- What is New Technology Reporting (NTR) - Why Report? Policies and Laws - The roles of the people involved - When to report new technologies - Frequently asked questions - Login/Register to NASA eNTRe

New Technology Reports (NTR) are the primary means for identifying innovations developed by NASA contractor/grantee/recipient. The New Technology Reporting process has 4 steps: NTR is created by innovators; NTR is submitted to NASA; NTR is reviewed for completeness by NASA official; and NTR is entered into the NASA TechTracS database.

New Technology Reports are important legal documents. The NTR is used to disclose inventions and innovations made under NASA funding agreements. An NTR should be sufficiently complete in technical detail to convey a clear understanding of the nature, purpose, operation, and physical, chemical, biological or electrical characteristics of the invention or innovation.

NASA prefers that contractors/grantees/recipients use the NASA NTR form (NF 1679), either NASA eNTRe or the paper version (PDF or Word), to report new technologies. However, use of the NASA NTR form is optional. If an alternative form is used, it must at a minimum contain the information required in the NASA NTR form.

Return to table of contents

The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, as amended, provides that the aeronautical and space activities of the United States shall be conducted so as to contribute to the preservation of the United States as a leader in aeronautical and space science and technology and in the application thereof to the conduct of peaceful activities within and outside the atmosphere. Technology Transfer is one of NASA’s Strategic Missions and the means through which aeronautics and space technological advances permeate the many sectors of the national economy through the U.S. industrial community. Since many technological advances have resulted from innovations developed under NASA funding agreements (i.e., contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements), the reporting of these New Technologies is essential to the achievement of this important NASA mission.

New Technology Reporting is a requirement in NASA Research & Development funding agreements and in other agreements where there is a potential for new inventions/innovations. Clauses in these agreements require that partners (i.e., contractors, grantees, and cooperative agreement recipients) and their subcontractors provide NASA with individual reports (referred to as New Technology Reports) containing full and complete technical information concerning each invention or innovation made under the funding agreement, periodic interim reports listing innovations made during the reporting period, and a final report prior to closeout of the funding agreement listing all innovations made during the life of the funding agreement or certifying that no such innovations were made.

Return to table of contents

Provided here are many of the policies and laws concerning New Technology Reporting. These materials are provided for informational purposes only and are not intended as legal advice. Users should consult their own legal counsel. Since Technology Transfer is such a broad subject base, and there are so many policies, we list here the statute and regulation names and where to find the original texts rather than the texts themselves.

The U.S.C. clauses are available at:

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html

The CFR clauses are available at:

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfr-table-search.html

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and NASA FAR Supplement (NFS) Clauses are available at:

http://ec.msfc.nasa.gov/hq/library/v-reg.htm

With Respect to Small Businesses, Colleges, Universities, and Nonprofit Organizations:

- General

- 35 U.S.C. 200-210 (Patent Rights in Inventions Made with Federal Assistance, the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, as amended)
- 37 CFR Part 401 (Rights To Inventions Made By Nonprofit Organizations And Small Business Firms Under Government Grants, Contracts, And Cooperative Agreements)

- Contracts

- FAR Subpart 27.3 (Patent Rights Under Government Contracts)
- FAR 1852.227-11 (Patent Rights - Retention by the Contractor)
- NFS Subpart 1827.3 (Patent Rights Under Government Contracts)
- NFS 1852.227-11 (Patent Rights - Retention by the Contractor) and
- NFS 1852.227-72 (Designation of New Technology Representative and Patent Representative)
- NASA grants and cooperative agreements with colleges, universities, and nonprofit institutions

- 14 CFR 1260.28 (Patent Rights)
- 14 CFR 1260.75 (Summary of Report Requirements)

NASA Cooperative Agreements with Commercial Firms

- 14 CFR 1274.203 (Intellectual Property)
- 14 CFR 1274.906 (Designation of New Technology Representative and Patent Representative)
- 14 CFR 1274.911 (Patents Rights)
- 14 CFR 1274.913 (Patent Rights - small business recipients)
- 14 CFR 1274.933 (Summary of Recipient Reporting Requirements)

With Respect to Large Businesses:

- General

- 42 U.S.C. 2457 (Property Rights in Inventions, Section 305 of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, as amended)
- 14 CFR Part 1245, Subpart 1 (NASA Patent Waiver Regulations)

- Contracts

- NFS Subpart 1827.3 (Patent Rights Under Government Contracts)
- NFS 1852.227-70 (New Technology)
- NFS 1852.227-71 (Requests for Waiver of Rights to Inventions)
- NFS 1852.227-72 (Designation of New Technology Representative and Patent Representative)

NASA Grants and Cooperative Agreements with Commercial Firms

- 14 CFR 1274.203 (Intellectual Property)
- 14 CFR 1274.906 (Designation of New Technology Representative and Patent Representative)
- 14 CFR 1274.911 (Patents Rights)
- 14 CFR 1274.912 (Patent Rights - large business recipients)
- 14 CFR 1274.914 (Request for Waiver of Rights - large business recipients)
- 14 CFR 1274.933 (Summary of Recipient Reporting Requirements)

 

There are four main types of people involved in the NTR process. These are the Company Innovator, the Company New Technology Representative, the NASA New Technology Representative, and the NASA COTR (Contract Officer Technical Representative). Their duties and roles are described here:

The Company Innovator
The company innovator is the engineer or designer at a private institution or company that invents new technologies. It is the innovator's duty to report new technologies to the Company NT Representative.

The Company New Technology Representative
The Co. NT Rep is the person responsible for reviewing the technology submissions from the company innovator. The Co. NT Rep. also submits the technology to NASA.

The NASA New Technology Representative
The NASA NT Rep is responsible for reviewing NTR submissions and consulting the NASA COTR and, ultimately, approving/disapproving the technology, and populating the NASA TechTracS database.

The NASA Contract Officer Technical Representative
The NASA COTR is responsible for communicating to the Contractor the importance of complying with the New Technology clause and for including new technology reporting in contract progress reports.

Return to table of contents

Invention Disclosure, Election of Title and Filing of Patent Application by Small Business, College, University and Nonprofit Organization Contractor

The following is an excerpt from the standard patent rights clause provided at 37 CFR 401.14. You may find 37 CFR Part 401 (Rights To Inventions Made By Nonprofit Organizations And Small Business Firms Under Government Grants, Contracts, And Cooperative Agreements) in its entirety here.

-The contractor will disclose each subject invention to the Federal Agency within two months after the inventor discloses it in writing to contractor personnel responsible for patent matters.
The disclosure to the agency shall be in the form of a written report and shall identify the contract under which the invention was made and the inventor(s). It shall be sufficiently complete in technical detail to convey a clear understanding to the extent known at the time of the disclosure, of the nature, purpose, operation, and the physical, chemical, biological or electrical characteristics of the invention. The disclosure shall also identify any publication, on sale or public use of the invention and whether a manuscript describing the invention has been submitted for publication and, if so, whether it has been accepted for publication at the time of disclosure. In addition, after disclosure to the agency, the Contractor will promptly notify the agency of the acceptance of any manuscript describing the invention for publication or of any on sale or public use planned by the contractor.

- The Contractor will elect in writing whether or not to retain title to any such invention by notifying the Federal agency within two years of disclosure to the Federal agency. However, in any case where publication, on sale or public use has initiated the one year statutory period wherein valid patent protection can still be obtained in the United States, the period for election of title may be shortened by the agency to a date that is no more than 60 days prior to the end of the statutory period. You may use the "NASA Election Form" to make an election."

- The contractor will file its initial patent application on a subject invention to which it elects to retain title within one year after election of title or, if earlier, prior to the end of any statutory period wherein valid patent protection can be obtained in the United States after a publication, on sale, or public use. The contractor will file patent applications in additional countries or international patent offices within either ten months of the corresponding initial patent application or six months from the date permission is granted by the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks to file foreign patent applications where such filing has been prohibited by a Secrecy Order.

-Requests for extension of the time for disclosure, election, and filing under subparagraphs (1), (2), and (3) may, at the discretion of the agency, be granted.
Invention Disclosure,

Request for Waiver of Title and Filing of Patent Application by Large Business Contractor

Based on the Space Act, the New Technology clauses at NFS1852.227-70 or 14 CFR 1274.912, are included in all NASA contracts, subcontracts, grants or cooperative agreements (hereinafter referred to as contracts) with large businesses if the contract is to be performed in the United States, its possessions, or Puerto Rico and has as a purpose the performance of experimental, developmental, research, design, or engineering work. Under the New Technology clause, to obtain title to the invention, the contractor, subcontractor, grantee or recipient (hereinafter referred to as contractor) must:

- Disclose each "Reportable Item" to the Contracting Officer (by way of the New Technology Representative identified in NFS Section 1852.227-72 or the clause at 14 CFR 1274.906 included in the contract) within two months after the inventor discloses it in writing to Contractor personnel responsible for the administration of this New Technology clause or, if earlier, within six months after the Contractor becomes aware that a reportable item has been made (A "Reportable Item" is defined in the New Technology clause to mean any invention, discovery, improvement, or innovation of the contractor, whether or not patentable or otherwise protectable under Title 35 of the United States Code, made in the performance of any work under any NASA contract or in the performance of any work that is reimbursable under any clause in any NASA contract providing for reimbursement of costs incurred before the effective date of the contract. Reportable items include, but are not limited to, new processes, machines, manufactures, and compositions of matter, and improvements to, or new applications of, existing processes, machines, manufactures, and compositions of matter. Reportable items also include new computer programs, and improvements to, or new applications of, existing computer programs, whether or not copyrightable or otherwise protectable under Title 17 of the United States Code);

- Either prior to execution of the contract or within 30 days after execution of the contract, petition for advance waiver of rights to any or all of the inventions that may be made under a contract, or if such a petition is not submitted (or if an advance waiver is denied) petition for waiver of rights to an identified subject invention within eight months of first disclosure of invention to the Federal agency; and

- File its initial patent application on a subject invention to which it obtains title within 1 year after NASA grants the waiver (see 14 CFR 1245.109 the NASA Waiver Regulations).

The following is a document containing more detailed information applicable to all contractors. To access this document please click here.