[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 44 (Thursday, March 6, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12693-12695]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-04931]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary

[Document Identifier: HHS-OS-20762-30D]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Public Comment Request

AGENCY: Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for 
Financial Resources, Office of Grants and Acquisition Policy and 
Accountability, Division of Acquisition, Department of Health and Human 
Services, has submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR), 
described below, to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
review and approval. The ICR is for a new collection. There were no 
comments received during the first public review of this ICR. OMB will 
accept further comments from the public on this ICR during the review 
and approval period.

DATES: Comments on the ICR must be received on or before April 7, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments to [email protected] or via 
facsimile to (202) 395-5806.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Information Collection Clearance 
staff, [email protected] or (202) 690-6162.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: When submitting comments or requesting 
information, please include the Information Collection Request Title 
and document identifier HHS-OS-20762-30D for reference.

[[Page 12694]]

    Information Collection Request Title: HHSAR 352.227-11 Patent 
Rights--Exceptional Circumstances and 352.227-14 Rights in Data--
Exceptional Circumstances
    Abstract: HHS found that systematically, over a period of several 
years, when Determinations of Exceptional Circumstances (DECs) were 
executed, additional legal protection for the patent and data rights of 
third parties beyond those covered by FAR were necessary. A decision 
was made to add two clauses--352.227-11 Patent Rights--Exceptional 
Circumstances and 352.227-14 Rights in Data--Exceptional 
Circumstances--to the HHS supplement to the FAR, the HHS Acquisition 
Regulation (HHSAR), to provide the additional legal protection 
required. These clauses would ensure that providers of proprietary 
material(s) to the government will retain all their preexisting rights 
to their material(s), and rights to any inventions made under a 
contract or subcontract (at all tiers), when a DEC has been executed. 
Rights in data regulations concern the rights of the Government, and 
organizations with which the Government contracts, to information 
developed under such contracts. The delineation of such rights is 
necessary in order to protect the contractor's rights to not disclose 
proprietary data and to insure that non-proprietary data developed with 
public funds is available to the public. As these HHSAR clauses would 
be used in lieu of the related FAR clauses, the clauses also address 
the patent and data rights currently covered in FAR clauses 52.227-11 
and 52.227-14 prescribed under FAR part 27. It is the policy and 
objective of the Government to: (1) Use the patent system to promote 
the use of inventions arising from federally supported research or 
development; (2) Encourage maximum participation of industry in 
federally supported research and development efforts; (3) Ensure that 
these inventions are used in a manner to promote free competition and 
enterprise without unduly encumbering future research and discovery; 
(4) Promote the commercialization and public availability of the 
inventions made in the United States by United States industry and 
labor; (5) Ensure that the Government obtains sufficient rights in 
federally supported inventions to meet the needs of the Government and 
protect the public against nonuse or unreasonable use of inventions; 
and (6) Minimize the costs of administering patent policies.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: In order to accomplish 
the objectives described above through the clauses, it will be 
necessary to collect the information described below. All submissions 
are considered critical to the Government ensuring the patent and data 
rights of the Contractor, Government and third parties are protected 
appropriately.
    Likely Respondents: It is anticipated that the respondents to the 
collection of information will be the prime contractor(s), 
subcontractor(s) and third party providers for contracts awarded that 
include the two clauses 352.227-11 Patent Rights--Exceptional 
Circumstances and 352.227-14 Rights in Data--Exceptional Circumstances.
    Identify type of respondents: It is anticipated that technical, 
legal, management and administrative personnel from the prime 
contractor(s), subcontractor(s) and providers of third party materials 
for contracts awarded that include the two clauses 352.227-11 Patent 
Rights--Exceptional Circumstances and 352.227-14 Rights in Data--
Exceptional Circumstances will provide the responses to the information 
collection required.
    Burden Statement: Clause 352.227-11 contains the following 
information collections.
    (a) A request for a determination of whether the Contractor or the 
employer inventor is entitled to retain such greater rights must be 
submitted to the Agency Contracting Officer;
    (b) The Contractor shall disclose in writing each Subject Invention 
to the Agency Contracting Office and to the Director, Division of 
Extramural Inventions and Technology Resources (DEITR);
    (c) The Contractor agrees to execute or to have executed and 
promptly deliver to the Agency all instruments necessary to: 1. 
Establish or confirm the rights the Government has throughout the world 
in Subject Inventions . . . and 2. convey title to a Third party 
assignee . . . and enable the Third party assignee to obtain patent 
protection throughout the world in that Subject Invention;
    (d) The Contractor agrees to require, by written agreement, its 
employees, other than clerical and nontechnical employees, to disclose 
promptly in writing to personnel identified as responsible for the 
administration of patent matters and in a format suggested by the 
Contractor, each Subject Invention made under contract;
    (e) The Contractor agrees to provide a final invention statement 
and certification prior to the close-out of the contract listing all 
Subject Inventions or stating that there were none;
    (f) The Contractor agrees to submit, on request, periodic reports 
no more frequently than annually on the utilization of a Subject 
Invention or on efforts at obtaining such utilization that are being 
made by the Contractor or its licensees or assignees when a request 
under subparagraph b.3. has been granted by the Agency; and
    (g) All invention disclosures and requests for greater rights shall 
be sent to the Agency Contracting officer. Additionally, a copy of all 
disclosures, confirmatory licenses to the Government, face page of the 
patent applications, waivers and other routine communications under 
this funding agreement at all tiers must be sent to . . . http://www.iEdison.gov. Clause 352.227-14 contains the following two 
collections of information.
    (h) ``Accordingly, the Contractor will provide the Contracting 
Officer a copy of any proposed publication or other public disclosure 
relating to the proposed publication or other public disclosure 
relating to the work performed under this contract at least 30 days in 
advance of the disclosure.'' This information collection is being done 
to insure that the Contractor does not prematurely publish information 
concerning possible inventions made under this contract so that the 
ability to obtain patent protection on such inventions is adversely 
affected.
    (i) ``The Contracting Officer will make written inquiry to the 
Contractor affording the Contractor 60 days from receipt of the inquiry 
to provide written justification to substantiate the propriety of the 
markings.'' This information collection is being done to preserve the 
Government's right to cancel or ignore the markings at any time after 
the stated period, making the data no longer subject to any disclosure 
prohibitions.

[[Page 12695]]



                                    Total Estimated Annualized Burden--Hours
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                                                                                      Average
 Information collection (see above list ``Burden     Number of       Number of      burden per     Total burden
             statement'' for legend)                Respondents    responses per     response          hours
                                                                    respondent        (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a).............................................              63               1               8             504
(b).............................................              63               1              12             756
(c).............................................              63               3              12            2268
(d).............................................              63               3              14            2646
(e).............................................              63               1              10             630
(f).............................................              63               1               8             504
(g).............................................              63               3               8            1512
(h).............................................              63               3               3             567
(i).............................................              63               3               8            1512
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................              63              19              83          10,899
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Darius Taylor,
Deputy, Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-04931 Filed 3-5-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-24-P