§ 930.325 Rights in inventions.

(a) When negotiating rights in inventions, the Agreements Officer (AO), meaning the cognizant warranted Department of Energy (DOE) or National Nuclear Security Administration official authorized to execute and administer other transaction (OT) agreements, should negotiate terms that represent an appropriate balance between the Government's interests and the awardee's interests. Bayh-Dole (35 U.S.C. 200-212) patent rights provisions implemented via 37 CFR 401.14 as modified by the DOE (see e.g., U.S. Competitiveness provision and Department of Energy Determination of Exceptional Circumstances Under the Bayh-Dole Act to Further Promote Domestic Manufacture of DOE Science and Energy Technologies) should be used as a starting point for all awardee entity types. However, the AO may negotiate rights that vary from those in modified 37 CFR 401.14. For example, Bayh-Dole March-in-Rights found in modified 37 CFR 401.14 and concerning actions that the Government may take to obtain the right to use subject inventions if the awardee fails to take effective steps to achieve practical application of the subject inventions within a reasonable time, may be modified or removed entirely. Use of or modifications to the standard rights provisions must be approved by cognizant DOE intellectual property counsel. (b) For subawards, the OT should typically indicate that sub-awardees will get title to inventions they make but alternative terms could be included such as those specifying that sub-awardees' invention rights are to be negotiated between awardee and sub-awardee or some other disposition of invention rights.