Cooperative Research and Development Agreement
Encyclopedia
In the United States, a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA or CRDA) is an agreement between a government agency
and a private company to work together on research and development.
of technology
, optimize resources, and protect the private company involved. A CRADA allows both parties to keep research results confidential for up to five years under the Freedom of Information Act
.
Private corporations participating in a CRADA are allowed to file patent
s, and they retain patent rights on inventions developed by the CRADA. The government gets a license to the patents.
Government agency
A government or state agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of agency types...
and a private company to work together on research and development.
Description
Designated under the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-502) (which amended the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Act of 1986), a CRADA is intended to speed the commercializationCommercialization
Commercialization is the process or cycle of introducing a new product or production method into the market. The actual launch of a new product is the final stage of new product development, and the one where the most money will have to be spent for advertising, sales promotion, and other marketing...
of technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
, optimize resources, and protect the private company involved. A CRADA allows both parties to keep research results confidential for up to five years under the Freedom of Information Act
Freedom of Information Act (United States)
The Freedom of Information Act is a federal freedom of information law that allows for the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States government. The Act defines agency records subject to disclosure, outlines mandatory disclosure...
.
Private corporations participating in a CRADA are allowed to file patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
s, and they retain patent rights on inventions developed by the CRADA. The government gets a license to the patents.