Joseph T. Burns: “I rise in support of H.R. 2196, as amended, which is a bill to amend the Stevenson-Wylder Technology Innovation Act of…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 2196, as amended, which is a bill to amend the Stevenson-Wylder Technology Innovation Act of 1980. The Senate version of this bill, S. 1164, was reported out of the Commerce Committee in November of last year. Our system of more than 700 Federal laboratories is one of our most precious national assets. These labs conduct important research and development programs to keep the United States on the cutting edge of science and technology. As chairman of the Science Subcommittee, I cosponsored S. 1164 to help accelerate the transfer of technology from our 700 Federal labs to the private industry, where it can be converted into commercial goods and services for the American people. Our cooperative research and development agreements [CRADA's] have proven a very effective way of accomplishing technology transfer without increasing Federal spending. These CRADA's enable Government and industry to conduct research together which hopefully will generate inventions and technological breakthroughs that can be later commercialized. It is the national interest to encourage more of this kind of joint research. With that in mind, this bill seeks to encourage more joint research by clarifying the intellectual property rights that the industry partner may receive in inventions generated by the joint research.”