[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 20, Volume 2]
[Revised as of April 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 20CFR435.36]

[Page 1121-1122]
 
                      TITLE 20--EMPLOYEES' BENEFITS
 
               CHAPTER III--SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
 
  PART 435_UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS FOR GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS 
 
                    Subpart C_Post-Award Requirements
 
Sec. 435.36  Intangible property.

    (a) Copyright. The recipient may copyright any work that is subject 
to copyright and was developed, or for which ownership was purchased, 
under an award. SSA reserves a royalty-free, nonexclusive and 
irrevocable right to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use the work for 
Federal purposes, and to authorize others to do so.
    (b) Patents and inventions. Recipients are subject to applicable 
regulations governing patents and inventions, including government-wide 
regulations issued by the Department of Commerce at 37 CFR part 401, 
``Rights to Inventions Made by Nonprofit Organizations and Small 
Business Firms Under Government Grants, Contracts and Cooperative 
Agreements.''
    (c) Rights of Federal Government. The Federal Government has the 
right to:
    (1) Obtain, reproduce, publish or otherwise use the data first 
produced under an award; and
    (2) Authorize others to receive, reproduce, publish, or otherwise 
use such data for Federal purposes.
    (d) FOIA requests for research data. (1) In addition, in response to 
a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for research data relating 
to published research findings produced under an award that were used by 
the Federal Government in developing an agency action that has the force 
and effect of law, SSA shall request, and the recipient shall provide, 
within a reasonable time, the research data so that they can be made 
available to the public through the procedures established under the 
FOIA. If SSA obtains the research data solely in response to a FOIA 
request, SSA may charge the requester a reasonable fee equaling the full 
incremental cost of obtaining the research data. This fee should reflect 
costs incurred by SSA, the recipient, and applicable subrecipients. This 
fee is in addition to any fees SSA may assess under the FOIA (5 U.S.C. 
552(a)(4)(A)).
    (2) The following definitions apply for purposes of this paragraph 
(d):
    (i) Research data is defined as the recorded factual material 
commonly accepted in the scientific community as necessary to validate 
research findings, but not any of the following: preliminary analyses, 
drafts of scientific papers, plans for future research, peer reviews, or 
communications with colleagues. This ``recorded'' material excludes 
physical objects (e.g., laboratory samples). Research data also do not 
include:
    (A) Trade secrets, commercial information, materials necessary to be 
held confidential by a researcher until they are published, or similar 
information which is protected under law; and
    (B) Personnel and medical information and similar information the 
disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of 
personal privacy, such as information that could be used to identify a 
particular person in a research study.
    (ii) Published is defined as either when:
    (A) Research findings are published in a peer-reviewed scientific or 
technical journal; or
    (B) A Federal agency publicly and officially cites the research 
findings in support of an agency action that has the force and effect of 
law.
    (iii) Used by the Federal Government in developing an agency action 
that has the force and effect of law is defined as when an agency 
publicly and officially cites the research findings in support of an 
agency action that has the force and effect of law.

[[Page 1122]]

    (e) Title to intangible property and debt instruments. Title to 
intangible property and debt instruments acquired under an award or 
subaward vests upon acquisition in the recipient. The recipient must use 
that property for the originally-authorized purpose, and the recipient 
may not encumber the property without approval of SSA. When no longer 
needed for the originally authorized purpose, disposition of the 
intangible property will occur in accordance with the provisions of 
Sec. 435.34(g).