DoD Considered Small Business Innovation Research Intellectual Property Protections in Phase 3 Contracts, but Program Improvements Are Needed

摘要

In response to a requirement in House Armed Services Committee Report 112-479, to accompany the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2013, we reviewed 22 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III contracts, with a combined base award value of about $244.9 million, to determine whether the Services properly awarded SBIR Phase III contracts to other than small businesses. Specifically, we determined whether the Services considered small business intellectual property rights and properly notified the Small Business Administration (SBA) of the contract award. U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, Naval Air Systems Command, Naval Sea Systems Command, and Air Force Research Laboratory contracting personnel: 1) properly awarded all 11 SBIR Phase III contracts that were awarded to other than small businesses because the awardee owned the SBIR data rights; and 2) considered SBIR intellectual property rights when awarding 21 of 22 contracts by including the required contract clause. However, DoD contracting and U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command personnel inconsistently followed policies that governed SBIR intellectual property protections because of unclear and inconsistent DoD and SBA requirements. In addition, DoD organizations did not: have any documented instances of contractor intellectual property complaints within the SBIR Program because DoD personnel were not required to track complaints and believed that none existed; and know the complete universe of SBIR Phase III contract awards because no mechanism existed to fully track SBIR Phase III contracts. DoD organizations inconsistent interpretation of unclear requirements hinders program oversight and weakens protections over small business intellectual property. Without a clear interpretation of existing policy, DoD organizations could face obstacles in exercising their rights to SBIR data. DoD does not have reliable data to report the success of the DoD SBIR Program.