Data ownership from projects funded by SBIR & STTR

[Shoba]

Hello
When data is generated from STTR funding, are there policies around ownership of that data? Is it owned by the company, university or shared ownership?

Similarly – what is data ownership in SBIR?

Does NIH and NSF have policies on this?
Thanks & best regards

[Wout@EGC]

Hi Shoba,

As per SBIR/STTR guidelines, the Federal Government may, use, modify, reproduce, perform, display,release, or disclose SBIR/STTR Data that are Technical Data within the Government. However, they will not use, release, or disclose any of that data for procurement, manufacturing, or commercial purposes; or release or disclose the SBIR/STTR Data outside the Government except as permitted by paragraph 10(B) of the SBIR/STTR Policy Directive’s Data Rights Clause or by written permission of the Awardee.

Furthermore, with NSF Phase I SBIR/STTR proposals, the standard Data Management Plan states that “all data generated in this SBIR Phase I project is considered proprietary”.

A more extensive write-up on SBIR/STTR and Data Rights by sbir.gov can be found here.

As for ownership between the Small Business and the University, this will depend on the ownership guidelines from the University and in what capacity the University is involved with the IP management.

Hope this helps!

-Wout

[Shoba]

Wout – Thank you for your reply.
When you say “As for ownership between the Small Business and the University, this will depend on the ownership guidelines from the University and in what capacity the University is involved with the IP management.” – does that apply only to an STTR?
I thought an SBIR indicates the small business owns the SBIR data?

Thanks & regards

[Wout@EGC]

Hi Shoba,

For any subaward (whether SBIR or STTR), if Faculty are involved, ownership guidelines from the University might apply (depending on their input). For that reason, it is difficult to give a more complete statement based on the information I have available, and I would advise to reach out to the subaward PI and inquire about their ownership guidelines at their institution.

– Wout

[Author]

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