§ 278n. Technology Innovation Program
(a)
Establishment
There is established within the Institute a program linked to the purpose and functions of the Institute, to be known as the “Technology Innovation Program” for the purpose of assisting United States businesses and institutions of higher education or other organizations, such as national laboratories and nonprofit research institutions, to support, promote, and accelerate innovation in the United States through high-risk, high-reward research in areas of critical national need.
(b)
External funding
(1)
In general
The Director shall award competitive, merit-reviewed grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts to—
(c)
Award criteria
The Director shall only provide assistance under this section to an entity—
(1)
whose proposal has scientific and technical merit and may result in intellectual property vesting in a United States entity that can commercialize the technology in a timely manner;
(2)
whose application establishes that the proposed technology has strong potential to address critical national needs through transforming the Nation’s capacity to deal with major societal challenges that are not currently being addressed, and generate substantial benefits to the Nation that extend significantly beyond the direct return to the applicant;
(3)
whose application establishes that the research has strong potential for advancing the state-of-the-art and contributing significantly to the United States science and technology knowledge base;
(4)
whose proposal explains why Technology Innovation Program support is necessary, including evidence that the research will not be conducted within a reasonable time period in the absence of financial assistance under this section;
(d)
Competitions
The Director shall solicit proposals at least annually to address areas of critical national need for high-risk, high-reward projects.
(e)
Intellectual property rights ownership
(1)
In general
Title to any intellectual property developed by a joint venture from assistance provided under this section may vest in any participant in the joint venture, as agreed by the members of the joint venture, notwithstanding section
202
(a) and (b) of title
35. The United States may reserve a nonexclusive, nontransferable, irrevocable paid-up license, to have practice for or on behalf of the United States in connection with any such intellectual property, but shall not in the exercise of such license publicly disclose proprietary information related to the license. Title to any such intellectual property shall not be transferred or passed, except to a participant in the joint venture, until the expiration of the first patent obtained in connection with such intellectual property.
(f)
Program operation
Not later than 9 months after August 9, 2007, the Director shall promulgate regulations—
(2)
establishing procedures regarding financial reporting and auditing to ensure that awards are used for the purposes specified in this section, are in accordance with sound accounting practices, and are not funding existing or planned research programs that would be conducted within a reasonable time period in the absence of financial assistance under this section; and
(g)
Annual report
The Director shall submit annually to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science and Technology of the House of Representatives a report describing the Technology Innovation Program’s activities, including a description of the metrics upon which award funding decisions were made in the previous fiscal year, any proposed changes to those metrics, metrics for evaluating the success of ongoing and completed awards, and an evaluation of ongoing and completed awards. The first annual report shall include best practices for management of programs to stimulate high-risk, high-reward research.
(h)
Continuation of ATP grants
The Director shall, through the Technology Innovation Program, continue to provide support originally awarded under the Advanced Technology Program, in accordance with the terms of the original award and consistent with the goals of the Technology Innovation Program.
(i)
Coordination with other State and Federal technology programs
In carrying out this section, the Director shall, as appropriate, coordinate with other senior State and Federal officials to ensure cooperation and coordination in State and Federal technology programs and to avoid unnecessary duplication of efforts.
(j)
Acceptance of funds from other Federal agencies
In addition to amounts appropriated to carry out this section, the Secretary and the Director may accept funds from other Federal agencies to support awards under the Technology Innovation Program. Any award under this section which is supported with funds from other Federal agencies shall be selected and carried out according to the provisions of this section. Funds accepted from other Federal agencies shall be included as part of the Federal cost share of any project funded under this section.
(k)
TIP Advisory Board
(2)
Membership
(A)
In general
The TIP Advisory Board shall consist of 10 members appointed by the Director, at least 7 of whom shall be from United States industry, chosen to reflect the wide diversity of technical disciplines and industrial sectors represented in Technology Innovation Program projects. No member shall be an employee of the Federal Government.
(B)
Term
Except as provided in subparagraph (C) or (D), the term of office of each member of the TIP Advisory Board shall be 3 years.
(C)
Classes
The original members of the TIP Advisory Board shall be appointed to 3 classes. One class of 3 members shall have an initial term of 1 year, one class of 3 members shall have an initial term of 2 years, and one class of 4 members shall have an initial term of 3 years.
(3)
Purpose
The TIP Advisory Board shall meet not less than 2 times annually, and provide the Director—
(B)
reviews of the Technology Innovation Program’s efforts to accelerate the research and development of challenging, high-risk, high-reward technologies in areas of critical national need;
(C)
reports on the general health of the program and its effectiveness in achieving its legislatively mandated mission; and
(D)
guidance on investment areas that are appropriate for Technology Innovation Program funding; [1]
(4)
Advisory capacity
In discharging its duties under this subsection, the TIP Advisory Board shall function solely in an advisory capacity, in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
(5)
Annual report
The TIP Advisory Board shall transmit an annual report to the Secretary for transmittal to the Congress not later than 30 days after the submission to Congress of the President’s annual budget request in each year. Such report shall address the status of the Technology Innovation Program and comment on the relevant sections of the programmatic planning document and updates thereto transmitted to Congress by the Director under subsections (c) and (d) of section
278i of this title.
(l)
Definitions
In this section—
(1)
the term “eligible company” means a small-sized or medium-sized business that is incorporated in the United States and does a majority of its business in the United States, and that either—
(B)
is owned by a parent company incorporated in another country and the Director finds that—
(i)
the company’s participation in the Technology Innovation Program would be in the economic interest of the United States, as evidenced by—
(ii)
the company is incorporated in a country which—
(I)
affords to United States-owned companies opportunities, comparable to those afforded to any other company, to participate in any joint venture similar to those receiving funding under this section;
(2)
the term “high-risk, high-reward research” means research that—
(A)
has the potential for yielding transformational results with far-ranging or wide-ranging implications;
(3)
the term “institution of higher education” has the meaning given that term in section
1001 of title
20;
(4)
the term “joint venture” means a joint venture that—
(A)
includes either—
(i)
at least 2 separately owned for-profit companies that are both substantially involved in the project and both of which are contributing to the cost-sharing required under this section, with the lead entity of the joint venture being one of those companies that is a small-sized or medium-sized business; or
(ii)
at least 1 small-sized or medium-sized business and 1 institution of higher education or other organization, such as a national laboratory or nonprofit research institute, that are both substantially involved in the project and both of which are contributing to the cost-sharing required under this section, with the lead entity of the joint venture being either that small-sized or medium-sized business or that institution of higher education; and
[1] So in original. The semicolon probably should be a period.