[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 135 (Friday, December 8, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H9199-H9200]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FUNDING AGREEMENTS
Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 6427) to increase the amount in certain funding agreements
relating to patents and nonprofit organizations to be used for
scientific research, development, and education, and for other
purposes.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 6427
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FUNDING AGREEMENTS.
Section 202(c)(7)(E)(i) of title 35, United States Code, is
amended--
[[Page H9200]]
(1) by inserting ``(or in the case of a facility with an
annual budget of less than $40,000,000, 15 percent of the
annual budget of the facility)'' after ``equal to 5 percent
of the annual budget of the facility''; and
(2) by inserting ``(or in the case of a facility with an
annual budget of less than $40,000,000, 15 percent of the
annual budget of the facility)'' after ``exceeds 5 percent of
the annual budget of the facility''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Utah (Mr. Cannon) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah.
General Leave
Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous materials on H.R. 6427 currently under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Utah?
There was no objection.
Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6427 and urge its adoption by
the House.
The bill changes the way a particular royalty formula under the Bayh-
Dole Act. This is the landmark 1980 law that governs protection of
patented inventions developed with the assistance of Federal funding.
In brief, H.R. 6427 allows small government-owned, contractor-operated
laboratories and their affiliated universities or nonprofits to receive
a fair percentage of revenue from a successful patent that they
license. The bill produces an equitable result for small entities that
perform important research in a number of scientific fields, all of
which benefits the American people.
I commend the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Latham) for his work on this
issue; I urge the House to pass H.R. 6427 for expeditious consideration
by the other body.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may
consume.
Of course we support this legislation, because the bill merely amends
the extent to which small nonprofits can keep the profits of inventions
they develop in conjunction with the Federal Government.
Under the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, the Federal Government will provide
funds to nonprofits, including universities, for the purpose of
conducting important research. Because the government is not equipped
to do so, the nonprofits are allowed to patent any discoveries, sell
and license the inventions, and keep a portion of the profits.
Currently, the nonprofit can keep an amount of the profits up to 5
percent of its annual budget; the balance of the profits must be
returned to the taxpayers.
Because of the unique situation of small universities, the bill would
permit them to retain a higher percentage of the profits. While small
universities may have small budgets, their research and development
costs might not be small and can have a significant impact upon their
budgets themselves. This legislation would permit small entities, those
with a budget of less than $40 million, could retain a higher portion
of the profits, up to 15 percent of their budgets.
This is a simple, straightforward proposition, we have heard no
objection to it, and I am pleased to urge that it be passed this
evening
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield so much time as the
gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Latham) may consume.
Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Utah and I also
thank the gentleman from Michigan for supporting this legislation.
H.R. 6427 has no budgetary impact at all. This bill would raise from
5 percent to 15 percent the percentage of patent royalties that can be
retained by the government-owned, contractor-operated labs and
universities and nonprofits with annual budgets of $40 million or less
in any given fiscal year under the patent laws.
The bill would provide relief to smaller contracts, and incentivize
these labs and universities to reinvest in their research and
educational operations. The bill would only raise the ceiling for very
small budgets. The majority of these contracts have much larger budgets
of $100 million or more, and for those current larger budgets the 5
percent threshold would remain.
This bill has no opposition, and ensures that these contracts have
the necessary funding to continue their successful pursuit of
revolutionary inventions by keeping a larger percentage of the patent
royalty. The thrust of this bill is to give incentives for smaller
institutions and labs to continue investing in research and
development. These smaller contracts of $40 million or less should not
be penalized for their success just because they reach the current
statutory 5 percent ceiling more quickly than the larger contracts in
the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Raising the ceiling to 15 percent for these smaller contracts is
fair. The bill makes the royalty regime more equitable for all.
Mr. Speaker, again I appreciate the support of both sides of the
aisle.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I would just like to say that at an earlier phase of my life I had
the great privilege of working with the people who helped develop these
policies that allowed for the privatization of Federal R&D.
This is a simple bill that makes enormous sense and the underlying
bill that it amends has resulted in massive improvements in the lives
of all Americans. This is a sensible adjustment to that, and I suggest
that all of our colleagues support this reasonable bill
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
{time} 0030
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cannon) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 6427.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds of those voting having
responded in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill was
passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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