Cuyamaca College
Environmental Technology Program
Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs)
Legislated by the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986, a CRADA is a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement. It is a written agreement between a private company and a government agency to work together on a project. CRADA vehicles provide incentives that can help speed the commercialization of Federally-developed technology, making them excellent technology transfer tools.
By entering into a CRADA, the Federal government and non-Federal partners can optimize their resources research by sharing the costs. The non-Federal partner agrees to provide funds, personnel, services, facilities, equipment or other resources needed to conduct a specific research or development effort while the Federal government agrees to provide similar resources (but not funds) directly to the partner.
CRADAs offer the following benefits:
- Enable both partners to stretch their research budgets and optimize resources
- Provide a means for sharing technical expertise, ideas, and information in a protected environment. The Federal government can protect from disclosure any proprietary information brought to the CRADA effort by the partner(s)
- Permit Federal and non-Federal scientists to work closely and offer non-Federal partners access to a wide range of expertise in many disciplines within the Federal government
- Allow the partners to agree to share intellectual property emerging from the effort or to agree that one partner may retain exclusive license to patentable research.
- Permit the Federal government to protect information emerging from the CRADA from disclosure for up to five years, if this is desirable
How is a CRADA Created?
The process of establishing a CRADA begins with dialog on a technical area of mutual interest between an outside organization and the Federal laboratory. The next step involves the joint development of a work plan which outlines the responsibilities of each party under the CRADA. The completed work plan in conjunction with a standard legal section are combined to form the complete Research and Development Agreement (RDA) document. The RDA goes into effect after both parties have signed it.
How is Proprietary Information Protected under a CRADA?
The Government protects any proprietary information brought to the CRADA effort by the partner. Federal scientists can work closely with their non-Federal counterparts, exchanging ideas and information while protecting company secrets. Also, all parties can mutually agree, if they so desire, to keep research results emerging from the CRADA confidential and free from disclosure through the Freedom of Information Act for up to five years.
CRADAs also allow flexibility in patenting and patent licensing, enabling the government and the collaborating partner to share patents and patent licenses or permitting one partner to retain exclusive rights to a patent or patent license. CRADAs give the non-Federal partner an opportunity to obtain rights to commercialize the results of government R&D. Flexibility is key to the success of the CRADA.
What are the Different Types of CRADAs?
In its early stages, CRADA negotiation was cumbersome and slow, requiring 10 to 18 months after the Federal funding was identified and the commercial partner was ready to join the development effort. This is nearly half of an entire product cycle in some areas of high technology, and the CRADA only starts the product cycle.
The largest part of the time, effort, and cost of the commercialization cycle generally comes after the research, testing, and verification. A 10-to-18-month CRADA process could make delivery of the final product too late to be competitive.
In order to speed the CRADA process, the modular CRADA was developed. The modular CRADA is responsive to the needs of participants while protecting the interests of the government and the taxpayers.
The modular CRADA enables Federal laboratories to be responsive to a broad range of the industrial partners' needs. This approach provides increased flexibility in development and speed in negotiations and approval. By applying the modular CRADA, the time to process the CRADA to final signature can be cut from months to weeks, or even days.
To facilitate Federal review and approval, all deviations from the standard provisions and pre-approved optional provisions should be identified at the time the CRADA is submitted. Close cooperation and communication between the non-Federal partner and the Federal government are critical.
In addition to the modular CRADA, the small business CRADA has been developed to expedite agreements with small businesses and other partners. The small business CRADA is a pre-approved document that must be adopted by all parties without amendment. Its use is limited to partnerships that do not exceed a combined dollar value total of $150,000 over the life of the agreement. While designed primarily for use by small businesses that may wish to avoid lengthy, and costly, negotiations, it is available to any partners that wish to accept its terms.
In addition to CRADAs with individual organizations, contractors can have CRADAs with groups of organizations, or consortia, such as the Advanced Battery Consortium, U.S. Car, and the American Textile Industry.
What are the Criteria for CRADA Funding?
There are four selection criteria that all proposed CRADAs must successfully meet before they are considered for funding:
(1) The private sector will benefit
(2) The Federal program will benefit
(3) Financial debt, if any, are indicated
(4) Milestones for the CRADA are listed
 |
 Last update 05/12/98 by Cuyamaca Web Team |