Since the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has approved billions of dollars in grants for energy-related research and development. Going forward, DOE will likely continue to play a major role in grant-making. Congress is currently considering additional appropriations for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) grant program, as well as funding for many other DOE grant programs. As DOE's funding role has grown, it has become more important than ever for companies to understand the complex legal requirements that come into play when accepting a DOE grant. 

Often one of the most important issues, for both emerging and established companies, is the protection of IP rights. In this webinar, Perkins Coie attorneys explained the standard patent and data rights provisions in DOE's grant agreements and will discuss:

• Opportunities for flexibility in negotiating those terms;
• Patent rights under the Bayh-Dole Act and grantee procedures for protecting those rights;
• Data rights and the importance of avoiding (whenever possible) granting the government unlimited rights; and
• A relatively new type of agreement, known as a Technology Investment Agreement, which allows grant recipients to have greater flexibility in retaining the ownership of their IP rights.