Small Business Innovation Act of 1979

Summary

Small Business Innovation Act of 1979 - Title I: Research and Development Contracts - Amends the Small Business Act to direct the Small Business Administration (SBA) to advise, assist, and monitor Federal agencies in meeting the small business research and development set-asides required under this Act. Directs the SBA to develop an information program to assure that each qualified small business concern has the opportunity to participate in the Federal agency Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programs. Requires the SBA to report annually to the appropriate committees of Congress on the activities of Federal agencies in meeting and development set-asides and on the SBIR programs. Directs each Federal agency to set-aside for award to small business concerns a specified percentage of its budget for prime research and development contracts. Sets forth the percentage for fiscal year 1980 and each succeeding fiscal year until such percentage equals ten percent of the total dollar amount of such contracts. Stipulates that such set-asides apply to basic and applied research and development. Requires each Federal agency having an annual research and development budget of more than $100,000,000 to establish an SBIR program where one percent of its 1980 research and development budget and of its subsequent budgets would be reserved for contract awards to small business firms specifically in connection with the SBIR program. Sets forth responsibilities of each such Federal agency with respect to the administration of an SBIR program as follows: (1) determine categories of projects; (2) issue SBIR solicitations; (3) receive and evaluate proposals; (4) select awardees for SBIR contracts; (5) administer such contracts; (6) make payments to SBIR contractors; and (7) make quarterly reports on the SBIR program to the SBA. Allows such agencies to include the value of SBIR contracts in determining whether such goals are met. Prohibits contract awards to small business concerns for research and development which result from competitive or single source selections other than under an SBIR program to be counted as meeting any portion of the percentage requirements established pursuant to this Act. Directs the Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, in conjunction with the SBA and the National Science Foundation, to issue regulations for conduct by Federal agencies which shall: (1) provide a simplified acquisition process for the program with SBIR requests for proposals being standardized throughout the Federal Government; and (2) include uniform requirements for patent rights and rights in data. Requires the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, in cooperation with the SBA, to establish simplified regulations for all Federal agencies for the award of research and development contracts to small business concerns. Directs the Administrator to insure that such regulations shall: (1) eliminate provisions of research contracts which require businesses to absorb expenses of performance of such contract and require Federal agencies to negotiate fees for all services and expenses relative to awarded contracts; (2) prohibit Federal agencies from excluding any small business concern from competition for such contracts on the same terms and conditions as any other business concern; (3) require each agency to consider and review unsolicited research and development proposals from small business concerns; (4) require agencies to consider small businesses on an equal basis with any other business concern in the award of sole source research contracts; (5) require that independent research and development costs and the bid and proposal costs incurred by small businesses shall be attributable to the contract in the fiscal year such expenses are incurred; (6) require agencies to evaluate the feasibility of dividing large scale proposed contracts into small segments to facilitate participation of small businesses; (7) require agency staff and consultants to provide fair and equal opportunity to small businesses owned by women and minorities and to provide guidance and counseling to such businesses; (8) require Federal agencies to evaluate personnel engaged in the awarding of research contracts; and (9) establish the responsibility of Federal agencies to identify the agency procedures in awarding research contracts which discriminate against small business concerns and take appropriate action to eliminate such procedures. Title II: Patents - States that it is the objective of this title to amend existing patent procedures in order to promote the marketing of inventions developed under federally supported research and development projects. Permits any organization or firm to elect, within a reasonable amount of time, to retain title to such inventions. Permits Federal agencies which have supported such projects to retain title to inventions through their funding agreements in specified circumstances. Requires review of agency determinations that such circumstances exist by the Comptroller General and the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration. Directs the Comptroller General to report to Congress on the implementation of this Act by Federal agencies. Enumerates provisions which must be included in funding agreements between a Federal agency and a small business firm or nonprofit organization including provisions: (1) to insure the rights of the Federal Government under this Act; (2) to provide that the agency shall have a nonexclusive, nontransferable, irrevocable and paid-up license to use the invention; (3) to prohibit a nonprofit organization from assigning rights to the invention without the approval of the Federal agency; (4) to prohibit such an organization from granting exclusive rights from the earlier of five years from the first commercial use of the invention or eight years from the date of invention; and (5) to require such organizations to use their royalties and earnings to support scientific research or education. Authorizes a Federal agency to transfer or assign its rights, acquired from an agency employee as coinventor, to an inventor electing to acquire title to an invention. Prohibits funding agreements with small business firms or nonprofit organizations from containing provisions allowing a Federal agency to require licensing to third parties of inventions which are not inventions conceived or first actually reduced to practice under a Federal contract or grant without written justification from the head of such agency. Allows such licensing upon a determination by the agency head that such action is necessary to achieve the practical application of the subject invention or work object. Empowers any Federal agency to require inventors or their assigns to grant licenses in order to: (1) achieve practical application of the invention in its field of uses; (2) alleviate health or safety needs; (3) meet requirements for public use specified by Federal regulations; or (4) achieve participation by United States industry in the manufacture of an invention. Entitles the government to collect up to 15 percent of all net income above specified amounts received by a patent holder until government research funds have been repaid. Restricts the assignment and licensing of rights by patent holders to foreign owned or controlled firms unless such persons agree that any products embodying the subject invention or produced through the use of the subject invention will be manufactured substantially in the United States. Authorizes Federal agencies to withhold information on inventions from public disclosure. Specifies the authority of Federal agencies with respect to obtaining patents, granting licenses, and transferring custody of patents. Authorizes the Administrator of General Services to promulgate regulations specifying the terms upon which any federally-owned invention may be licensed. Sets forth the procedure whereby Federal agencies may grant exclusive or partially exclusive licenses in any invention covered by a federally-owned domestic patent or patent application. Prohibits licensing which lessens competition. Directs that small business firms be given preference in exclusive or partially exclusive licensing. Enumerates provisions which must be contained in any grant of a license by a Federal agency. Declares that this Act shall take precedence over any other Act in the disposition of inventions. Directs the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks to establish regulations governing: (1) the citation to the Patent and Trademark Office of prior art patents or publications which are pertinent to a later patent; and (2) the reexamination of a patent to determine whether such a prior patent or publication has any bearing on the patentability of any claim of such patent. Authorizes any individual to: (1) cite to the Office any such prior patent; and (2) request such a reexamination. Requires the Commissioner within 90 days of such a request to make a determination as to whether the cited prior patent raises a new question of the patentability of any claim of the later patent. Authorizes the Commissioner on his or her own initiative to make such a determination at any time. States that a determination that no new question is raised shall be final. Directs the Commissioner, upon determining that there is a new question of patentability, to order and conduct a reexamination. Requires that the patent owner be provided at least two months to file a statement on such question and that the person making the reexamination request be provided two months to respond to such statement. Declares that the patent owner shall be provided an opportunity in any reexamination to amend any claim of the patent in order to distinguish the claim from the prior patent cited, or in response to a decision adverse to the patentability of the claim. Authorizes the owner to appeal any adverse decision. Directs the Commissioner, upon the conclusion of any reexamination or appeal proceeding, to issue and publish a certificate cancelling any unpatentable claim, confirming any valid claim, and incorporating any amended claim in the patent. Declares that no prior patent or publication may be relied upon as evidence of nonpatentability in a civil action involving the validity or infringement of a patent unless: (1) the prior patent or publication was cited by or to the Office regarding application or reexamination proceedings for the patent; or (2) the court concludes that consideration of the prior patent or publication in such proceedings is unnecessary for adjudication. Sets forth circumstances under which a court may stay the proceedings of a civil action involving the infringement or validity of a patent to enable either party to such action to secure a determination on a request for reexamination of the patent by the Patent and Trademark Office. Provides the moving party in such action the right to dismiss the complaint commencing such action. Title III: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 - Small Business Research and Development Tax Incentive Act of 1979 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow taxpayers who sell small business stock to recognize the gain from such sale to the extent such gain exceeds the cost of the purchase of other small business stock within 18 months after such sale. Sets forth definitions and special rules applicable to such nonrecognition of gain. Provides procedures for the reduction of basis of small business stock purchased during such 18-month period. Provides, upon notification to the Secretary of the Treasury, a three-year statutory period for the assessment of any deficiency attributable to any such gain. Sets forth the procedure for determining the period for which the taxpayer has held small business stock which resulted in nonrecognition of gain on the sale of such stock. Allows a taxpayer, other than a corporation, to deduct a specified percentage of his net small business capital gain from his gross income applicable to stock acquired after December 31, 1979. Declares that in the case of a qualified small business concern, a net operating loss in any taxable year after December 31, 1979, shall be a net operating loss carryover to each of the ten taxable years following such loss. Allows a qualified small business concern to treat research and experimental expenditures for the acquisition or improvement of property as expenses not chargeable to its capital account. Allows such concerns to treat such expenditures for any property subject to a depreciation or depletion allowance as deferred expenses, and in the case of a building such deferred expense shall be allowed ratably over a period of 120 months. Allows a tax exclusion for small business concerns engaged in a trade or business other than real estate, for deposits made into a reserve for research and development with specified limitations. Disallows a deduction for amounts paid from a reserve for research and development which is used by the taxpayer for research and experimental expenditures, if such expenditures may be taken into account by the taxpayer under other provisions of the Code. Specifies the percentage the taxpayer must include in gross income for amounts from the reserve not used for research and development. Specifies that a contribution to such reserve may be made only in cash for purposes of this Act. Sets forth requirements and procedures for treatment of such reserve when the taxpayer ceases to be a small business concern. Sets forth the definition of qualified stock options and requirements under which employees may use such granted stock options. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow small business corporations to include 100 shareholders, provided such corporations are not venture capital corporations. Makes amendments under this title applicable to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1979. Title IV: Regulatory Flexibility - Regulatory Flexibility Act - Requires Federal agencies to include the following information in the general notice of a proposed rule: (1) the goals and purpose of the rule; (2) the estimated number of individuals, businesses, organizations, and governmental jurisdictions affected by the rule; (3) a statement that the agency seeks alternative proposals which could achieve the goal of the proposed rule at a lower cost to individuals, small businesses, small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions; and (4) a list of the measures necessary for compliance with any reporting requirement affecting more than ten persons. Requires Federal agencies to accept and consider alternative proposals to a proposed rule and to publish those proposals with justification of the selection of the final rule. Defines a small business, small organization, small governmental jurisdiction, and an individual as used in this Act. Directs each agency to publish a plan for reviewing its rules within 180 days after enactment of this Act. Requires each agency to determine whether such rules are efficiently achieving the goals of the implementing legislation. Directs the agency to publish, annually, a list of the rules to be issued and reviewed during the next year.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

No timeline events have been ingested for this record yet.

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

2 official files

• Reported to Senate with amendment(s)

  summary · EN · 15 May 1980

  Open at official source

• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 4 October 1979

  Open at official source

Sponsors

No sponsors or actors listed by the source.

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.