§3772 Rights in Technical Data: Provisions Required in Contracts

Summary

Require federal agencies named in the law to put clear rules about technical data into their supply and service contracts whenever possible. The contract must say who can use or own technical data and, for commercial products, assume private funding unless shown otherwise. It must list what data must be delivered and when, set rules for checking the data, make separate line items for data, and try to say ahead of time which data will have limits on the government’s use. Contractors must update and deliver data when engineering changes affect form, fit, or function. Contracts must also include fixes the government can use if data is missing, wrong, or does not meet requirements, and allow the agency to withhold payments while delivery problems continue. The government may also require, up to six years after acceptance of the last non-data item or after contract end (whichever is later), delivery of data made under the contract for re-buying, support, changes, or upgrades of major or weapon systems or noncommercial items, and pay only reasonable conversion and delivery costs when the data was developed with federal funds or fits certain listed categories. The government’s right to later demand data is not lost just because it did not challenge a contractor’s claimed restriction in time. The Secretary of Defense may set standards that require or seek a time limit (no more than 7 years) after which the United States can use all delivered technical data for any U.S. purpose. The Secretary may also allow certain government support contractors to access and use delivered data only to give independent technical advice or help the government oversee a program. Finally, the Secretary may issue reasonable, flexible guidance for negotiating who gets what rights in technical data.