tract appropriate provisions to apply the provisions of the Act and regulation to the system, including prohibitions against improper release by the contractor, his employees, agents, or subcontractors.

(3) Other service contracts. Contracting officers entering into general service contracts shall be responsible for determining the appropriateness of including provisions in the contract to prevent potential misuse (inadvertent or otherwise) by employees, agents, or subcontractors of the contractor.

(f) Rules Governing Responsible Department Officials. In addition to the requirements for Systems Employees, responsible Department officials shall:

(1) Respond to all requests for notification of or access, disclosure, or amendment of records in a timely fashion in accordance with the Act and regulation;

(2) Make any amendment of records accurately and in a timely fashion;

(3) Inform all persons whom the accounting records show have received copies of the record prior to the amendments of the correction; and

(4) Associate any statement of disagreement with the disputed record, and

(a) Transmit a copy of the statement to all persons whom the accounting records show have received a copy of the disputed record, and

(b) Transmit that statement with any future disclosure.

APPENDIX B-ROUTINE USES APPLICABLE TO MORE THAN ONE SYSTEM OF RECORDS MAINTAINED BY DE

(1) In the event that a system of records maintained by this agency to carry out its functions indicates a violation or potential violation of law, whether civil, criminal or regulatory in nature, and whether arising by general statute or particular program statute, or by regulation, rule or order issued pursuant thereto, the relevant records in the system of records may be referred, as a routine use, to the appropriate agency, whether federal, or foreign, charged with the responsibility of investigating or prosecuting such violation or charged with enforcing or implementing the statute, or rule, regulation or order issued pursuant thereto.

(2) Referrals may be made of assignments of research investigators and project monitors to specific research projects to the Smithsonian Institution to contribute to the Smithsonian Science Information Exchange, Inc.

(3) In the event the Department deems it desirable or necessary, in determining whether particular records are required to be disclosed under the Freedom of Informa

tion Act, disclosure may be made to the Department of Justice for the purpose of obtaining its advice.

(4) A record from this system of records may be disclosed as a "routine use" to a federal, state or local agency maintaining civil, criminal or other relevant enforcement records or other pertinent records, such as current licenses, if necessary to obtain a record relevant to an agency decision concerning the hiring or retention of an employee, the issuance of a security clearance, the letting of a contract, or the issuance of a license, grant or other benefit.

A record from this system of records may be disclosed to a federal agency, in response to its request, in connection with the hiring or retention of an employee, the issuance of a security clearance, the reporting of an investigation of an employee, the letting of a contract, or the issuance of a license, grant, or other benefit by the requesting agency, to the extent that the record is relevant and necessary to the requesting agency's decision on the matter.

(5) In the event that a system of records maintained by this agency to carry out its function indicates a violation or potential violation of law, whether civil, criminal or regulatory in nature, and whether arising by general statute or particular program statute, or by regulation, rule or order issued pursuant thereto, the relevant records in the system of records may be referred, as a routine use, to the appropriate agency, whether state or local charged with the responsibility of investigating or prosecuting such violation or charged with enforcing or implementing the statute, or rule, regulation or order issued pursuant thereto.

(6) Where federal agencies having the power to subpoena other federal agencies' records, such as the Internal Revenue Service or the Civil Rights Commission, issue a subpoena to the Department for records in this system of records, the Department will make such records available.

(7) Where a contract between a component of the Department and a labor organization recognized under E.O. 11491 provides that the agency will disclose personal records relevant to the organization's mission, records in this system of records may be disclosed to such organization.

(8) Where the appropriate official of the Department, pursuant to the Department's Freedom of Information Regulation determines that it is in the public interest to disclose a record which is otherwise exempt from mandatory disclosure, disclosure may be made from this system of records.

(9) The Department contemplates that it will contract with a private firm for the purpose of collating, analyzing, aggregating or otherwise refining records in this system. Relevant records will be disclosed to such a

Inventions developed through the resources and activities of the Department are a potential resource of great value to the public. It is the policy of the Department:

(a) To safeguard the public interest in inventions developed by Department employees, contractors and grantees with the aid of public funds and facilities;

(b) To encourage and recognize individual and cooperative achievement in research and investigations; and

(c) To establish a procedure, consistent with pertinent statutes, Executive orders and general Government regulations, for the determination of rights and obligations relating to the patenting of inventions.

§ 6.1 Publication or patenting of inventions.

It is the general policy of the Department that the results of Department research should be made widely, promptly and freely available to other research workers and to the public. This availability can generally be adequately preserved by the dedication of a Government-owned invention to the public. Determinations to file a domestic patent application on inventions in

which the Department has an interest will be made where the circumstances indicate that this is desirable in the public interest, and if it is practicable to do so. Department determinations not to apply for a domestic patent on employee inventions are subject to review and approval by the Commissioner of Patents. Except where deemed necessary for protecting the patent claim, the fact that a patent application has been or may be filed will not require any departure from normal policy regarding the dissemination of the results of Department research.

§ 6.3 Licensing of Government-owned patents.

(a) Licenses to practice inventions covered by patents and pending patent applications owned by the U.S. Government as represented by this Department will generally be royalty free, revocable and nonexclusive. They will normally be issued to all applicants and will generally contain no limitations or standards relating to the quality or testing of the products to be manufactured, sold, or distributed thereunder.

(b) Where it appears however that the public interest will be served under the circumstances of the particular case by licenses which impose conditions, such as those relating to quality or testing of products, requirement of payment of royalties to the Government, etc., or by the issuance of limited exclusive licenses by the Secretary after notice and opportunity for hearing thereon, such licenses may be issued.

§ 6.4 Central records; confidentiality.

Central files and records shall be maintained of all inventions, patents, and licenses in which the Department has an interest, together with a record of all licenses issued by the Department under such patents. Invention reports required from employees or others for the purpose of obtaining determinations of ownership, and documents and information obtained for the purpose of prosecuting patent applications shall be confidential and

shall be disclosed only as required for official purposes or with the consent of the inventor.

PART 7-EMPLOYEE INVENTIONS

Sec.

7.0 Who are employees.

7.1 Duty of employee to report inventions. 7.3 Determination as to domestic rights. 7.4 Option to acquire foreign rights. 7.7 Notice to employee of determination. 7.8 Employee's right of appeal.

AUTHORITY: 5 U.S.C. 301.

SOURCE: 45 FR 30814, May 9, 1980, unless otherwise noted.

§ 7.0 Who are employees.

As used in this part, the term "Government employee” means any officer or employee, civilian or military, except such part-time employees or part-time consultants as may be excluded therefrom by a determination made in writing by the head of the employee's office or constituent organization, pursuant to an exemption approved by the Commissioner of Patents that to include him or them would be impracticable or inequitable, given the reasons therefor. A person shall not be considered to be a parttime employee or part-time consultant for this purpose unless the terms of his employment contemplate that he shall work for less than the minimum number of hours per day, or less than a minimum number of days per week, or less than the minimum number of weeks per year, regularly required of full-time employees of his class.

87.1 Duty of employee to report inventions.

Every Department employee is required to report to the Secretary in accordance with the procedures established therefor, every invention made by him (whether or not jointly with others) which bears any relation to his official duties or which was made in whole or in any part during working hours, or with any contribution of Government facilities, equipment, material, funds, or information, or of time or services of other Government employees on official duty.

§ 7.3 Determination as to domestic rights.

The determination of the ownership of the domestic right, title, and interest in and to an invention which is or may be patentable, made by a Government employee while under the administrative jurisdiction of the Department, will be made in writing by the Secretary in accordance with the provisions of Executive Order 10096 and Government-wide regulations issued thereunder by the Commissioner of Patents as follows:

(a) The Government as represented by the Secretary shall obtain the entire domestic right, title and interest in and to all inventions made by any Government employee (1) during working hours, or (2) with a contribution by the Government of facilities, equipment, materials, funds, or information, or of time or services of other Government employees on official duty, or (3) which bear a direct relation to or are made in consequence of the official duties of the inventor.

(b) In any case where the contribution of the Government, as measured by any one or more of the criteria set forth in paragraph (a) of this section, to the invention is insufficient equitably to justify a requirement of assignment to the Government of the entire domestic right, title and interest in and to such invention, or in any case where the Government has insufficient interest in an invention to obtain the entire domestic right, title, and interest therein (although the Government could obtain same under paragraph (a) of this section), the Department, subject to the approval of the Commissioner, shall leave title to such invention in the employee, subject, however, to the reservation to the Government of a nonexclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free license in the invention with power to grant licenses for all governmental purposes, such reservation to appear, where practicable, in any patent, domestic or foreign, which may issue on such invention.

(c) In applying the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, to the facts and circumstances relating to the making of any particular invention, it shall be presumed that an invention made by an employee who is

employed or assigned (1) to invent or improve or perfect any art, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, (2) to conduct or perform research, development work, or both, (3) to supervise, direct, coordinate, or review Government financed or conducted research, development work, or both, or (4) to act in a liaison capacity among governmental or nongovernmental agencies or individuals engaged in such work, falls within the provisions of paragraph (a) of this section, and it shall be presumed that any invention made by any other employee falls within the provisions of paragraph (b) of this section. Either presumption may be rebutted by a showing of the facts and circumstances and shall not preclude a determination that these facts and circumstances justify leaving the entire right, title and interest in and to the invention in the Government employee, subject to law.

(d) In any case wherein the Government neither (1) obtains the entire domestic right, title and interest in and to an invention pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (a) of this section, nor (2) reserves a nonexclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free license in the invention, with power to grant licenses for all governmental purposes, pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (b) of this section, the Government shall leave the entire right, title and interest in and to the invention in the Government employee, subject to law.

§ 7.4 Option to acquire foreign rights.

In any case where it is determined that all domestic rights should be assigned to the Government, it shall further be determined, pursuant to Executive Order 9865 and Governmentwide regulations issued thereunder, that the Government shall reserve an option to require the assignment of such rights in all or in any specified foreign countries. In case where the inventor is not required to assign the patent rights in any foreign country or countries to the Government or the Government fails to exercise its option within such period of time as may be provided by regulations issued by the Commissioner of Patents, any application for a patent which may be filed in such country or countries by the in

ventor or his assignee shall nevertheless be subject to a nonexclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free license to the Government for all governmental purposes, including the power to issue sublicenses for use in behalf of the Government and/or in furtherance of the foreign policies of the Government.

§ 7.7 Notice to employee of determination.

The employee-inventor shall be notified in writing of the Department's determination of the rights to his invention and of his right of appeal, if any. Notice need not be given if the employee stated in writing that he would agree to the determination of ownership which was in fact made.

$7.8 Employee's right of appeal.

An employee who is aggrieved by a determination of the Department may appeal to the Commissioner of Patents, pursuant to section 4(d) of Executive Order 10096, as amended by Executive Order 10930, and regulations issued thereunder, by filing a written appeal with the Commissioner, in duplicate, and a copy of the appeal with the Secretary within 30 days (or such longer period as the Commissioner may, for good cause, fix in any case) after receiving written notice of such determination.

of public moneys should be utilized in the manner which would best serve the public interest. It is believed that the public interest will in general be best served if inventive advances resulting therefrom are made freely available to the Government, to science, to industry, and to the general public.

(b) On the other hand, in some cases it may be advisable to permit a utilization of the patent process in order to foster an adequate commercial development to make a new invention widely available. Moreover, it is recognized that inventions frequently arise in the course of research activities which also receive substantial support from other sources, as well as from the Federal grant. It would not be consistent with the cooperative nature of such activities to attribute a particular invention primarily to support received from any one source. In all these cases the Department has a responsibility to see that the public use of the fruits of the research will not be unduly restricted or denied.

(c) The following conditions have been adopted to govern the treatment of inventions made in these various types of situations. They are designed to afford suitable protection to the public interest while giving appropriate recognition to the legitimate interests of others who have contributed to the invention.

§ 8.1 Conditions to be included in research grants.

Subject to legislative directives or Executive orders providing otherwise, all grants in aid of research shall provide as a condition that any invention arising out of the activities assisted by the grant shall be promptly and fully reported, and shall provide either:

(a) That the ownership and manner of disposition of all rights in and to such invention shall be subject to determination by the Secretary; or

(b) That the ownership and disposition of all domestic rights shall be left for determination by the grantee institution in accordance with the grantee's established policies and procedures, with such modifications as may be agreed upon and specified in the grant, provided the Secretary finds

that these are such as to assure that the invention will be made available without unreasonable restrictions or excessive royalties, and provided the Government shall receive a royaltyfree license, with a right to issue sublicenses as provided in § 8.3, under any patent applied for or obtained upon the invention.

(c) Wherever practicable, any arrangement with the grantee pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section shall provide in accordance with Executive Order 9865 that there be reserved to the Government an option, for a period to be prescribed, to file foreign patent applications upon the invention.

§ 8.2 Determination as to domestic rights. Rights in any invention not subject to disposition by the grantee pursuant to § 8.1(b) are for determination by the Secretary as follows:

(a) If he finds that there is adequate assurance that the invention will either be effectively dedicated to the public, or that any patent which may be obtained thereunder will be generally available for royalty-free and nonexclusive licensing, the effectuation of these results may be left to the grant

ee.

(b) If he finds that the invention will thereby be more adequately and quickly developed for widest use and that there are satisfactory safeguards against unreasonable royalties and repressive practices, the invention may be assigned to a competent organization for development and administration for the term of the patent or such lesser period as may be deemed necessary.

(c) If he finds that the interest of another contributing Government agency is paramount to the interest of the Department of Education or when otherwise legally required or in the public interest, the invention may be left for disposition by that agency in accordance with its own policy.

(d) In all other cases, he shall require that all domestic rights in the invention shall be assigned to the United States unless he determines that the invention is of such doubtful importance or the Government's