“A bill to improve commercialization activities in the SBIR and STTR programs, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section amends the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs—federal R&D grant programs for small businesses, with STTR requiring collaboration with research institutions—by (1) shortening the deadline for selecting Phase II awardees to 180 days (from 1 year) following Phase I award notifications in both programs, and (2) directing participating agencies, to the extent practicable, to include in SBIR and STTR peer reviews the likelihood of commercialization alongside scientific and technical merit and feasibility, with at least one reviewer having commercialization expertise in each review.
This section expands authority under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs for direct-to-Phase II awards—bypassing the standard Phase I feasibility stage—to all federal agencies with such programs during FY2025-2027 (previously limited to the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, and Department of Education during FY2012-2025), subject to a new cap of 10% of an agency's total SBIR/STTR funds (15% for NIH). (As background, SBIR and STTR provide competitive grants to small businesses for federal R&D, with Phase I for proof-of-concept, Phase II for prototype development, and Phase III for commercialization.) This section further directs the Small Business Administration Administrator to brief the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and the House Committee on Small Business within one year of enactment regarding the authority.
This section requires each federal agency participating in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs—i.e., programs that award grants to small businesses for R&D with commercial potential—to designate an existing official as the agency's Technology Commercialization Official (or identify an official with substantially similar duties). The official must have commercialization experience; provide guidance to SBIR and STTR awardees on commercializing and transitioning technologies; identify and advocate for technologies ready for Phase III awards (i.e., non-SBIR/STTR contracts); coordinate with the Small Business Administration (SBA) and other agencies on market opportunities; and submit annual reports to SBA on commercialization progress and actions to simplify application processes.
This section modifies technical and business assistance for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program award recipients (i.e., funding for services such as access to intellectual property protections and now cybersecurity assistance) by (1) requiring federal agencies to authorize recipients to select such assistance from vendors on agency lists, other vendors, or new staff hiring/augmentation/training; (2) permitting use of up to $6,500 per Phase I project and up to $50,000 per Phase II project through any combination of those means, included in or added to the award; and (3) authorizing federal agencies to conduct targeted reviews of such assistance funding.
This section requires each federal agency conducting a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program that also has an Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program to (1) offer recipients of SBIR or STTR awards the option to participate in an I-Corps teams course and (2) authorize such recipients to use technical assistance funds awarded under subsection (q) for that participation. Costs of participation may be covered by an I-Corps team grant, subsection (q) funds, the participating team or other sources, or any combination thereof.
This section establishes an annual commercialization impact assessment report for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs (i.e., federal R&D grant programs that fund small businesses to develop innovative technologies with commercial potential). The Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator must coordinate with participating agencies to measure, over the preceding nine fiscal years, specified metrics for each small business concern that has received at least 50 Phase II awards (i.e., development-phase grants) on or after October 1 of the ninth fiscal year before the report year, including (1) total dollar value of non-SBIR/STTR federal awards, contracts, and subcontracts; (2) total dollar value of SBIR/STTR Phase I and II awards; (3) average annual gross revenue; (4) revenue from sales or licensing of new products and services from the research; (5) additional non-Phase I/II SBIR/STTR investment; (6) mergers and acquisitions; (7) new spin-out companies; (8) patents; (9) year of first Phase II award and employees at that time; (10) current employees; and (11) Phase III awards (i.e., commercialization-phase awards) number and value. The report must be included in the SBA's annual SBIR/STTR report under subsection (b)(7) and submitted to the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and the House Committees on Science, Space, and Technology and Small Business.
This section requires the Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator to enter into an interagency agreement with the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to establish a prioritized patent examination program for recipients of awards under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs (i.e., federal R&D grant programs primarily for small businesses). The section further directs the Administrator to coordinate with the USPTO Director to provide outreach on the USPTO's Pro Se Assistance Program and scam prevention services.