect to any right to carry out follow-on research.
(e) Title Transfer of Agency-Provided Property. Under the Act, the
Government may transfer title to property provided by the SBIR/STTR
agency to the awardee or acquired by the awardee for the purpose of
fulfilling the contract where such transfer would be more cost
effective than recovery of the property.
(f) Continued Use of Government Equipment. Agencies must allow an
SBIR/STTR Awardee participating in an SBIR/STTR Phase III award
continued use, as a directed bailment, of any property transferred by
the agency to the Phase II awardee or acquired by the awardee for the
purpose of fulfilling the contract. The Phase II awardee may use the
property for a period of not less than 2 years, beginning on the
initial date of the concern's participation in the third phase of the
SBIR/STTR program.
(g) Grant Authority. The Act does not, in and of itself, convey
grant authority. Each agency must secure grant authority in accordance
with its normal procedures.
(h) Conflicts of Interest. SBA cautions Participating Agencies that
awards made to SBCs owned by or employing current or previous Federal
Government employees may create conflicts of interest in violation of
FAR Part 3 and the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, as amended. Each
participating agency should refer to the standards of conduct review
procedures currently in effect for its agency to ensure that such
conflicts of interest do not arise.
(i) American-Made Equipment and Products. Congress intends that the
awardee of a funding agreement under the SBIR/STTR program should, when
purchasing any equipment or a product with funds provided through the
funding agreement, purchase only American-made equipment and products,
to the extent possible, in keeping with the overall purposes of this
program. Each SBIR/STTR agency must provide to each awardee a notice of
this requirement.
(j) Certifications After Award and During Funding Agreement
Lifecycle.
(1) A Phase I funding agreement must state that the awardee shall
submit a new certification as to whether it is in compliance with
specific SBIR/STTR program requirements at the time of final payment or
disbursement.
(2) A Phase II funding agreement must state that the awardee shall
submit a new certification as to whether it is in compliance with
specific SBIR/STTR program requirements prior to receiving more than
50% of the total award amount and prior to final payment or
disbursement.
(3) Agencies may also require additional certifications at other
points in time during the life cycle of the funding agreement, such as
at the time of each payment or disbursement.
(k) Updating www.SBIR.gov. Agencies must require each Phase II
awardee to update the commercialization information on the award
through the company's account on www.SBIR.gov upon completion of the
last deliverable under the funding agreement. In addition, the awardee
is requested to voluntarily update the commercialization information on
that award annually thereafter for a minimum period of 5 years.
(l) Prototypes. Participating agencies must handle all prototypes
developed under an SBIR/STTR award with caution during the SBIR/STTR
Protection Period to prevent any use or disclosure of these items that
has the potential to reveal the innovative aspects of the technology in
ways that may harm the awardee's ability to commercialize the
technology. In particular, reverse engineering of
[[Page 20503]]
prototypes may reveal, to a Government or non-Government entity, the
SBIR/STTR Data that is applied or embodied in the item. While a
prototype may not itself be considered SBIR/STTR Data because it is not
``recorded information,'' SBA cautions agencies that it is a violation
of the purpose and intent of the Small Business Act to release or use a
prototype during the SBIR/STTR Protection Period in a way that harms
the awardee's ability to take advantage of the economic opportunities
of its SBIR/STTR Data. SBA notes that the DFARS Restricted Rights
license granted to the Government for computer software prohibits non-
governmental entities from reverse-engineering, disassembly, or
decompiling Computer Software, except in extremely limited
circumstances.
9. Responsibilities of SBIR/STTR Agencies and Departments
(a) General Responsibilities. Each agency participating in the
SBIR/STTR program must:
(1) Unilaterally determine the categories of projects to be
included in its SBIR/STTR program, giving consideration to maintaining
a portfolio balance between exploratory projects of high technological
risk and those with greater likelihood of success. Further, to the
extent permitted by the law, and in a manner consistent with the
mission of that agency and the purpose of the SBIR/STTR program, each
Federal agency must:
(i) give priority in the SBIR/STTR program to manufacturing-related
research and development in accordance with Executive Order 13329. In
addition, agencies must develop an Action Plan for implementing
Executive Order 13329, which identifies activities used to give
priority in the SBIR/STTR program to manufacturing-related research and
development. These activities should include the provision of
information on the Executive Order on the agency's SBIR/STTR program
Web site.
(ii) give priority to small business concerns that participate in
or conduct energy efficiency or renewable energy system research and
development projects.
(iii) give consideration to topics that further one or more
critical technologies as identified by the National Critical
Technologies panel (or its successor) in reports required under 42
U.S.C. 6683, or the Secretary of Defense in accordance with 10 U.S.C.
2522.
(2) Release SBIR/STTR solicitations in accordance with the SBA
master schedule.
(3) Unilaterally receive and evaluate proposals resulting from
program solicitations, select awardees, issue funding agreements, and
inform each awardee under such agreement, to the extent possible, of
the expenses of the awardee that will be allowable under the funding
agreement.
(4) Require a succinct commercialization plan with each proposal
submitted for a Phase II award.
(5) Collect and maintain information from applicants and awardees
and provide it to SBA to develop and maintain the database, as
identified in Sec. 11(c) of this Policy Directive.
(6) Administer its own SBIR/STTR funding agreements or delegate
such administration to another agency.
(7) Include provisions in each SBIR/STTR funding agreement setting
forth the respective rights of the United States and the awardee with
respect to intellectual property rights and with respect to any right
to carry out follow-on research.
(8) Ensure that the rights in data developed under each Federally-
funded SBIR/STTR Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III award are protected
properly.
(9) Make payments to awardees of SBIR/STTR funding agreements on
the basis of progress toward or completion of the funding agreement
requirements and in all cases make payment to awardees under such
agreements in full, subject to audit, on or before the last day of the
12-month period beginning on the date of completion of such
requirements.
(10) Provide an annual report on the SBIR/STTR program to SBA, as
well as other information concerning the SBIR/STTR program. See Sec.
10 of this Policy Directive for further information on the agency's
reporting requirements, including the frequency for specific reporting
requirements.
(11) Include in its annual performance plan required by 31 U.S.C.
1115(a) and (b) a section on its SBIR/STTR program, and submit such
section to the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
and to the House Committees on Science, Space and Technology and Small
Business.
(12) Establish the agency's benchmarks for progress towards
commercialization and include the information necessary to implement
the benchmarks in each solicitation. See Sec. 6(a)(7) of the directive
for further information.
(b) Discretionary technical assistance to SBIR/STTR Awardees.
(1) Agencies may enter into agreements with vendors to provide
technical assistance to SBIR/STTR Awardees, which may include access to
a network of scientists and engineers engaged in a wide range of
technologies or access to technical and business literature available
through on-line data bases. Each agency may select a vendor for a term
not to exceed 5 years. The vendor must be selected using competitive
and merit-based criteria.
(i) The purpose of this technical assistance is to assist SBIR/STTR
Awardees in:
(A) making better technical decisions on SBIR/STTR projects;
(B) solving technical problems that arise during SBIR/STTR
projects;
(C) minimizing technical risks associated with SBIR/STTR projects;
and
(D) commercializing the SBIR/STTR product or process.
(ii) An agency may not enter into a contract with the vendor if the
contract amount provided for technical assistance is based upon the
total number of Phase I or Phase II awards, but may enter into a
contract with the vendor based upon the total amount of awards for
which assistance is provided.
(2) Each agency may provide up to $5,000 of SBIR/STTR funds for the
technical assistance described above in (b)(1) per year for each Phase
I award and each Phase II award. The amount will be in addition to the
award and will count as part of the agency's SBIR/STTR funding, unless
the agency funds the technical assistance using non-SBIR/STTR funds.
The agency may not use SBIR/STTR funds for technical assistance unless
the vendor provides the services to the SBIR/STTR Awardee.
(3) An SBIR/STTR applicant may acquire the technical assistance
services set forth in (b)(1)(i) above itself and not through the vendor
selected by the Federal agency. The applicant must request this
authority from the Federal agency and demonstrate in its SBIR/STTR
application that the individual or entity selected can provide the
specific technical services needed. If the awardee demonstrates this
requirement sufficiently, the agency shall permit the awardee to
acquire such technical assistance itself, in an amount up to $5,000, as
an allowable cost of the SBIR/STTR award. The per year amount will be
in addition to the award and will count as part of the agency's SBIR/
STTR funding, unless the agency funds the technical assistance using
non-SBIR/STTR funds.
(c) Agencies must publish the information relating to timelines for
awards of Phase I and Phase II funding agreements and performance start
dates of the funding agreements that are reported to SBA in the
agency's Annual Report (see Sec. 10(a) of the directive). SBA
[[Page 20504]]
will also publish this information on www.SBIR.gov.
(d) Interagency actions.
(1) Joint funding. An SBIR/STTR project may be financed by more
than one Federal agency. Joint funding is not required but can be an
effective arrangement for some projects.
(2) Phase II awards. An SBIR/STTR Phase II award may be issued by a
Federal agency other than the one that made the Phase I award. Prior to
award, the head of the Federal agency for the Phase I and Phase II
awards, or designee, must issue a written determination that the topics
of the awards are the same. Both agencies must submit the report to
SBA.
(3) Participation by WOSBs and SDBs in the SBIR/STTR Program. In
order to meet statutory requirements for greater inclusion, SBA and the
Federal participating agencies must conduct outreach efforts to find
and place innovative WOSBs and SDBs in the SBIR/STTR program. These
SBCs will be required to compete for SBIR/STTR awards on the same basis
as all other SBCs. However, SBIR/STTR agencies are encouraged to work
independently and cooperatively with SBA to develop methods to
encourage qualified WOSBs and SDBs to participate in the SBIR/STTR
program.
(e) Limitation on use of funds.
(1) Each SBIR/STTR agency must expend the required minimum percent
of its extramural budget on awards to SBCs. Agencies may not make
available for the purpose of meeting the minimum percent an amount of
its extramural budget for basic research that exceeds the minimum
percent. Funding agreements with SBCs for R/R&D that result from
competitive or single source selections other than an SBIR/STTR program
must not be considered to meet any portion of the required minimum
percent.
(2) An agency must not use any of its SBIR/STTR budget for the
purpose of funding administrative costs of the program, including costs
associated with program operations, employee salaries, and other
associated expenses, unless the exception in paragraph (3) below or
Sec. 12(b)(4)(ii) applies.
(3) Pilot To Allow for Funding of Administrative, Oversight, and
Contract Processing Costs. Beginning on October 1, 2012 and ending on
September 30, 2017, and upon establishment by SBA of the agency-
specific performance criteria, SBA shall allow an SBIR Federal agency
to use no more than 3% of its SBIR budget for one or more specific
activities, which may be prioritized by the federal SBIR/STTR
Interagency Policy Committee. The purpose of this pilot program is to
assist with the substantial expansion in commercialization activities,
prevention of fraud/waste/abuse, expansion of reporting requirements by
agencies and other agency activities required for the SBIR program.
Funding under this pilot is not intended to and must not replace
current agency administrative funding in support of SBIR/STTR
activities. Rather, funding under this pilot program is intended to
supplement such funds.
(i) A Federal agency may use this money to fund the following
specific activities:
(A) SBIR and STTR program administration, which includes:
(I) internal oversight and quality control, such as verification of
reports and invoices and cost reviews, and waste/fraud/abuse prevention
(including targeted reviews of SBIR or STTR awardees that an agency
determines are at risk for waste/fraud/abuse);
(II) carrying out any activities associated with the participation
by small businesses that are majority-owned by multiple venture capital
operating companies, hedge funds or private equity firms;
(III) contract processing costs relating to the SBIR or STTR
program of that agency, which includes supplementing the current
workforce to assist solely with SBIR or STTR funding agreements;
(IV) funding of additional personnel to work solely on the SBIR/
STTR program of that agency, which includes assistance with application
reviews; and
(V) funding for simplified and standardized program proposal,
selection, contracting, compliance, and audit procedures for the SBIR/
STTR program, including the reduction of paperwork and data collection.
(B) STTR or SBIR program-related outreach and related technical
assistance initiatives not in effect prior to commencement of this
pilot, except significant expansion or improvement of these
initiatives, including:
(I) technical assistance site visits;
(II) personnel interviews;
(III) national conferences;
(C) Commercialization initiatives not in effect prior to
commencement of this pilot, except significant expansion or improvement
of these initiatives.
(D) For DoD and the military departments, carrying out the
Commercialization Readiness Program set forth in 12(b) of this
directive, with emphasis on supporting new initiatives that address
barriers in bringing SBIR/STTR technologies to the marketplace,
including intellectual property issues, sales cycle access issues,
accelerated technology development issues, and other issues.
(ii) Agencies must use this money to attempt to increase
participation by SDBs and WOSBs in the SBIR/STTR program, and small
businesses in states with a historically low level of SBIR/STTR awards.
The agency may submit a written request to SBA to waive this
requirement. The request must explain why the waiver is necessary,
demonstrate a sufficient need for the waiver, and explain that the
outreach objectives of the agency are being met and that there has been
increased participation by small businesses in states with a
historically low level of SBIR/STTR awards.
(iii) SBA will establish performance criteria each fiscal year by
which use of these funds will be evaluated for that fiscal year. The
performance criteria will be metrics that measure the performance areas
required by statute against the goals set by the agencies in their work
plans. The performance criteria will be based upon the work plans
submitted by each agency for a given fiscal year and will be agency-
specific. SBA will work with the SBIR/STTR agencies in creating a
simplified template for agencies to use when making their work plans.
(iv) Each agency must submit its work plan to SBA at least 30
calendar days prior to the start of each fiscal year for which the
pilot program is in operation. Agency work plans must include the
following: a prioritized list of initiatives to be supported; the
estimated percentage of administrative funds to be allocated to each
initiative or the estimated amounts to be spent on each initiative;
milestones for implementing the initiatives; the expected results to be
achieved; and the assessment metrics for each initiative. The work plan
must identify initiatives that are above and beyond current practice
and which enhance the agency's SBIR/STTR program.
(v) SBA will evaluate the work plan and provide initial comments
within 15 calendar days of receipt of the plan. SBA's objective in
evaluating the work plan is to ensure that, overall, it provides for
improvements to the SBIR/STTR program of that particular agency. If SBA
does not provide initial comments within 30 calendar days of receipt of
the plan, the work plan is deemed to be approved. If SBA does submit
initial comments within 30 calendar days, agencies must amend or
supplement their work plan and resubmit to SBA. Once SBA establishes
the agency-specific performance criteria to measure the benefits of the
use of these funds under the work plan, the
[[Page 20505]]
agency may begin using the SBIR funds for the purposes set forth in the
work plan. Agencies can adjust their work plans and spending throughout
the fiscal year as needed, but must notify SBA of material changes in
the plan.
(vi) Agencies must coordinate any activities in the work plan that
relate to fraud, waste, and abuse prevention, targeted reviews of
awardees, and implementation of oversight control and quality control
measures (including verification of reports and invoices and cost
reviews) with the agency's Office of Inspector General (OIG). If the
agency allocates more than $50,000,000 to its SBIR program for a fiscal
year, the agency may share this funding with its OIG when the OIG
performs the activities.
(vii) Agencies shall report to the Administrator on use of funds
under this authority as part of the SBIR/STTR Annual Report. See Sec.
10 generally and Sec. 10(i).
(4) An agency must not issue an SBIR/STTR funding agreement that
includes a provision for subcontracting any portion of that agreement
back to the issuing agency, to any other Federal Government agency, or
to other units of the Federal Government, except as provided in
paragraph (f)(5) below. SBA may issue a case-by-case waiver to this
provision after review of an agency's written justification that
includes the following information:
(i) An explanation of why the SBIR/STTR research project requires
the use of the Federal facility or personnel, including data that
verifies the absence of non-federal facilities or personnel capable of
supporting the research effort.
(ii) Why the Agency will not and cannot fund the use of the federal
facility or personnel for the SBIR/STTR project with non-SBIR/STTR
money.
(iii) The concurrence of the SBC's chief business official to use
the federal facility or personnel.
(5) An agency may issue an SBIR/STTR funding agreement to a small
business concern that intends to enter into an agreement with a Federal
laboratory to perform portions of the award or has entered into a
cooperative research and development agreement (see 15 U.S.C. 3710a(d))
with a Federal laboratory, only if there is compliance with the
following.
(i) The agency may not require that the small business concern
enter into an agreement with any Federal laboratory to perform any
portion of an SBIR/STTR award, as a condition for an SBIR/STTR award.
(ii) The agency may not issue an SBIR/STTR award or approve an
agreement between an SBIR/STTR Awardee and a Federal laboratory if the
small business concern will not meet the minimum performance of work
requirements set forth in Sec. 6(a)(4) of this directive.
(iii) The agency may not issue an SBIR/STTR award or approve an
agreement between an SBIR/STTR Awardee and a Federal laboratory that
violates any SBIR/STTR requirement set forth in statute or the Policy
Directive, including any SBIR/STTR data rights protections.
(iv) The agency and Federal laboratory may not require any SBIR/
STTR Awardee that has an agreement with the Federal laboratory to
perform portions of the activities under the SBIR/STTR award to provide
advance payment to the Federal laboratory in an amount greater than the
amount necessary to pay for 30 days of such activities.
(6) No agency, at its own discretion, may unilaterally cease
participation in the SBIR/STTR program. R/R&D agency budgets may cause
fluctuations and trends that must be reviewed in light of SBIR/STTR
program purposes. An agency may be considered by SBA for a phased
withdrawal from participation in the SBIR/STTR program over a period of
time sufficient in duration to minimize any adverse impact on SBCs.
However, the SBA decision concerning such a withdrawal will be made on
a case-by-case basis and will depend on significant changes to
extramural R/R&D 3-year forecasts as found in the annual Budget of the
United States Government and National Science Foundation breakdowns of
total R/R&D obligations as published in the Federal Funds for Research
and Development. Any withdrawal of an SBIR/STTR agency from the SBIR/
STTR program will be accomplished in a standardized and orderly manner
in compliance with these statutorily mandated procedures.
(7) Federal agencies not otherwise required to participate in the
SBIR/STTR program may participate on a voluntary basis. Federal
agencies seeking to participate in the SBIR/STTR program must first
submit their written requests to SBA. Voluntary participation requires
the written approval of SBA.
(f) Preventing Fraud, Waste, and Abuse.
(1) Agencies shall evaluate risks of fraud, waste, and abuse in
each application, monitor and administer SBIR/STTR awards, and create
and implement policies and procedures to prevent fraud, waste and abuse
in the SBIR/STTR program. To capitalize on OIG expertise in this area,
agencies must consult with their OIG when creating such policies and
procedures. Fraud includes any false representation about a material
fact or any intentional deception designed to deprive the United States
unlawfully of something of value or to secure from the United States a
benefit, privilege, allowance, or consideration to which an individual
or business is not entitled. Waste includes extravagant, careless, or
needless expenditure of Government funds, or the consumption of
Government property, that results from deficient practices, systems,
controls, or decisions. Abuse includes any intentional or improper use
of Government resources, such as misuse of rank, position, or authority
or resources. Examples of fraud, waste, and abuse relating to the SBIR/
STTR program include, but are not limited to:
(i) misrepresentations or material, factual omissions to obtain, or
otherwise receive funding under, an SBIR/STTR award;
(ii) misrepresentations of the use of funds expended, work done,
results achieved, or compliance with program requirements under an
SBIR/STTR award;
(iii) misuse or conversion of SBIR/STTR award funds, including any
use of award funds while not in full compliance with SBIR/STTR program
requirements, or failure to pay taxes due on misused or converted SBIR/
STTR award funds;
(iv) fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in applying for,
carrying out, or reporting results from an SBIR/STTR award;
(v) failure to comply with applicable federal costs principles
governing an award;
(vi) extravagant, careless, or needless spending;
(vii) self-dealing, such as making a sub-award to an entity in
which the PI has a financial interest;
(viii) acceptance by agency personnel of bribes or gifts in
exchange for grant or contract awards or other conflicts of interest
that prevents the Government from getting the best value; and
(ix) lack of monitoring, or follow-up if questions arise, by agency
personnel to ensure that awardee meets all required eligibility
requirements, provides all required certifications, performs in
accordance with the terms and conditions of the award, and performs all
work proposed in the application.
(2) At a minimum, agencies must:
(i) Require certifications from the SBIR/STTR Awardee at the time
of award, as well as after award and during the funding agreement
lifecycle (see Sec. 8(i) and Appendix I for more information);
[[Page 20506]]
(ii) Include on their respective SBIR/STTR Web page and in each
solicitation, information explaining how an individual can report
fraud, waste and abuse as provided by the agency's OIG (e.g., include
the fraud hotline number or web-based reporting method for the agency's
OIG);
(iii) Designate at least one individual in the agency to, at a
minimum, serve as the liaison for the SBIR/STTR program, the OIG and
the agency's Suspension and Debarment Official (SDO) and ensure that
inquiries regarding fraud, waste and abuse are referred to the OIG and,
if applicable, the SDO.
(iv) Include on their respective SBIR/STTR Web page information
concerning successful prosecutions of fraud, waste and abuse in the
SBIR or STTR programs.
(v) Establish a written policy requiring all personnel involved
with the SBIR/STTR program to notify the OIG if anyone suspects fraud,
waste, and/or abuse and ensure the policy is communicated to all SBIR/
STTR personnel.
(vi) Create or ensure there is an adequate system to enforce
accountability (through suspension and debarment, fraud referrals or
other efforts to deter wrongdoing and promote integrity) by developing
separate standardized templates for a referral made to the OIG for
fraud, waste and abuse or the SDO for other matters, and a process for
tracking such referrals.
(vii) Ensure compliance with the eligibility requirements of the
program and the terms of the SBIR/STTR funding agreement.
(viii) Work with the agency's OIG with regard to its efforts to
establish fraud detection indicators, coordinate the sharing of
information between Federal agencies, and improve education and
training to SBIR/STTR program officials, applicants and awardees;
(ix) Develop policies and procedures to avoid funding essentially
equivalent work already funded by another agency, which could include:
searching SBIR.GOV prior to award for the applicant (if a joint
venture, search for each party to the joint venture), key individuals
of the applicant, and similar abstracts; using plagiarism or other
software; checking the SBC's certification prior to award and funding
and documenting the funding agreement file that such certification
evidenced the SBC has not already received funding for essentially
equivalent work; reviewing other agency's policies and procedures for
best practices; and reviewing other R&D programs for policies and
procedures and best practices related to this issue; and
(x) Consider enhanced reporting requirements during the funding
agreement.
(g) Interagency Policy Committee. The Director of the Office of
Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) will establish an Interagency
SBIR/STTR Policy Committee, which will include representatives from
Federal agencies with an SBIR or an STTR program and SBA. The
Interagency SBIR/STTR Policy Committee shall review the following
issues (but may review additional issues) and make policy
recommendations on ways to improve program effectiveness and
efficiency:
(1) The www.SBIR.gov databases described in Sec. 9(k) of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(k));
(2) Federal agency flexibility in establishing Phase I and II award
sizes, including appropriate criteria for exercising such flexibility;
(3) Commercialization assistance best practices of Federal agencies
with significant potential to be employed by other agencies and the
appropriate steps to achieve that leverage, as well as proposals for
new initiatives to address funding gaps that business concerns face
after Phase II but before commercialization.
(4) The need for a standard evaluation framework to enable
systematic assessment of SBIR and STTR, including through improved
tracking of awards and outcomes and development of performance measures
for the SBIR program and STTR program of each Federal agency.
(5) Outreach and technical assistance activities that increase the
participation of small businesses underrepresented in the SBIR and STTR
programs, including the identification and sharing of best practices
and the leveraging of resources in support of such activities across
agencies.
(h) National Academy of Science Report. The National Academy of
Sciences (NAS) will conduct a study and issue reports on the SBIR and
STTR programs.
(1) Prior to and during the period of study, and to ensure that the
concerns of small business are appropriately considered, NAS shall
consult with and consider the views of SBA's Office of Investment and
Innovation and the Office of Advocacy and other interested parties,
including entities, organizations, and individuals actively engaged in
enhancing or developing the technological capabilities of small
business concerns.
(2) The head of each agency with a budget of more than $50,000,000
for its SBIR program for fiscal year 1999 shall, in consultation with
SBA, and not later than 6 months after December 31, 2011, cooperatively
enter into an agreement with NAS regarding the content and performance
of the study. SBA and the agencies will work with the Interagency
Policy Committee in determining the parameters of the study, including
the specific areas of focus and priorities for the broad topics
required by statute. The agreement with NAS must set forth these
parameters, specific areas of focus and priorities, and comprehensively
address the scope and content of the work to be performed. This
agreement must also require the NAS to ensure there is participation by
and consultation with, the small business community, the SBA, and other
interested parties as described in paragraph (1).
(3) NAS shall transmit to SBA, heads of agencies entering into an
agreement under this section, the Committee on Science, Space and
Technology, the Committee on Small Business of the House of
Representatives, and to the Committee on Small Business of the Senate a
copy of the report, which includes the results and recommendations, not
later than 4 years after December 31, 2011, and every subsequent four
years.
10. Reporting Requirements--for Agencies, Applicants and Awardees
(a) General. The Small Business Act requires agencies to collect
meaningful information from SBCs and ensure that reporting requirements
are streamlined to minimize the burden on small businesses.
(1) SBA is required to collect data from agencies and report to the
Congress information regarding applications by and awards to SBCs by
each Federal agency participating in the SBIR/STTR program.
Participating agencies report data using standardized templates that
are provided, maintained, and updated by SBA on www.SBIR.gov.
(2) The Act requires a ``simplified, standardized and timely annual
report'' from each Federal agency participating in the SBIR/STTR
program (see Sec. 3 for the definition of Federal agency), which is
submitted to SBA. In addition, agencies are required to report certain
items periodically throughout the year to SBA. Agencies may identify
certain information, such as award data information, by the various
components of each agency. SBA collects agency reports through the
www.SBIR.gov portal. If the www.SBIR.gov databases are unavailable,
then the report must be emailed to technology@sba.gov.
[[Page 20507]]
(3) To meet these requirements, the SBIR/STTR program has the
following key principles:
(i) Make updating data available electronically;
(ii) Centralize and share certain data through secure interfaces to
which only authorized government personnel have access;
(iii) Have small business enter the data only once, if possible;
and
(iv) Provide standardized procedures.
(b) Summary of SBIR/STTR Databases.
(1) The Act requires that SBA coordinate the implementation of
electronic databases at the SBIR/STTR agencies, including the technical
ability of the agencies to share the data. In addition, the Act
requires the reporting of various data elements, which are clustered
together in the following subsections:
(i) Solicitations Database (to include the Master Schedule);
(ii) www.SBIR.gov, which includes the following databases:
(A) Company Registry Database;
(B) Application Information Database;
(C) Award Information Database;
(D) Commercialization Database;
(E) Annual Report Database; and
(F) Other Reporting Requirements Database.
(2) The subsections below describe the data reporting requirements,
including reporting mechanisms, the frequency of data collection and
reporting, and whether this information is shared publicly or is
protected and only available to authorized personnel. The table below
summarizes the data collection requirements for each database; however,
there may be some divergences at the individual data field level. Refer
to Appendix II the detailed reporting requirements at the data field
level. SBA notes that in fiscal year 2012, SBA began a phased
implementation of this data collection.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Collection/Reporting
Database Reporting Mechanism Frequency Public/ Government
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Solicitations.................... Agency XML or manual upload Within 5 business days of Public.
to https://www.SBIR.gov. solicitation open date.
Company Registry................. SBC reports data to Register or reconfirm at Government only.
www.SBIR.gov. Agency time of application.
receives .pdf from company.
Application Information.......... Agency provides XML or Quarterly.................. Government only.
manual upload to
www.SBIR.gov.
Award Information................ XML or manual upload to Quarterly.................. Public.
www.SBIR.gov.
Commercialization................ Agencies + companies report Agencies update in real Government only.
to www.SBIR.gov. time SBC updates prior to
subsequent award
application and
voluntarily thereafter.
Annual Report.................... Agency XML or manual upload Annually................... Public.
to www.SBIR.gov.
Other Reports.................... As set forth in the As set forth in the Public.
directive. directive.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(3) SBIR/STTR Awardees will have user names and passwords assigned
in order to access their respective awards information in the system.
Award and commercialization data maintained in the database can be
changed only by the awardee, SBA, or the awarding SBIR/STTR Federal
agency.
(c) Master Schedule & the Solicitations Database.
(1) SBA posts an electronic Master Schedule of release dates of
program solicitations with links to Internet Web sites of agency
solicitations on www.SBIR.gov.
(i) On or before August 1, each agency representative must notify
SBA in writing or by email of its proposed program solicitation release
and proposal due dates for the next fiscal year. SBA and the agency
representatives will coordinate the resolution of any conflicting
agency solicitation dates by the second week of August. In all cases,
SBA will make final decisions. Agencies must notify SBA in writing of
any subsequent changes in the solicitation release and close dates.
(ii) For those agencies that use both general topic and more
specific subtopic designations in their SBIR/STTR solicitations, the
topic data should accurately describe the research solicited.
(iii) Agencies must post on their Internet Web sites the following
information regarding each program solicitation:
(A) list of topics upon which R/R&D proposals will be sought;
(B) Agency address, phone number, or email address from which SBIR/
STTR program solicitations can be requested or obtained, especially
through electronic means;
(C) names, addresses, and phone numbers of agency contact points
where SBIR/STTR-related inquiries may be directed;
(D) release date(s) of program solicitation(s);
(E) closing date(s) for receipt of proposals; and
(F) estimated number and average dollar amounts of Phase I awards
to be made under the solicitation.
(2) SBA will manage a searchable public database that contains all
solicitation and topic information from all SBIR/STTR agencies.
Agencies are required to update the Solicitations Database, (available
at www.SBIR.gov), within 5 business days of a solicitation's open date
for applications and/or submissions for SBCs. Refer to Appendix II for
detailed reporting requirements. The main data requirements include:
(i) type of solicitation--SBIR/STTR;
(ii) Phase--I or II;
(iii) topic description;
(iv) sub-topic description;
(v) Web site for further information; and
(vi) applicable contact information per topic or sub-topic, where
applicable and allowed by law.
(d) Company Registry Database.
(1) SBA maintains and manages a company registry to track ownership
and affiliation requirements for all companies applying to the SBIR/
STTR program, including those that are majority-owned by multiple
VCOCs, private equity firms, or hedge funds.
(2) Each SBC applying for a Phase I or Phase II award must register
on www.SBIR.gov prior to submitting an application. The SBC will report
and/or update ownership information to SBA prior to each SBIR/STTR
application submission. The SBC can view the ownership and affiliation
requirements of the program on the registry site.
(3) Data collected in the Company Registry Database will not be
shared publicly. Refer to Appendix II for details on specific fields
shared publicly.
(4) The SBC will save its information from the registration in a
.pdf document
[[Page 20508]]
and will append this document to the application submitted to a given
agency unless the information can be transmitted automatically to SBIR/
STTR agencies.
(5) Refer to Appendix II for the required reporting fields. The
main data requirements include:
(i) basic identifying information for the SBC;
(ii) the number of employees for the SBC;
(iii) whether the SBC has venture capital, hedge fund or private
equity firm investment and if so, include:
(A) the percentage of ownership of the awardee held by the VCOC,
hedge fund or private equity firm;
(B) the registration by the SBC of whether or not it is majority-
owned by VCOCs, hedge funds, or private equity firms. Please note that
this may be auto-populated through the individual calculations of
investments in the SBC already submitted.
(iv) information on the affiliates of the SBC, including:
(A) the names of all affiliates of the SBC;
(B) the number of employees of the affiliates;
(e) Application Information Database.
(1) SBA will manage an Application Information Database on
information on applications to the SBIR/STTR program across agencies.
(2) Each agency must upload application data to the Application
Database at www.SBIR.gov at least quarterly.
(3) The data in the applicant database is only viewable to
authorized government officials and not shared publicly.
(4) Refer to Appendix II for detailed reporting requirements. The
main data requirements for each Phase I and Phase II application
include:
(i) name, size, and location of the applicant, and the identifying
number assigned;
(ii) an abstract and specific aims of the project;
(iii) name, title, contact information, and position in the small
business of each key individual that will carry out the project;
(iv) percentage of effort each key individual identified will
contribute to the project;
(v) Federal agency to which the application is made and contact
information for the person responsible for reviewing applications and
making awards under the program.
(5) The Application Information Database connects and cross-checks
information with the Company Registry and government personnel can see
connected data.
(f) Award Information Database.
(1) SBA manages a database on awards made within the SBIR/STTR
program across agencies.
(2) Each agency must update the Award Information Database
quarterly, if not more frequently.
(3) Most of the data available on the Award Information Database is
viewable and searchable by the public on www.SBIR.gov.
(4) Refer to SBIR.gov for detailed reporting requirements. The data
requirements for each Phase I and Phase II award include:
(i) information similar to the Application Information Database--if
not already collected;
(ii) the name, size, and location of, and the identifying number
assigned;
(iii) an abstract and specific aims of the project;
(iv) the name, title, contact information, and position in the
small business of each key individual that will carry out the project;
(v) the percentage of effort each identified key individual will
contribute to the project;
(vi) the Federal agency making the award;
(vii) award amount;
(viii) principal investigator identifying information--including
name, email address, and demographic information;
(ix) detailed information on location of company;
(x) whether the awardee:
(A) has venture capital, hedge fund or private equity firm
investment and if so, the amount of such investment received by SBC as
of date of award and amount of additional capital awardee has invested
in SBIR/STTR technology;
(B) is a WOSB or has a woman as a principal investigator;
(C) is an SDB or has a socially and economically disadvantaged
individual as a principal investigator;
(D) is owned by a faculty member or a student of an institution of
higher education as defined in 20 U.S.C. 1001); and
(E) has received the award as a result of the Commercialization
Readiness Pilot Program for Civilian Agencies set forth in Sec. 12(c)
of the directive.
(xi) an identification of any business concern or subsidiary
established for the commercial application of a product or service for
which an SBIR or STTR award is made.
(5) The Award Information Database connects and cross-checks
information with the Company Registry and Application Information
Database, and government personnel can see connected data.
(g) Commercialization Database.
(1) The Commercialization Database stores information reported by
awardees on the commercial activity resulting from their past SBIR/STTR
awards.
(2) Commercialization data is inputted to this database in two
ways: awardees enter their commercialization data directly into the
commercialization database on www.SBIR.gov, and agencies can upload to
the database at www.sbir.gov commercialization data they have collected
from awardees.
(3) The Commercialization Database is currently maintained by SBA.
(4) Awardees are required to update this information on their prior
Phase II awards in the Commercialization Database when submitting an
application for an SBIR/STTR Phase II award and upon completion of the
last deliverable for that award.
(5) Commercialization data at the company level will not be shared
publicly. Aggregated data that maintains the confidentiality of
companies may be reported in compliance with the statute.
(6) Refer to www.sbir.gov for the specific commercialization data
reporting fields. The main data requirements include for every Phase II
award:
(i) any business concern or subsidiary established for the
commercial application of a product or service for which an SBIR/STTR
award is made;
(ii) total revenue resulting from the sale of new products or
services, or licensing agreements resulting from the research conducted
under each Phase II award;
(iii) additional investment received from any source, other than
Phase I or Phase II awards, to further the research and development
conducted under each Phase II award;
(iv) any contract with the federal government marked as an SBIR/
STTR Phase III award; and
(v) any narrative information that a Phase II awardee voluntarily
submits to further describe the commercialization efforts of its awards
and related research.
(7) The SBC may apportion sales or additional investment
information relating to more than one Phase II award among those
awards, if it notes the apportionment for each award. Companies are
requested to update their records in this database on a voluntary basis
for at least 5 years following the completion of award.
(8) Awardees will update their information and add project
commercialization and sales data using their user names and passwords.
SBA and SBIR/STTR agencies will coordinate data collection to ensure
that
[[Page 20509]]
small businesses will not need to report the same data more than once.
(9) Note that the Award Information and Commercialization Databases
will contain the data necessary for agencies to determine whether an
applicant meets the agency's benchmarks for progress towards
commercialization.
(h) Agency Annual Report to SBA.
(1) Agencies must submit their report to SBA on an annual basis and
will report for the period ending September 30 of each fiscal year. The
report is due to SBA no later than March 15 of each year. For example,
the report for FY 2015 (October 1, 2014--September 30, 2015) must be
submitted to SBA by March 15, 2016.
(2) SBA provides the Annual Report form to agencies through
www.SBIR.gov. SBA reserves the right to modify the fields of the Annual
Report data form beyond those identified in this directive.
(3) A number of the fields of the Annual Report template are pre-
populated by SBA with data from the SBIR/STTR program database. SBA
works with the agencies to resolve any data inconsistencies.
(4) The annual report includes the following:
(i) SBIR/STTR program dollars obligated through program funding
agreements for Phase I, Phase II, and other uses of program funds,
during the reporting fiscal year.
(ii) Number of topics and subtopics contained in each program
solicitation.
(iii) Number of proposals received by the agency for each topic and
subtopic in each program solicitation.
(iv) Agency total extramural R/R&D obligations for the reporting
fiscal year including an explanation of its calculation and how it
differs, if at all, from the amount reported to the National Science
Foundation pursuant to the annual Budget of the United States
Government.
(v) The minimum dollar amount the agency is required to obligate
per fiscal year for the SBIR and STTR programs. This amount is
calculated by applying the statutory per centum to the agency's total
extramural R/R&D obligations made during the fiscal year (adjusted for
the appropriate exclusions); and if the minimum amount was not met, the
agency must provide the reasons why and an explanation of how the
agency plans to meet the requirement in the future. Agencies may
provide an explanation of the specific budgeting process their agency
uses to allocate funds for the SBIR/STTR programs and describe any
issues they may see with the compliance determination procedure.
(vi) For all applicants and awardees in the applicable fiscal
year--where applicable, the name and address, solicitation topic and
subtopic, solicitation number, project title, total dollar amount of
funding agreement, and applicable demographic information. The agency
is not required to re-submit applicant and award information in the
annual report that it has already reported to SBA through www.SBIR.gov
as required.
(vii) Justification for the award of any funding agreement
exceeding the award guidelines set forth in Sec. 7(i) of this
directive, the amount of each award exceeding the guidelines, the
identity and location of the awardee, whether the awardee has received
any venture capital, hedge fund, or private equity firm investment, and
whether the awardee is majority-owned by a venture capital operating
company, hedge fund or private equity firm.
(viii) Justification for awards made under a topic or subtopic
where the agency received only one proposal. Agencies must also provide
the awardee's name and address, the topic or subtopic, and the dollar
amount of award. Awardee information must be collected quarterly--in
any case, but updated in the agency's annual reports.
(ix) All instances where the Phase II Awardee did not receive a
Phase I award.
(x) All instances in which an agency pursued R/R&D, services,
production, or any combination thereof of a technology developed under
an SBIR/STTR award with an entity other than that Awardee. See Sec.
9(a)(12) for minimum reporting requirements.
(xi) The number and dollar value of each SBIR/STTR and non-SBIR/
STTR award (includes grants, contracts and cooperative agreements as
well as any award issued under the Commercialization Program) over
$10,000 and compare the number and amount of SBIR/STTR awards with
awards to other than SBCs.
(xii) Information relating to the pilot to allow for funding of
administrative, oversight, and contract processing costs, including the
money spent on each activity and any other information required in the
approved work plan to measure the benefits of using these funds for the
specific activities--especially, as it pertains to the goals outlined
in the work plan. See Sec. 9(e)(3) concerning the Pilot to Allow for
Funding of Administrative, Oversight, and Contract Processing Costs.
(xiii) Outreach. A description and the extent to which the agency
is increasing outreach and awards to SDBs and WOSBs.
(xiv) VCOC-owned. General information about the implementation of
and compliance with the allocation of funds for awardees that are
majority-owned by multiple VCOCs, hedge funds or private equity firms.
(xv) Phase III appeals. Descriptive information on any appeals
filed on Phase III awards pursuant to Sec. 4(c)(7) of the directive
and notices of noncompliance with the policy directive filed by SBA.
(xvi) Phase III awards. Information relating to each Phase III
award made by that agency either as a prime or subcontract, including
the name of the business receiving the Phase III award, the dollar
amount, and the awarding agency or prime contractor.
(xvii) Commercialization Programs. An accounting of funds,
initiatives, and outcomes under the commercialization programs set
forth in Sec. 12(b) & (c) of this directive.
(xviii) Manufacturing. Information relating to the agency's
enhancement of manufacturing activities, if the agency awards more than
$50,000,000 under the SBIR and STTR programs combined in a fiscal year.
The report must include:
(A) a description of efforts undertaken by the agency to enhance
U.S. manufacturing activities;
(B) a comprehensive description of the actions undertaken each year
by the agency in carrying out the SBIR or STTR programs to support
Executive Order 13329 (relating to manufacturing);
(C) an assessment of the effectiveness of the actions taken at
enhancing the R&D of U.S. manufacturing technologies and processes;
(D) a description of efforts by vendors selected to provide
discretionary technical assistance to help SBIR and STTR business
concerns manufacture in the U.S.; and
(E) recommendations from the agency's SBIR and STTR program
managers of additional actions to increase manufacturing activities in
the U.S.
(xix) Performance Areas and Metrics. As part of agency work plans
submitted pursuant to Sec. 9(e) of the directive, SBA works with the
agencies to establish the performance criteria and metrics used to
measure agency performance. The Small Business Act establishes broad
performance areas for the program, including commercialization,
streamlining, outreach, etc. Agencies must report their progress, using
the SBA-approved performance criteria, at the end of each fiscal year
as part of the annual report. The metrics and performance areas will
evolve over time and can be found at www.SBIR.gov.
(j) Other Reporting Requirements.
[[Page 20510]]
(1) SBA will set forth a list of reports that agencies are required
by statute to submit, in a table format, which will be available at
www.SBIR.gov.
(2) SBA's SBIR/STTR program database will include a list of any
individual or small business concern that has received an SBIR/STTR
award and that has been convicted of a fraud-related crime involving
SBIR/STTR funds or found civilly liable for a fraud-related violation
involving SBIR/STTR funds, of which SBA has been made aware.
(3) Program Funding Compliance. Agencies must submit to SBA's
Administrator, not later than 4 months after the date of enactment of
its annual Appropriations Act, a report on the agency's plan to meet
the program funding requirement for the current fiscal year. SBA
provides detailed guidance regarding this report on www.sbir.gov. The
report must include the following main elements:
(A) an explanation of the calculation of total Extramural R/R&D
including an itemization of each research program excluded from the
calculation and a brief explanation of why it is excluded,
(B) a review of the agency's compliance with the funding
requirement in the prior fiscal year to determine if the program
funding process enabled the agency to meet the requirement, and
(C) a funding plan showing how the agency is budgeting its funds
for the SBIR/STTR programs during the current fiscal year so as to meet
or exceed the year's expected minimum obligations requirement for the
program
(4) Agencies must provide notice to SBA of any case or controversy
before any Federal judicial or administrative tribunal concerning the
SBIR/STTR program of the Federal agency. This does not include agency
level protests of awards unless and until the protest is before a
Federal court or administrative body. The agency must provide notice to
SBA within 15 business days of the agency's written notification of the
case or controversy.
(5) Agencies must provide notice of all instances in which an
agency pursued research, development, production, or any such
combination of a technology developed by an SBC using an award made
under the SBIR/STTR program of that agency, where the agency determined
that it was not practicable to enter into a follow-on non-SBIR/STTR
program funding agreement with that concern. The agency must provide
notice to SBA within 15 business days of the agency's award. The report
must include, at a minimum:
(i) the reasons why the follow-on funding agreement with the
concern was not practicable;
(ii) the identity of the entity with which the agency contracted to
perform the research, development, or production; and
(iii) a description of the type of funding agreement under which
the research, development, or production was obtained.
(6) Agencies must provide information supporting the agency's
achievement of the Interagency Policy Committee's policy
recommendations on ways to improve program effectiveness and
efficiency. This includes qualitative and quantitative data as
appropriate, which would measure the agency's progress. The agency must
provide this information to SBA at the end of each fiscal year.
(7) Agencies must provide an annual report to SBA, Senate Committee
on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, House Committee on Small
Business, and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on
SBIR and STTR programs and the benefits of these programs to the United
States. Prior to preparing the report, the agency shall develop metrics
to evaluate the effectiveness and benefit to the United States of the
SBIR and STTR programs. The metrics must be science-based and
statistically driven, reflect the mission of the agency, and include
factors relating to the economic impact of the programs. The report
must describe in detail the agency's annual evaluation of the programs
using these metrics. The final report must be posted online so it can
be made available to the public.
(8) NIH, DoD and the Department of Education must provide the
written determination to SBA anytime it issues a Phase II award to a
small business concern that did not receive a Phase I award for that R/
R&D. The determination must be submitted prior to award.
(9) SBA will compile data and report to Congress on the Federal and
State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program, described in Sec. 12 of
this Policy Directive. If required by the FAST grant, the grantees will
report a comprehensive list of the companies that received assistance
under FAST and if those companies received SBIR or STTR awards and any
information regarding mentors and Mentoring Networks, as required in
the Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program.
(k) Further Clarification on Availability of SBC Information.
(1) Unless stated otherwise, the information contained in the
Company Registry Database, the Application Information Database, and
the Commercialization Database is solely available to authorized
government officials, with the approval of SBA. This includes Congress,
GAO, agencies participating in the SBIR and the STTR programs, Office
of Management and Budget, OSTP, Office of Federal Procurement Policy,
and other authorized persons who are subject to a nondisclosure
agreement with the Federal Government covering the use of the
databases. These databases are used for the purposes of evaluating and
determining eligibility for the SBIR/STTR program, in accordance with
Policy Directives issued by SBA. Pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 638(k)(4),
certain information provided to those databases are privileged and
confidential and not subject to disclosure pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552
(Government Organization and Employees); nor must it be considered to
be publication for purposes of 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) or (b).
(2) Most of the information in the Award Information and Annual
Reports Databases will be available to the public. Any information that
will identify the confidential business information of a given small
business concern will not be disclosed to the public. Those databases
are available at www.SBIR.gov and offer a vast array of user-friendly
capabilities that are accessible by the public at no charge. The Award
Information Database allows for the online submission of SBIR/STTR
awards data from all SBIR/STTR agencies. It also allows any end-user to
perform keyword searches and create formatted reports of SBIR/STTR
awards information, and for potential research partners to view
research and development efforts that are ongoing in the SBIR and the
STTR programs, increasing the investment opportunities of the SBIR/STTR
SBCs in the high tech arena.
(l) Waivers.
(1) Agencies must request an extension for additional time between
the solicitation closing date and notification of recommendation for
award. SBA will respond to the request for an extension within 5
business days, as practicable. See Sec. 7(c)(1) of the directive for
further information.
(2) Agencies must request a waiver to exceed the award guidelines
for Phase I and Phase II awards by more than 50% for a specific topic.
See Sec. 7(i)(4) of the directive for further information.
(3) Agencies must request a waiver to not use its SBIR funds, as
part of the pilot allowing for the use of such funds for certain SBIR-
related costs, to increase participation by SDBs and
[[Page 20511]]
WOSBs in the SBIR/STTR Program, and small businesses in states with a
historically low level of SBIR/STTR awards. See Sec. 9(e)(3)(ii) of
the directive for further information.
(4) Agencies must request a waiver to issue a funding agreement
that includes a provision for subcontracting a portion of that
agreement back to the issuing agency if there is no exception to this
requirement in the directive. See Sec. 9(e)(4) of the directive for
further information.
11. Responsibilities of SBA
(a) Policy.
(1) SBA establishes policy and procedures for the program by
publishing and updating the SBIR/STTR Policy Directive and promulgating
regulations. Policy clarification of any part or provision of the
directive or regulations may be provided by SBA.
(2) It is essential that SBIR/STTR agencies do not promulgate any
policy, rule, regulation, or interpretation that is inconsistent with
the Act, this Policy Directive, or SBA's regulations relating to the
SBIR/STTR program. SBA's monitoring activity will include review of
policies, rules, regulations, interpretations, and procedures generated
to facilitate intra- and interagency SBIR/STTR program implementation.
(3) Waivers providing limited exceptions to certain policies can be
found at Sec. 10 of the directive.
(b) Outreach. SBA conducts outreach to achieve a number of
objectives including:
(1) Educating the public about the SBIR/STTR program via
conferences, seminars, and presentations;
(2) Highlighting the successes achieved in the program by
publishing (via press releases and www.SBIR.gov) success stories, as
well as hosting awards programs;
(3) Maintaining www.SBIR.gov, which is an online public information
resource that provides comprehensive information regarding the SBIR/
STTR program. This information includes: a listing of solicitation
information on currently available SBIR/STTR opportunities, award
information on all Phase I and Phase II awards, summary annual award
information for the whole program, and contact information for SBA and
agency program managers.
(c) Collection and publication of program-wide data. SBA collects
and maintains program-wide data within the SBIR.gov data system. This
data includes information on all Phase I and II awards from across all
SBIR/STTR agencies, as well as Fiscal Year Annual Report data. See
Sec. 10 of the directive for further information about reporting and
data collection requirements.
(d) Monitoring implementation of the program and annually reporting
to Congress.
SBA is responsible for providing oversight and monitoring the
implementation of the SBIR/STTR program at the agency level. This
monitoring includes:
(1) SBIR/STTR Funding Allocations. The Act establishes the source
of the funds for the SBIR and STTR programs (extramural R/R&D), the
percentage of such funds to be obligated through the SBIR and STTR
programs, and it requires that SBA monitor these annual allocations.
Agencies may include in their annual report to SBA an explanation of
the specific budgeting process used to allocate funds to the SBIR/STTR
programs and describe any issues observed with the compliance
determination process.
(2) SBIR/STTR Program Solicitation and Award Status. The
accomplishment of scheduled SBIR/STTR events, such as SBIR/STTR program
solicitation releases and the issuance of funding agreements is
critical to meeting statutory mandates and to operating an effective,
useful program. SBA monitors these and other operational features of
the SBIR/STTR Program and publishes information relating to notice of
and application for awards under the SBIR/STTR program for each SBIR/
STTR agency at SBIR.Gov. SBA does not plan to monitor administration of
the awards except in instances where SBA assistance is requested and is
related to a specific SBIR/STTR project or funding agreement.
(3) Follow-on Funding Commitments. SBA will monitor whether follow-
on non-Federal funding commitments obtained by Phase II awardees for
Phase III were considered in the evaluation of Phase II proposals as
required by the Act.
(4) Fraud, Waste, and Abuse (FWA). SBA will ensure that each SBIR/
STTR agency has taken steps to maintain a FWA prevention system to
minimize its impact on the program.
(5) Performance Areas, Metrics, and Goals. SBA is responsible for
defining performance areas consistent with statute (e.g., reducing
timelines for award, simplification) against which agencies will set
goals. SBA will work with the agencies to set metrics, in order to
measure an agency's accomplishments of its goals against the defined
performance areas. The purpose of these metrics and goals is to assist
SBA in evaluating and reporting on the progress achieved by the
agencies in improving the SBIR/STTR program. For further information on
Performance Areas, Metrics and Goals see Sec. 10(i).
(e) Additional efforts to improve the performance of the program.
SBA, in its continuing effort to improve the program, will make
recommendations for improvement within the framework of the Program
Managers' meetings. This may include recommending a ``best practice''
currently being utilized by an agency or business, or open discussion
and feedback on a potential ``best practice'' for agency adoption. This
may also involve program-wide initiatives.
(f) Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST) Program. SBA
coordinates the FAST program. SBA develops the solicitation, reviews
proposals, and oversees grant awards. FAST provides awardees with
funding to assist in outreach, proposal preparation, and other
technical assistance to developing innovation oriented SBCs.
12. Supporting Programs and Initiatives
(a) Federal and State Technology Partnership Program. The purpose
of the FAST Program is to strengthen the technological competitiveness
of SBCs in the United States. Congress found that programs that foster
economic development among small high-technology firms vary widely
among the States. Thus, the purpose of the FAST Program is to improve
the participation of small technology firms in the innovation and
commercialization of new technology, thereby ensuring that the United
States remains on the cutting-edge of research and development in the
highly competitive arena of science and technology. SBA administers the
FAST Program. Additional and detailed information regarding this
program is available at www.SBIR.gov.
(b) Commercialization Readiness Program--DoD
(1) General. The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of each
military department is authorized to create and administer a
``Commercialization Readiness Program'' to accelerate the transition of
technologies, products, and services developed under the SBIR program
to Phase III, including the acquisition process. The authority to
create this Commercialization Readiness Program does not eliminate or
replace any other SBIR or STTR program that enhances the insertion or
transition of SBIR or STTR technologies. This includes any program in
effect as of December 31, 2011.
(2) Identification of research programs for accelerated transition
to acquisition process. The Secretary of each military department must
identify research
[[Page 20512]]
programs of the SBIR or STTR program that have the potential for rapid
transitioning to Phase III and into the acquisition process and certify
in writing that the successful transition of the program to Phase III
and into the acquisition process is expected to meet high priority
military requirements of such military department.
(3) Limitation. The Secretary of Defense shall identify research
programs of the SBIR or STTR program that have the potential for rapid
transitioning to Phase III and into the acquisition process after
receiving this certification from each military department.
(4) Funding.
(i) Beginning with FY 2013 and ending in FY 2015 (unless otherwise
extended), the Secretary of Defense and each Secretary of a military
department is authorized to use its SBIR funds for administration of
this program in accordance with the procedures and policies set forth
in section 9(e)(3) of this directive.
(ii) In addition, the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of each
military department is authorized to use not more than an amount equal
to 1% of its SBIR funds available to DoD or the military departments
for payment of expenses incurred to administer the SBIR/STTR
Commercialization Readiness Program. Such funds--
(A) shall not be subject to the limitations on the use of funds in
9(e)(2) or 9(e)(3) of this directive; and
(B) shall not be used to make Phase III awards.
(5) Contracts Valued at not less than $100,000,000. For any
contract awarded by DoD valued at not less than $100,000,000, the
Secretary of Defense may:
(i) establish goals for the transition of Phase III technologies in
subcontracting plans; and
(ii) require a prime contractor on such a contract to report the
number and dollar amount of the contracts entered into by the prime
contractor for Phase III projects.
(6) The Secretary of Defense shall:
(i) set a goal to increase the number of SBIR/STTR Phase II
contracts that lead to technology transition into programs of record of
fielded systems;
(ii) use incentives in effect as of December 31, 2011 or create new
incentives to encourage agency program managers and prime contractors
to meet the goal set forth in paragraph (6)(i) above; and
(iii) submit the following to SBA, as part of the annual report:
(A) the number and percentage of Phase II SBIR/STTR contracts
awarded by DoD that led to technology transition into programs of
record or fielded systems;
(B) information on the status of each project that received funding
through the Commercialization Program and the efforts to transition
these projects into programs of record or fielded systems; and
(C) a description of each incentive that has been used by DoD, the
effectiveness of the incentive with respect to meeting DoD's goal to
increase the number of SBIR/STTR Phase II contracts that lead to
technology transition into programs of record of fielded systems, and
measures taken to ensure that such incentives do not act to shift the
focus of Phase II awards away from relatively high-risk innovation
projects.
(c) Commercialization Readiness Pilot Program for Civilian
Agencies.
(1) General. The Commercialization Readiness Pilot Program permits
the head of any Federal agency participating in the SBIR program
(except DoD) to allocate not more than 10% of its funds allocated to
the SBIR program--
(i) for follow-on awards to small businesses for technology
development, testing, evaluation, and commercialization assistance for
SBIR or STTR Phase II technologies; or
(ii) for awards to small businesses to support the progress of
research, research and development, and commercialization conducted
under the SBIR or STTR programs to Phase III.
(2) Application to SBA. Before establishing this pilot program, the
agency must submit a written application to SBA not later than 90 days
before the first day of the fiscal year in which the pilot program is
to be established. The written application must set forth a compelling
reason that additional investment in SBIR or STTR technologies is
necessary, including unusually high regulatory, systems integration, or
other costs relating to development or manufacturing of identifiable,
highly promising small business technologies or a class of such
technologies expected to substantially advance the mission of the
agency.
(3) SBA's Determination. SBA must make its determination regarding
an application submitted under paragraph (2) above not later than 30
days before the first day of the fiscal year for which the application
is submitted. SBA must also publish its determination in the Federal
Register and make a copy of the determination and any related materials
available to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of
the Senate and the Committee on Small Business and the Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives.
(4) Maximum Amount of Award. The SBIR agency may not make an award
to a small business concern under this pilot program in excess of 3
times the dollar amounts generally established for Phase II awards
under Sec. 7(i)(1) of this directive.
(5) Registration. Any small business concern that receives an award
under this pilot program shall register with SBA in the Company
Registry Database.
(6) Award Criteria or Consideration. When making an award under
this pilot program, the agency is required to consider whether the
technology to be supported by the award is likely to be manufactured in
the United States.
(7) Termination of Authority. The authority to establish a pilot
program under this section expires on September 30, 2017, unless
otherwise extended.
(d) Technology Development Program. The Act permits an agency that
has established a Technology Development Program to review for funding
under that program, in each fiscal year:
(1) any proposal to provide outreach and assistance to 1 or more
SBCs interested in participating in the SBIR program, including any
proposal to make a grant or loan to a company to pay a portion or all
of the cost of developing an SBIR proposal, from an entity,
organization, or individual located in--
(i) a State that is eligible to participate in that technology
development program; or
(ii) an Additionally Eligible State.
(2) any meritorious proposal for an SBIR Phase I award that is not
funded through the SBIR program for that fiscal year due to funding
constraints, from an SBC located in a state identified in (i) or (ii)
immediately above.
(e) [STTR only] Phase 0 Proof of Concept Partnership Pilot Program.
(1) General. The Director of the National Institutes of Health
(NIH) may use $5,000,000 of the funds allocated for the STTR program
set forth in Sec. 2(b) of this directive for a Proof of Concept
Partnership Pilot Program to accelerate the creation of small
businesses and the commercialization of research innovations from
qualifying institutions. A qualifying institution is a university or
other Research Institution that participates in the NIH's STTR program.
The Director shall award, through a competitive, merit-based process,
grants to qualifying institutions in order to implement this program.
These grants shall only be used to administer Proof of Concept
Partnership awards.
(2) Awards to Qualifying Institutions.
[[Page 20513]]
(i) The Director may make awards to a qualifying institution for up
to $1,000,000 per year for up to 3 years.
(ii) In determining which qualifying institutions will receive
pilot program grants, the Director of NIH shall consider, in addition
to any other criteria the Director determines necessary, the extent to
which qualifying institutions--
(A) have an established and proven technology transfer or
commercialization office and have a plan for engaging that office in
the program's implementation;
(B) have demonstrated a commitment to local and regional economic
development;
(C) are located in diverse geographies and are of diverse sizes;
(D) can assemble project management boards comprised of industry,
start-up, venture capital, technical, financial, and business experts;
(E) have an intellectual property rights strategy or office; and
(F) demonstrate a plan for sustainability beyond the duration of
the funding award.
(3) Proof of Concept Partnerships. A qualifying institution
selected by NIH shall establish a Proof of Concept Partnership with NIH
to award grants to individual researchers. These grants should provide
researchers with the initial investment and the resources to support
the proof of concept work and commercialization mentoring needed to
translate promising research projects and technologies into a viable
company. This work may include technical validations, market research,
clarifying intellectual property rights position and strategy, and
investigating commercial or business opportunities.
(4) Award Guidelines for Small Businesses. The administrator of a
Proof of Concept Partnership program shall award grants in accordance
with the following guidelines:
(i) The Proof of Concept Partnership shall use a market-focused
project management oversight process, including--
(A) a rigorous, diverse review board comprised of local experts in
translational and proof of concept research, including industry, start-
up, venture capital, technical, financial, and business experts and
university technology transfer officials;
(B) technology validation milestones focused on market feasibility;
(C) simple reporting effective at redirecting projects; and
(D) the willingness to reallocate funding from failing projects to
those with more potential.
(ii) The Proof of Concept Partnership shall not award more than
$100,000 towards an individual proposal.
(5) Educational Resources and Guidance. The administrator of a
Proof of Concept Partnership program shall make educational resources
and guidance available to researchers attempting to commercialize their
innovations.
(6) Limitations.
(i) The funds for the pilot program shall not be used for basic
research or to fund the acquisition of research equipment or supplies
unrelated to commercialization activities.
(ii) The funds for the pilot program can be used to evaluate the
commercial potential of existing discoveries, including proof of
concept research or prototype development; and activities that
contribute to determining a project's commercialization path, to
include technical validations, market research, clarifying intellectual
property rights, and investigating commercial and business
opportunities.
(7) Termination of Authority. The pilot program under this
subsection shall terminate on September 30, 2017, unless otherwise
extended.
Appendix I: Instructions for SBIR and STTR Program Solicitation
Preparation
a. General. Subsections 9(j) and 9(p) of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 638(j)) requires simplified, standardized and timely SBIR/STTR
solicitations and for SBIR/STTR agencies to utilize a ``uniform
process'' minimizing the regulatory burden of participation. Therefore,
the following instructions purposely depart from normal Government
solicitation formats and requirements. SBIR/STTR solicitations must be
prepared and issued as program solicitations in accordance with the
following instructions.
b. Limitation in Size of Solicitation. In the interest of meeting
the requirement for simplified and standardized solicitations, while
also recognizing that the Internet has become the main vehicle for
distribution, each agency should structure its entire SBIR/STTR
solicitation to produce the least number of pages (electronic and
printed), consistent with the procurement/assistance standing operating
procedures and statutory requirements of the participating Federal
agencies.
c. Format. SBIR/STTR program solicitations must be prepared in a
simple, standardized, easy-to-read, and easy-to-understand format. It
must include a cover sheet, a table of contents, and the following
sections in the order listed.
1. Program Description
2. Certifications
3. Proposal Preparation Instructions and Requirements
4. Method of Selection and Evaluation Criteria
5. Considerations
6. Submission of Proposals
7. Scientific and Technical Information Sources
8. Submission Forms
9. Research Topics
d. Cover Sheet. The cover sheet of an SBIR/STTR program
solicitation must clearly identify the solicitation as an SBIR/STTR
solicitation, identify the agency releasing the solicitation, specify
date(s) on which contract proposals or grant applications (proposals)
are due under the solicitation, and state the solicitation number or
year.
e. Instructions for Preparation of SBIR or STTR Program
Solicitation--Sections 1-9
Sec. 1. Program Description.
(a) Summarize in narrative form the request for proposals and the
objectives of the SBIR or STTR program.
(b) Describe in narrative form the agency's SBIR or STTR program
including a description of the three phases. Note in your description
whether the solicitation is for Phase I or Phase II proposals. Also
note in each solicitation for Phase I, that all awardees may apply for
a Phase II award and provide guidance on the procedure for doing so.
(c) Describe program eligibility.
(d) List the name, address and telephone number of agency contacts
for general information on the SBIR or STTR program solicitation.
(e) Whenever terms are used that are unique to the SBIR or STTR
program, a specific SBIR or STTR solicitation or a portion of a
solicitation, define them or refer potential offerors/applicants to a
source for the definition. At a minimum, the definitions of ``funding
agreement,'' ``R/R&D,'' ``SBC,'' ``SBIR/STTR data,'' and ``SBIR/STTR
data rights'' must be included.
(f) Include information explaining how an individual can report
fraud, waste and abuse (e.g. include the fraud hotline for the agency's
Office of Inspector General);
Sec. 2. Certifications.
(a) This section must include certifying forms required by
legislation, regulation or standing operating procedures, to be
submitted by the applicant to the contracting or granting agency. This
would include certifying forms such as those for the protection of
human and animal subjects.
(b) This section must include any certifications required
concerning size,
[[Page 20514]]
ownership and other SBIR or STTR program requirements.
(i) The agency may request the SBIR/STTR applicant to submit a
certification at the time of submission of the application or offer.
The certification may require the applicant to state that it intends to
meet the size, ownership and other requirements of the SBIR or STTR
program at the time of award of the funding agreement, if selected for
award.
(ii) The agency must request the applicant to submit a
certification at the time of award and at any other time set forth in
SBA's regulations at 13 CFR 121.701-121.705. The certification will
require the applicant to state that it meets the size, ownership and
other requirements of the SBIR or STTR program at the time of award of
the funding agreement.
(iii) The agency must request the Awardee to submit certifications
during funding agreement life cycle. A Phase I funding agreement must
state that the awardee shall submit a new certification as to whether
it qualifies as a SBC and that it is in compliance with specific SBIR
or STTR program requirements at the time of final payment or
disbursement. A Phase II funding agreement must state that the awardee
shall submit a new certification as to whether it qualifies as a SBC
and that it is in compliance with specific SBIR or STTR program
requirements prior to receiving more than 50% of the total award amount
and prior to final payment or disbursement.
(iv) Agencies may require additional certifications at other points
in time during the life cycle of the funding agreement, such as at the
time of each payment or disbursement.
(c) The agency must use the following certification at the time of
award and upon notification by SBA, must check www.SBIR.gov for updated
certifications prepared by SBA:
SBIR/STTR Funding Agreement Certification
All small businesses that are selected for award of an SBIR/STTR
funding agreement must complete this certification at the time of award
and any other time set forth in the funding agreement that is prior to
performance of work under this award. This includes checking all of the
boxes and having an authorized officer of the awardee sign and date the
certification each time it is requested.
Please read carefully the following certification statements. The
Federal government relies on the information to determine whether the
business is eligible for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
program or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program award. A
similar certification will be used to ensure continued compliance with
specific program requirements during the life of the funding agreement.
The definitions for the terms used in this certification are set forth
in the Small Business Act, SBA regulations (13 CFR part 121), the SBIR/
STTR Policy Directive and also any statutory and regulatory provisions
referenced in those authorities.
If the funding agreement officer believes that the business may not
meet certain eligibility requirements at the time of award, they are
required to file a size protest with the U.S. Small Business
Administration (SBA), who will determine eligibility. At that time, SBA
will request further clarification and supporting documentation in
order to assist in the verification of any of the information provided
as part of a protest. If the funding agreement officer believes, after
award, that the business is not meeting certain funding agreement
requirements, the agency may request further clarification and
supporting documentation in order to assist in the verification of any
of the information provided.
Even if correct information has been included in other materials
submitted to the Federal government, any action taken with respect to
this certification does not affect the Government's right to pursue
criminal, civil or administrative remedies for incorrect or incomplete
information given in the certification. Each person signing this
certification may be prosecuted if they have provided false
information.
The undersigned has reviewed, verified and certifies that (all
boxes must be checked unless otherwise directed):
(1) [square] The awardee business concern meets the ownership and
control requirements set forth in 13 CFR 121.702.
(2) If a corporation--all corporate documents, namely: articles of
incorporation and any amendments, articles of conversion, by-laws and
amendments, shareholder meeting minutes showing director elections,
shareholder meeting minutes showing officer elections, organizational
meeting minutes, all issued stock certificates, stock ledger, buy-sell
agreements, stock transfer agreements, voting agreements, and documents
relating to stock options, including the right to convert non-voting
stock or debentures into voting stock, must evidence that the
corporation meets the ownership and control requirements set forth in
13 CFR 121.702. (Check one box).
[square] Yes [square] N/A Explain why N/A:
(3) If a partnership, the partnership agreement evidences that it
meets the ownership and control requirements set forth in 13 CFR
121.702. (Check one box).
[square] Yes [square] N/A Explain why N/A:
(4) If a limited liability company--the articles of organization
and any amendments, and operating agreement and amendments, evidence
that it meets the ownership and control requirements set forth in 13
CFR 121.702. (Check one box).
[square] Yes [square] N/A Explain why N/A:
(5) The birth certificates, naturalization papers, or passports
show that any individuals it relies upon to meet the eligibility
requirements are U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens in the
United States. (Check one box).
[square] Yes [square] N/A Explain why N/A:
(6) [square] It has no more than 500 employees, including the
employees of its affiliates.
(7) [square] SBA has not issued a size determination currently in
effect finding that this business concern exceeds the 500 employee size
standard.
(8) During the performance of the award, the principal investigator
will spend more than one half of his/her time as an employee of the
awardee (or research institution--STTR only) or has requested and
received a written deviation from this requirement from the funding
agreement officer. (Check one box).
[square] Yes [square] Deviation approved in writing by funding
agreement officer: _%
(9) All, essentially equivalent work, or a portion of the work
proposed under this project (check applicable line):
[square] Has not been submitted for funding to another Federal
agency or State program.
[square] Has been submitted for funding to another Federal agency
or State program but has not been funded under any other grant,
contract, subcontract or other transaction.
[square] A portion has been funded by another grant, contract, or
subcontract as described in detail in the proposal and approved in
writing by the funding agreement officer.
(10) During the performance of award, the awardee will perform the
applicable percentage of work unless a deviation from this requirement
is approved in writing by the funding agreement officer (check
applicable line and fill in if needed):
[square] SBIR Phase I: at least two-thirds (66 2/3%) of the
research.
[square] SBIR Phase II: at least half (50%) of the research.
[[Page 20515]]
[square] STTR Phase I or Phase II: at least forty percent (40%) of
the research.
[square] Deviation approved in writing by the funding agreement
officer: %
(11) During performance of award, the research/research and
development will be performed in the United States unless a deviation
is approved in writing by the funding agreement officer (check one
box).
[square] Yes [square] Waiver has been granted
(12) [square] During performance of award, the research/research
and development will be performed at the awardee's facilities with its
employees, except as otherwise indicated in the SBIR/STTR application
and approved in the funding agreement.
(13) The SBIR awardee has registered itself on SBA's database as
majority-owned by venture capital operating companies, hedge funds or
private equity firms (check one box).
[square] Yes [square] No [square] N/A Explain why N/A: ______
(14) It is a Covered Small Business Concern (a small business
concern that: (a) was not majority-owned by multiple venture capital
operating companies (VCOCs), hedge funds, or private equity firms on
the date on which it submitted an application in response to an SBIR
solicitation; and (b) on the date of the SBIR award, which is made more
than 9 months after the closing date of the solicitation, is majority-
owned by multiple venture capital operating companies, hedge funds, or
private equity firms). (Check one box).
[square] Yes [square] No
(15) [square] I will notify the Federal agency immediately if all
or a portion of the work authorized and funded under this award is
subsequently funded by another Federal agency.
(16) [For STTR only] The small business concern, and not a
partnering Research Institution, is exercising management direction and
control of the performance of the STTR funding agreement.
Yes [square] No [square]
(17) [square] I understand that the information submitted may be
given to Federal, State and local agencies for determining violations
of law and other purposes.
(18) [square] I am an officer of the business concern authorized to
represent it and sign this certification on its behalf. By signing this
certification, I am representing on my own behalf, and on behalf of the
business concern that the information provided in this certification,
the application, and all other information submitted in connection with
this application, is true and correct as of the date of submission. I
acknowledge that any intentional or negligent misrepresentation of the
information contained in this certification may result in criminal,
civil or administrative sanctions, including but not limited to: (1)
fines, restitution and/or imprisonment under 18 U.S.C. 1001; (2) treble
damages and civil penalties under the False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. 3729
et seq.); (3) double damages and civil penalties under the Program
Fraud Civil Remedies Act (31 U.S.C. 3801 et seq.); (4) civil recovery
of award funds, (5) suspension and/or debarment from all Federal
procurement and nonprocurement transactions (FAR Subpart 9.4 or 2 CFR
part 180); and (6) other administrative penalties including termination
of SBIR/STTR awards.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Signature Date __/__/__
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Print Name (First, Middle, Last)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Business Name
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(d) The agency must use the following certification during the
lifecycle of the funding agreement in accordance with subsection 8(h)
of the directive and paragraph 2(b)(iv) of this Appendix and upon
notification by SBA, must check www.SBIR.gov for updated certifications
prepared by SBA:
SBIR/STTR Funding Agreement Certification--Life Cycle Certification
All SBIR/STTR Phase I and Phase II awardees must complete this
certification at all times set forth in the funding agreement (see
Sec. 8(h) of the SBIR/STTR Policy Directive). This includes checking
all of the boxes (unless otherwise directed) and having an authorized
officer of the awardee sign and date the certification each time it is
requested.
Please read carefully the following certification statements. The
Federal government relies on the information to ensure compliance with
specific program requirements during the life of the funding agreement.
The definitions for the terms used in this certification are set forth
in the Small Business Act, the SBIR/STTR Policy Directive, and also any
statutory and regulatory provisions referenced in those authorities.
If the funding agreement officer believes that the business is not
meeting certain funding agreement requirements, the agency may request
further clarification and supporting documentation in order to assist
in the verification of any of the information provided.
Even if correct information has been included in other materials
submitted to the Federal government, any action taken with respect to
this certification does not affect the Government's right to pursue
criminal, civil or administrative remedies for incorrect or incomplete
information given in the certification. Each person signing this
certification may be prosecuted if they have provided false
information.
The undersigned has reviewed, verified and certifies that (all
boxes must be checked except where otherwise directed):
(1) The principal investigator spent more than one half of his/her
time as an employee of the awardee (or research institution--STTR only)
or the awardee has requested and received a written deviation from this
requirement from the funding agreement officer.
[square] Yes [square] No [square] Deviation approved in writing by
funding agreement officer: _%
(2) All, essentially equivalent work, or a portion of the work
performed under this project (check the applicable line):
[square] Has not been submitted for funding to another Federal
agency or State program.
[square] Has been submitted for funding to another Federal agency
or State program but has not been funded under any other grant,
contract, subcontract or other transaction.
[square] A portion has been funded by another grant, contract, or
subcontract as described in detail in the proposal and approved in
writing by the funding agreement officer.
(3) Upon completion of the award, the awardee will have performed
the applicable percentage of work, unless a deviation from this
requirement is approved in writing by the funding agreement officer
(check the applicable line and fill in if needed):
[square] SBIR Phase I: at least two-thirds (66 2/3%) of the
research.
[square] SBIR Phase II: at least half (50%) of the research.
[square] STTR Phase I or Phase II: at least forty percent (40%) of
the research.
[square] Deviation approved in writing by the funding agreement
officer: %
(4) The work is completed and the small business awardee has
performed the applicable percentage of work, unless a deviation from
this requirement is approved in writing by the funding agreement
officer (check the applicable line and fill in if needed):
[square] SBIR Phase I: at least two-thirds (66 2/3%) of the
research.
[square] SBIR Phase II: at least half (50%) of the research.
[[Page 20516]]
[square] STTR Phase I or Phase II: at least forty percent (40%) of
the research.
[square] Deviation approved in writing by the funding agreement
officer: %
[square] N/A because work is not completed
(5) [For STTR only] The small business concern, and not a
partnering Research Institution, is exercising management direction and
control of the performance of the STTR funding agreement.
Yes [square] No [square]
(6) The research/research and development is performed in the
United States unless a deviation is approved in writing by the funding
agreement officer.
[square] Yes [square] No [square] Waiver has been granted
(7) The research/research and development is performed at the
awardee's facilities with its employees, except as otherwise indicated
in the SBIR/STTR application and approved in the funding agreement.
[square] Yes [square] No
(8) [square] I will notify the Federal agency immediately if all or
a portion of the work authorized and funded under this award is
subsequently funded by another Federal agency.
(9) [square] I understand that the information submitted may be
given to Federal, State and local agencies for determining violations
of law and other purposes.
(10) [square] I am an officer of the awardee business concern
authorized to represent it and sign this certification on its behalf.
By signing this certification, I am representing on my own behalf, and
on behalf of the business concern, that the information provided in
this certification, the application, and all other information
submitted in connection with the award, is true and correct as of the
date of submission. I acknowledge that any intentional or negligent
misrepresentation of the information contained in this certification
may result in criminal, civil or administrative sanctions, including
but not limited to: (1) fines, restitution and/or imprisonment under 18
U.S.C. 1001; (2) treble damages and civil penalties under the False
Claims Act (31 U.S.C. 3729 et seq.); (3) double damages and civil
penalties under the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act (31 U.S.C. 3801 et
seq.); (4) civil recovery of award funds, (5) suspension and/or
debarment from all Federal procurement and nonprocurement transactions
(FAR Subpart 9.4 or 2 CFR part 180); and (6) other administrative
penalties including termination of SBIR/STTR awards.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Signature Date __/__/__
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Print Name (First, Middle, Last)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Business Name
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(e) [SBIR only] The agency must require any SBC that is majority-
owned by multiple venture capital operating companies, hedge funds, or
private equity firms to submit the following certification with its
SBIR application:
Certification for SBIR Applicants that are Majority-Owned by Multiple
Venture Capital Operating Companies, Hedge Fund or Private Equity Firms
Any small business that is majority-owned by multiple venture
operating companies (VCOCs), hedge funds or private equity firms and is
submitting an application for an SBIR funding agreement must complete
this certification prior to submitting an application. This includes
checking all of the boxes and having an authorized officer of the
applicant sign and date the certification each time it is requested.
Please read carefully the following certification statements. The
Federal government relies on the information to determine whether the
business is eligible for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
program award and meets the specific program requirements during the
life of the funding agreement. The definitions for the terms used in
this certification are set forth in the Small Business Act, SBA
regulations (13 CFR part 121), the SBIR Policy Directive and also any
statutory and regulatory provisions referenced in those authorities.
If the funding agreement officer believes that the business may not
meet certain eligibility requirements at the time of award, he/she is
required to file a size protest with the U.S. Small Business
Administration (SBA), who will determine eligibility. At that time, SBA
will request further clarification and supporting documentation in
order to assist in the verification of any of the information provided
as part of a protest. If the funding agreement officer believes, after
award, that the business is not meeting certain funding agreement
requirements, the agency may request further clarification and
supporting documentation in order to assist in the verification of any
of the information provided.
Even if correct information has been included in other materials
submitted to the Federal government, any action taken with respect to
this certification does not affect the Government's right to pursue
criminal, civil or administrative remedies for incorrect or incomplete
information given in the certification. Each person signing this
certification may be prosecuted if they have provided false
information.
The undersigned has reviewed, verified and certifies that (all
boxes must be checked):
(1) [ballot] The applicant is NOT more than 50% owned by a single
VCOC, hedge fund or private equity firm.
(2) [ballot] The applicant is more than 50% owned by multiple
domestic business concerns that are VCOCs, hedge funds, or private
equity firms.
(3) [ballot] I have registered with SBA at www.SBIR.gov as a
business that is majority-owned by multiple VCOCs, hedge funds or
private equity firms.
(4) [ballot] I understand that the information submitted may be
given to Federal, State and local agencies for determining violations
of law and other purposes.
(5) [ballot] All the statements and information provided in this
form and any documents submitted are true, accurate and complete. If
assistance was obtained in completing this form and the supporting
documentation, I have personally reviewed the information and it is
true and accurate. I understand that, in general, these statements are
made for the purpose of determining eligibility for an SBIR funding
agreement and continuing eligibility.
(6) [ballot] I understand that the certifications in this document
are continuing in nature. Each SBIR funding agreement for which the
small business submits an offer or application or receives an award
constitutes a restatement and reaffirmation of these certifications.
(7) [ballot] I understand that I may not misrepresent status as
small business to: 1) obtain a contract under the Small Business Act;
or 2) obtain any benefit under a provision of Federal law that
references the SBIR program.
(8) [ballot] I am an officer of the business concern authorized to
represent it and sign this certification on its behalf. By signing this
certification, I am representing on my own behalf, and on behalf of the
SBIR applicant or awardee, that the information provided in this
certification, the application, and all other information submitted in
connection with this application, is true and correct as of the date of
submission. I acknowledge that any intentional or negligent
misrepresentation of the information contained in this certification
may result in criminal, civil or administrative sanctions, including
[[Page 20517]]
but not limited to: (1) fines, restitution and/or imprisonment under 18
U.S.C. 1001; (2) treble damages and civil penalties under the False
Claims Act (31 U.S.C. 3729 et seq.); (3) double damages and civil
penalties under the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act (31 U.S.C. 3801 et
seq.); (4) civil recovery of award funds, (5) suspension and/or
debarment from all Federal procurement and nonprocurement transactions
(FAR Subpart 9.4 or 2 CFR part 180); and (6) other administrative
penalties including termination of SBIR/STTR awards.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Signature Date __/__/__
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Print Name (First, Middle, Last)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Business Name
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sec. 3. SBIR/STTR Proposal Preparation Instructions and
Requirements. The purpose of this section is to inform the applicant on
what to include in the proposal and to set forth limits on what may be
included. It should also provide guidance to assist applicants,
particularly those that may not have previous Government experience, in
improving the quality and acceptance of proposals.
(a) Limitations on Length of Proposal. Include at least the
following information:
(1) SBIR/STTR Phase I proposals must not exceed a total of 25
pages, including cover page, budget, and all enclosures or attachments,
unless stated otherwise in the agency solicitation. Pages should be of
standard size (8 1/2'' x 11''; 21.6 cm x 27.9 cm) and should conform to
the standard formatting instructions. Margins should be 2.5 cm and type
at least 10 point font.
(2) A notice that no additional attachments, appendices, or
references beyond the 25-page limitation shall be considered in
proposal evaluation (unless specifically solicited by an agency) and
that proposals in excess of the page limitation shall not be considered
for review or award.
(b) Proposal Cover Sheet. Every applicant is required to provide a
copy of its registration information printed from the Company Registry
unless the information can be transmitted automatically to SBIR/STTR
agencies. Every applicant must also include at least the following
information on the first page of proposals. Items 8 and 9 are for
statistical purposes only.
(1) Agency and solicitation number or year.
(2) Topic Number or Letter.
(3) Subtopic Number or Letter.
(4) Topic Area.
(5) Project Title.
(6) Name and Complete Address of Firm.
(7) Disclosure permission (by statement or checkbox), such as
follows, must be included at the discretion of the funding agency:
``Will you permit the Government to disclose your name, address,
and telephone number of the corporate official of your concern, if your
proposal does not result in an award, to appropriate local and State-
level economic development organizations that may be interested in
contacting you for further information? Yes__No__''
(8) Signature of a company official of the proposing SBC and that
individual's typed name, title, address, telephone number, and date of
signature.
(9) Signature of Principal Investigator or Project Manager within
the proposing SBC and that individual's typed name, title, address,
telephone number, and date of signature.
(10) Legend for proprietary information as described in the
``Considerations'' section of this program solicitation if appropriate.
This may also be noted by asterisks in the margins on proposal pages.
(c) Data Collection Requirement
(1) Each Phase I and Phase II applicant is required to provide
information for SBA's database (www.SBIR.gov). The following are
examples of the data to be entered by applicants into the database:
(i) Any business concern or subsidiary established for the
commercial application of a product or service for which an SBIR or
STTR award is made.
(ii) Revenue from the sale of new products or services resulting
from the research conducted under each Phase II award;
(iii) Additional investment from any source, other than Phase I or
Phase II awards, to further the research and development conducted
under each Phase II award.
(iv) Update the information in the database for any prior Phase II
award received by the SBC. The SBC may apportion sales or additional
investment information relating to more than one Phase II award among
those awards, if it notes the apportionment for each award.
(2) Each Phase II awardee is required to update the appropriate
information on the award in the database upon completion of the last
deliverable under the funding agreement and is requested to voluntarily
update the information in the database annually thereafter for a
minimum period of 5 years.
(d) Abstract or Summary. Applicants will be required to include a
one-page project summary of the proposed R/R&D including at least the
following:
(1) Name and address of SBC.
(2) Name and title of principal investigator or project manager.
(3) Agency name, solicitation number, solicitation topic, and
subtopic.
(4) Title of project.
(5) Technical abstract limited to two hundred words.
(6) Summary of the anticipated results and implications of the
approach (both Phases I and II) and the potential commercial
applications of the research.
(e) Technical Content. SBIR or STTR program solicitations must
require, as a minimum, the following to be included in proposals
submitted thereunder:
(1) Identification and Significance of the Problem or Opportunity.
A clear statement of the specific technical problem or opportunity
addressed.
(2) Phase I Technical Objectives. State the specific objectives of
the Phase I research and development effort, including the technical
questions it will try to answer to determine the feasibility of the
proposed approach.
(3) Phase I Work Plan. Include a detailed description of the Phase
I R/R&D plan. The plan should indicate what will be done, where it will
be done, and how the R/R&D will be carried out. Phase I R/R&D should
address the objectives and the questions cited in (e)(2) immediately
above. The methods planned to achieve each objective or task should be
discussed in detail.
(4) Related R/R&D. Describe significant R/R&D that is directly
related to the proposal including any conducted by the project manager/
principal investigator or by the proposing SBC. Describe how it relates
to the proposed effort, and any planned coordination with outside
sources. The applicant must persuade reviewers of his or her awareness
of key, recent R/R&D conducted by others in the specific topic area.
(5) Key Individuals and Bibliography of Directly Related Work.
Identify key individuals involved in Phase I including their directly-
related education, experience, and bibliographic information. Where
vitae are extensive, summaries that focus on the most relevant
experience or publications are desired and may be necessary to meet
proposal size limitation.
(6) Relationship with Future R/R&D.
[[Page 20518]]
(i) State the anticipated results of the proposed approach if the
project is successful (Phase I and II).
(ii) Discuss the significance of the Phase I effort in providing a
foundation for the Phase II R/R&D effort.
(7) Facilities. A detailed description, availability and location
of instrumentation and physical facilities proposed for Phase I should
be provided.
(8) Consultants. Involvement of consultants in the planning and
research stages of the project is permitted. If such involvement is
intended, it should be described in detail.
(9) Potential Post Applications. Briefly describe:
(i) Whether and by what means the proposed project appears to have
potential commercial application.
(ii) Whether and by what means the proposed project appears to have
potential use by the Federal Government.
(10) Similar Proposals or Awards. WARNING--While it is permissible
with proposal notification to submit identical proposals or proposals
containing a significant amount of essentially equivalent work for
consideration under numerous Federal or State program solicitations, it
is unlawful to enter into funding agreements requiring essentially
equivalent work. If there is any question concerning this, it must be
disclosed to the soliciting agency or agencies before award. If an
applicant elects to submit identical proposals or proposals containing
a significant amount of essentially equivalent work under other Federal
or State program solicitations, a statement must be included in each
such proposal indicating:
(i) The name and address of the agencies to which proposals were
submitted or from which awards were received.
(ii) Date of proposal submission or date of award.
(iii) Title, number, and date of solicitations under which
proposals were submitted or awards received.
(iv) The specific applicable research topics for each proposal
submitted or award received.
(v) Titles of research projects.
(vi) Name and title of principal investigator or project manager
for each proposal submitted or award received.
(11) Prior SBIR Phase II Awards. If the SBC has received more than
15 Phase II awards in the prior 5 fiscal years, the SBC must submit in
its Phase I proposal: name of the awarding agency; date of award;
funding agreement number; amount of award; topic or subtopic title;
follow-on agreement amount; source and date of commitment; and current
commercialization status for each Phase II award. (This required
proposal information will not be counted toward the proposal pages
limitation.)
(f) Cost Breakdown/Proposed Budget. The solicitation will require
the submission of simplified cost or budget data.
Sec. 4. Method of Selection and Evaluation Criteria.
(a) Standard Statement. Essentially, the following statement must
be included in all SBIR or STTR program solicitations:
``All Phase I and II proposals will be evaluated and judged on a
competitive basis. Proposals will be initially screened to determine
responsiveness. Proposals passing this initial screening will be
technically evaluated by engineers or scientists to determine the most
promising technical and scientific approaches. Each proposal will be
judged on its own merit. The Agency is under no obligation to fund any
proposal or any specific number of proposals in a given topic. It also
may elect to fund several or none of the proposed approaches to the
same topic or subtopic.''
(b) Evaluation Criteria.
(1) The SBIR/STTR agency must develop a standardized method in its
evaluation process that will consider, at a minimum, the following
factors:
(i) The technical approach and the anticipated agency and
commercial benefits that may be derived from the research.
(ii) The adequacy of the proposed effort and its relationship to
the fulfillment of requirements of the research topic or subtopics.
(iii) The soundness and technical merit of the proposed approach
and its incremental progress toward topic or subtopic solution.
(iv) Qualifications of the proposed principal/key investigators,
supporting staff, and consultants.
(v) Evaluations of proposals require, among other things,
consideration of a proposal's commercial potential as evidenced by:
(A) the SBC's record of commercializing SBIR or other research,
(B) the existence of second phase funding commitments from private
sector or non-SBIR funding sources,
(C) the existence of third phase follow-on commitments for the
subject of the research, and,
(D) the presence of other indicators of the commercial potential of
the idea.
(2) The factors in (b)(1) above and other appropriate evaluation
criteria, if any, must be specified in the ``Method of Selection''
section of SBIR program solicitations.
(c) Peer Review. The solicitation must indicate if the SBIR/STTR
agency contemplates that as a part of the SBIR/STTR proposal
evaluation, it will use external peer review.
(d) Release of Proposal Review Information. After final award
decisions have been announced, the technical evaluations of the
applicant's proposal may be provided to the applicant. The identity of
the reviewer must not be disclosed.
Sec. 5. Considerations. This section must include, as a minimum,
the following information:
(a) Awards. Indicate the estimated number and type of awards
anticipated under the particular SBIR/STTR program solicitation in
question, including:
(1) Approximate number of Phase I awards expected to be made.
(2) Type of funding agreement, that is, contract, grant, or
cooperative agreement.
(3) Whether fee or profit will be allowed.
(4) Cost basis of funding agreement, for example, fixed-price, cost
reimbursement, or cost-plus-fixed fee.
(5) Information on the approximate average dollar value of awards
for Phase I and Phase II.
(b) Reports. Describe the frequency and nature of reports that will
be required under Phase I funding agreements. Interim reports should be
brief letter reports.
(c) Payment Schedule. Specify the method and frequency of progress
and final payment under Phase I and II agreements.
(d) Innovations, SBIR/STTR Data Rights, Inventions and Patents.
(1) Proprietary Information in Proposals. The following statement
must be included in all SBIR/STTR solicitations:
``Information contained in unsuccessful proposals will remain the
property of the applicant. The Government may, however, retain copies
of all proposals. Public release of information in any proposal
submitted will be subject to existing statutory and regulatory
requirements. If proprietary information is provided by an applicant in
a proposal, which constitutes a trade secret, proprietary commercial or
financial information, confidential personal information or data
affecting the national security, it will be treated in confidence, to
the extent permitted by law. This information must be clearly marked by
the applicant with the term ``confidential proprietary information''
[[Page 20519]]
and the following legend must appear on the title page of the proposal:
`These data shall not be disclosed outside the Government and shall
not be duplicated, used, or disclosed in whole or in part for any
purpose other than evaluation of this proposal. It is agreed that as a
condition of award of this funding agreement, the Government shall have
SBIR/STTR Data Rights in properly marked data that is contained in the
proposal dated_____, upon which this contract is based. However, data
contained on pages___, are not subject to the Government's SBIR/STTR
Data Rights.' ''
(2) Alternative To Minimize Proprietary Information. Agencies may
elect to instruct applicants to limit proprietary information to only
that absolutely essential to their proposal.
(3) SBIR/STTR Data Rights Clause. Agencies must include a clause in
their SBIR and STTR Program solicitations and resulting funding
agreements that reflects the following necessary elements:
SBIR/STTR Data Rights Clause
(a) Definitions.
(1) Computer Software. Computer programs, source code, source code
listings, object code listings, design details, algorithms, processes,
flow charts, formulae, and related material that would enable the
software to be reproduced, recreated, or recompiled. Computer Software
does not include Computer Databases or Computer Software Documentation.
(2) Data. All recorded information, regardless of the form or
method of recording or the media on which it may be recorded. The term
does not include information incidental to contract or grant
administration, such as financial, administrative, cost or pricing or
management information.
(3) SBIR/STTR Data. All appropriately marked Data developed or
generated in the performance of an SBIR or STTR award, including
Technical Data and Computer Software developed or generated in the
performance of an SBIR or STTR award. The term does not include
information incidental to contract or grant administration, such as
financial, administrative, cost or pricing or management information.
(4) SBIR/STTR Data Rights.
(A) The Government's license rights in SBIR/STTR Data during the
SBIR/STTR Protection Period are as follows: SBIR/STTR Technical Data
Rights in SBIR/STTR Data that are Technical Data or any other type of
Data other than Computer Software that is properly marked, and SBIR/
STTR Computer Software Rights in SBIR/STTR Data that is Computer
Software. Upon expiration of the protection period for SBIR/STTR Data,
the Government's obligation to protect that data expires and the
Government's rights in that data convert to Unlimited Rights. The
Government receives Unlimited Rights in all unmarked data.
(B) An Awardee retains title and ownership of all SBIR/STTR Data it
develops or generates in the performance of an SBIR or STTR Phase I,
Phase II, or Phase III award (including a Phase III award that is a
subcontract or subgrant), and retains all rights in SBIR/STTR Data not
granted to the Government. These of the Awardee rights do not expire.
(5) SBIR/STTR Technical Data Rights. The Government's rights during
the SBIR/STTR Protection Period in SBIR/STTR Data that are Technical
Data or any other type of Data other than Computer Software.
(A) The Government may, use, modify, reproduce, perform, display,
release, or disclose SBIR/STTR Data that are Technical Data within the
Government; however, the Government shall not use, release, or disclose
the data for procurement, manufacturing, or commercial purposes; or
release or disclose the SBIR/STTR Data outside the Government except as
permitted by paragraph (2) below or by written permission of the
awardee.
(B) SBIR/STTR Data that are Technical Data may be released outside
the Government without any additional written permission of the awardee
only if the non-Governmental entity or foreign government has entered
into a non-disclosure agreement with the Government that complies with
the terms for such agreements outlined in section 8 of this Policy
Directive and the release is:
(i) Necessary to support certain narrowly-tailored essential
Government activities for which law or regulation permits access of a
non-Government entity to a contractors' data developed exclusively at
private expense, non-SBIR/STTR Data, such as for emergency repair or
overhaul;
(ii) To a Government support services contractor in the performance
of a Government support services contract and the release is not for
commercial purposes or manufacture;
(iii) To a foreign government for purposes of information and
evaluation if required to serve the interests of the U.S. Government;
or
(iv) To non-Government entities or individuals for purposes of
evaluation.
(6) SBIR/STTR Computer Software Rights. The Government's rights
during the SBIR/STTR Protection Period in specific types of SBIR/STTR
Data that are Computer Software.
(A) The Government may use, modify, reproduce, release, perform,
display, or disclose SBIR/STTR Data that are Computer Software within
the Government. The Government may exercise SBIR/STTR Computer Software
Rights within the Governmen for:
(1) Use in Government computers;
(2) Modification, adaptation, or combination with other computer
software, provided that the Data incorporated into any derivative
software are subject to the rights in paragraph (ee) and that the
derivative software is marked as containing SBIR/STTR Data;
(3) Archive or backup; or
(4) Distribution of a computer program to another Government
agency, without further permission of the awardee, if the awardee is
notified of the distribution and the identity of the recipient prior to
the distribution, and a copy of the SBIR/STTR Computer Software Rights
included in the funding agreement is provided to the recipient.
(B) The Government shall not release, disclose, or permit access to
SBIR/STTR Data that is Computer Software for commercial, manufacturing,
or procurement purposes without the written permission of the awardee.
The Government shall not release, disclose, or permit access to SBIR/
STTR Data outside the Government without the written permission of the
awardee unless:
(i) The non-Governmental entity has entered into a non-disclosure
agreement with the Government that complies with the terms for such
agreements outlined in section 8 of this Policy Directive; and
(ii) The release or disclosure is--
(I) To a Government support service contractor for purposes of
supporting Government internal use or activities, including evaluation,
diagnosis and correction of deficiencies, and adaptation, combination,
or integration with other Computer Software provided that SBIR/STTR
Data incorporated into any derivative software are subject to the
rights in paragraph (ff); or
(II) Necessary to support certain narrowly-tailored essential
Government activities for which law or regulation permits access of a
non-Government entity to a contractors' data developed exclusively at
private expense, non-SBIR/STTR Data, such as for emergency repair and
overhaul.
(7) SBIR/STTR Protection Period. The period of time during which
the Government is obligated to protect SBIR/STTR Data against
unauthorized use and disclosure in accordance with SBIR/STTR Data
Rights. The SBIR/STTR
[[Page 20520]]
Protection Period begins at award of an SBIR/STTR funding agreement and
ends not less than twelve years after acceptance of the last
deliverable under that agreement (See Sec. 8(b)(4) of the SBIR/STTR
Policy Directive).
(8) Technical Data. Recorded information, regardless of the form or
method of the recording, of a scientific or technical nature (including
Computer Software Documentation and Computer Databases). The term does
not include Computer Software or financial, administrative, cost or
pricing, or management information, or other data incidental to
contract or grant administration. The term includes recorded Data of a
scientific or technical nature that is included in Computer Databases.
(9) Unlimited Rights. The Government's rights to access, use,
modify, prepare derivative works, reproduce, release, perform, display,
disclose, or distribute Data in whole or in part, in any manner and for
any purpose whatsoever, and to have or authorize others to do so.
(b) Allocation of SBIR/STTR Data Rights.
(1) An SBC has ownership of all SBIR/STTR Data it develops or
generates in the performance of an SBIR/STTR award. The SBC retains all
rights in SBIR/STTR Data that are not granted to the Government in
accordance with this Policy Directive. These rights of the SBC do not
expire.
(2) During the SBIR/STTR Protection Period, the Government receives
SBIR/STTR Technical Data Rights in SBIR/STTR Data that is Technical
Data or any other type of Data other than Computer Software; and SBIR/
STTR Computer Software Rights in SBIR/STTR Data that is Computer
Software.
(3) After the protection period, the Government receives Unlimited
Rights in all SBIR/STTR Data that was protected during the protection
period.
(4) The Government receives Unlimited Rights in all unmarked data.
(c) Identification and Delivery of SBIR/STTR Data. Any SBIR/STTR
Data delivered by the awardee, and in which the awardee intends to
limit the Government's rights to use and disclosure to SBIR/STTR
Technical Data Rights and SBIR/STTR Computer Software Rights, must be
delivered with restrictive markings. The Government assumes no
liability for the access, use, modification, reproduction, release,
performance, display, disclosure, or distribution of SBIR/STTR Data
delivered without markings. The Awardee or its subcontractors or
suppliers shall conspicuously and legibly mark all such SBIR/STTR Data
with the appropriate legend.
(1) The authorized legend shall be placed on each page of the SBIR/
STTR Data. If only portions of a page are subject to the asserted
restrictions, the SBIR/STTR Awardee shall identify the restricted
portions (e.g., by circling or underscoring with a note or other
appropriate identifier). With respect to SBIR/STTR Data embodied in
Computer Software, the legend shall be placed on: (1) The printed
material or media containing the Computer Software; or (2) the
transmittal document or storage container. The legend shall read as
follows:
SBIR/STTR Data Rights
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Funding agreement No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date Last Deliverable Due ..............
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SBIR/STTR Awardee ..............
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SBIR/STTR Awardee Address ..............
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is SBIR/STTR Data (or is Computer Software or a prototype that
embodies or includes SBIR/STTR Data) to which the SBIR/STTR Awardee has
SBIR/STTR Data Rights and to which the Government has received SBIR/
STTR Technical Data Rights (or SBIR/STTR Computer Software Rights)
during the SBIR/STTR Protection Period and Unlimited Rights after the
Protection Period, as those terms are defined in the SBIR/STTR funding
agreement. Any reproduction of SBIR/STTR Data or portions of such data
marked with this legend must also reproduce the markings.
(End of Legend)
(2) If the SBIR/STTR Awardee has marked its data using the date
last deliverable due, and the date of acceptance of the last
deliverable differs from the date the last deliverable is due, the
SBIR/STTR Awardee has the option of remarking the data with the date of
acceptance of the last deliverable. Data submitted without correct or
appropriate markings may be corrected within 6 months from the date the
data is delivered.
(d) Relation to patents. Nothing regarding SBIR/STTR Data Rights or
SBIR/STTR Limited Rights in this clause shall imply a license to or
imply a requirement to license to the Government under any patent to a
Subject Invention (As defined under the Bayh-Dole Act) under an SBIR/
STTR award.
(End of Clause)
(4) Copyrights. Include an appropriate statement concerning
copyrights and publications addressing national security
considerations, if any, and the appropriate acknowledgement and
disclaimer statement.
(5) Invention Reporting. Include requirements for reporting
inventions. Include appropriate information concerning the reporting of
inventions, for example:
``SBIR/STTR Awardees must report inventions to the awarding agency
within 2 months of the inventor's report to the awardee.''
Note: Some agencies provide electronic reporting of inventions
through the NIH iEdison Invention Reporting System (iEdison System).
The iEdison System may be used to satisfy all invention reporting
requirements mandated by the applicable regulations. Access to the
system is through a secure interactive Internet site, https://www.iedison.gov, to ensure that all information submitted is protected.
All agencies are encouraged to use the iEdison System. In addition to
fulfilling reporting requirements, the iEdison System notifies the user
of future time sensitive deadlines with enough lead-time to avoid the
possibility of loss of patent rights due to administrative oversight.
(e) Cost-Sharing. Include a statement essentially as follows:
``Cost-sharing is permitted for proposals under this program
solicitation; however, cost-sharing is not required. Cost-sharing will
not be an evaluation factor in consideration of your Phase I
proposal.''
(f) Profit or Fee. Include a statement on the payment of profit or
fee on awards made under the SBIR/STTR program solicitation.
(g) Joint Ventures or Limited Partnerships. Include essentially the
following language: ``Joint ventures and limited partnerships are
eligible provided the entity created qualifies as a small business
concern as defined in this program solicitation.''
(h) Research and Analytical Work. Include essentially the following
statement:
SBIR:
(1) ``For Phase I a minimum of two-thirds of the research and/or
analytical effort must be performed by the proposing small business
concern unless otherwise approved in writing by the funding agreement
officer after consultation with the agency SBIR Program Manager/
Coordinator.
(2) For Phase II a minimum of one-half of the research and/or
analytical effort must be performed by the proposing small business
concern unless otherwise approved in writing by the funding agreement
officer after
[[Page 20521]]
consultation with the agency SBIR Program Manager/Coordinator.''
STTR:
``For both Phase I and Phase II, not less than 40 percent of the R/
R&D work must be performed by the SBC, and not less than 30 percent of
the R/R&D work must be performed by a, partnering Research Institution,
as defined in this solicitation.''
(i) Awardee Commitments. To meet the legislative requirement that
SBIR/STTR solicitations be simplified, standardized and uniform,
clauses expected to be in or required to be included in SBIR/STTR
funding agreements must not be included in full or by reference in
SBIR/STTR program solicitations. Rather, applicants must be advised
that they will be required to make certain legal commitments at the
time of execution of funding agreements resulting from SBIR/STTR
program solicitations. Essentially, the following statement must be
included in the ``Considerations'' section of SBIR/STTR program
solicitations:
``Upon award of a funding agreement, the awardee will be required
to make certain legal commitments through acceptance of numerous
clauses in Phase I funding agreements. The outline that follows is
illustrative of the types of clauses to which the contractor would be
committed. This list is not a complete list of clauses to be included
in Phase I funding agreements, and is not the specific wording of such
clauses. Copies of complete terms and conditions are available upon
request.''
(j) Summary Statements. The following are illustrative of the type
of summary statements to be included immediately following the
statement in subparagraph (i). These statements are examples only and
may vary depending upon the type of funding agreement used.
(1) Standards of Work. Work performed under the funding agreement
must conform to high professional standards.
(2) Inspection. Work performed under the funding agreement is
subject to Government inspection and evaluation at all times.
(3) Examination of Records. The Comptroller General (or a duly
authorized representative) must have the right to examine any pertinent
records of the awardee involving transactions related to this funding
agreement.
(4) Default. The Government may terminate the funding agreement if
the contractor fails to perform the work contracted.
(5) Termination for Convenience. The funding agreement may be
terminated at any time by the Government if it deems termination to be
in its best interest, in which case the awardee will be compensated for
work performed and for reasonable termination costs.
(6) Disputes. Any dispute concerning the funding agreement that
cannot be resolved by agreement must be decided by the contracting
officer with right of appeal.
(7) Contract Work Hours. The awardee may not require an employee to
work more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week unless the employee is
compensated accordingly (for example, overtime pay).
(8) Equal Opportunity. The awardee will not discriminate against
any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color,
religion, sex, or national origin.
(9) Affirmative Action for Veterans. The awardee will not
discriminate against any employee or application for employment because
he or she is a disabled veteran or veteran of the Vietnam era.
(10) Affirmative Action for Handicapped. The awardee will not
discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because
he or she is physically or mentally handicapped.
(11) Officials Not To Benefit. No Government official must benefit
personally from the SBIR/STTR funding agreement.
(12) Covenant Against Contingent Fees. No person or agency has been
employed to solicit or secure the funding agreement upon an
understanding for compensation except bona fide employees or commercial
agencies maintained by the awardee for the purpose of securing
business.
(13) Gratuities. The funding agreement may be terminated by the
Government if any gratuities have been offered to any representative of
the Government to secure the award.
(14) Patent Infringement. The awardee must report each notice or
claim of patent infringement based on the performance of the funding
agreement.
(15) American Made Equipment and Products. When purchasing
equipment or a product under the SBIR/STTR funding agreement, purchase
only American-made items whenever possible.
(k) Additional Information. Information pertinent to an
understanding of the administration requirements of SBIR/STTR proposals
and funding agreements not included elsewhere must be included in this
section. As a minimum, statements essentially as follows must be
included under ``Additional Information'' in SBIR/STTR program
solicitations:
(1) This program solicitation is intended for informational
purposes and reflects current planning. If there is any inconsistency
between the information contained herein and the terms of any resulting
SBIR/STTR funding agreement, the terms of the funding agreement are
controlling.
(2) Before award of an SBIR/STTR funding agreement, the Government
may request the applicant to submit certain organizational, management,
personnel, and financial information to assure responsibility of the
applicant.
(3) The Government is not responsible for any monies expended by
the applicant before award of any funding agreement.
(4) This program solicitation is not an offer by the Government and
does not obligate the Government to make any specific number of awards.
Also, awards under the SBIR/STTR program are contingent upon the
availability of funds.
(5) The SBIR/STTR program is not a substitute for existing
unsolicited proposal mechanisms. Unsolicited proposals must not be
accepted under the SBIR/STTR program in either Phase I or Phase II.
(6) If an award is made pursuant to a proposal submitted under this
SBIR/STTR program solicitation, a representative of the contractor or
grantee or party to a cooperative agreement will be required to certify
that the concern has not previously been, nor is currently being, paid
for essentially equivalent work by any Federal agency.
Sec. 6. Submission of Proposals.
(a) This section must clearly specify the closing date on which all
proposals are due to be received.
(b) This section must specify the number of copies of the proposal
that are to be submitted.
(c) This section must clearly set forth the complete mailing and/or
delivery address(es) where proposals are to be submitted.
(d) This section may include other instructions such as the
following:
(1) Bindings. Please do not use special bindings or covers. Staple
the pages in the upper left corner of the cover sheet of each proposal.
(2) Packaging. All copies of a proposal should be sent in the same
package.
Sec. 7. Scientific and Technical Information Sources. Wherever
descriptions of research topics or subtopics include reference to
publications, information on where such publications will normally be
[[Page 20522]]
available must be included in a separate section of the solicitation
entitled ``Scientific and Technical Information Sources.''
Sec. 8. Submission Forms. Multiple copies of proposal preparation
forms necessary to the contracting and granting process may be
required. This section may include Proposal Summary, Proposal Cover,
Budget, Checklist, and other forms the sole purpose of which is to meet
the mandate of law or regulation and simplify the submission of
proposals.
Sec. 9. Research Topics. Describe sufficiently the R/R&D topics
and subtopics for which proposals are being solicited to inform the
applicant of technical details of what is desired. Allow flexibility in
order to obtain the greatest degree of creativity and innovation
consistent with the overall objectives of the SBIR/STTR program.
[FR Doc. 2016-07817 Filed 4-6-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8025-01-P