[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 2, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2006]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 2CFR215.36]

[Page 57-58]
 
                     TITLE 2--GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS
 
   CHAPTER II--OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET CIRCULARS AND GUIDANCE
 
PART 215_UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS FOR GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS 
WITH INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION, HOSPITALS, AND OTHER NON-PROFIT 
ORGANIZATIONS (OMB CIRCULAR A-110)--Table of Contents
 
                    Subpart C_Post Award Requirements
 
Sec. 215.36  Intangible property.

    (a) The recipient may copyright any work that is subject to 
copyright and was developed, or for which ownership was purchased, under 
an award. The Federal awarding agency(ies) reserve 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) 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) The Federal Government has the right to:
    (1) Obtain, reproduce, publish or otherwise use the data first 
produced under an award.

[[Page 58]]

    (2) Authorize others to receive, reproduce, publish, or otherwise 
use such data for Federal purposes.
    (d) (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 was used by the Federal Government in 
developing an agency action that has the force and effect of law, the 
Federal awarding agency 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 the Federal awarding agency obtains the research data solely in 
response to a FOIA request, the agency may charge the requester a 
reasonable fee equaling the full incremental cost of obtaining the 
research data. This fee should reflect costs incurred by the agency, the 
recipient, and the applicable subrecipients. This fee is in addition to 
any fees the agency may assess under the FOIA (5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(A)).
    (2) The following definitions apply for purposes of paragraph (d) of 
this section:
    (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.
    (e) Title to intangible property and debt instruments acquired under 
an award or subaward vests upon acquisition in the recipient. The 
recipient shall use that property for the originally-authorized purpose, 
and the recipient shall not encumber the property without approval of 
the Federal awarding agency. When no longer needed for the originally 
authorized purpose, disposition of the intangible property shall occur 
in accordance with the provisions of Sec. 215.34(g).

[69 FR 26281, May 11, 2004, as amended at 70 FR 51881, Aug. 31, 2005]