small_business_study_PWS.docx

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

Small Business Study - Leahy-Smith America Invents Act

1.0 GENERAL. The Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President. It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-friendly formats, and it funds research into small business issues. For more information on the Office of Advocacy, including past research projects, see (http://www.sba.gov/advocacy/847) and (http://www.sba.gov/advo/research) for archived reports.

1.1 BACKGROUND. The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AlA) shifted the U.S. patent system from a first-to-invent to a first-inventor-to-file system. The AlA provides that an inventor must file a patent application before any public disclosures of the same subject matter is made by others. This is what is referred to as the novelty requirement under the law. The AlA provides two limited exceptions to this requirement, both of which exclude certain pre-filing disclosures from the universe of patent-defeating disclosures (i.e. disqualifying prior art). These exceptions encompass what are referred to as the grace period provisions of the AlA. First, the AlA makes an exception for all inventor and inventor-derived disclosures made within the one year prior to filing a patent application. Second, the AlA makes an exception for disclosures of the "same subject matter" by third parties within the one year prior to the filing date of a patent application. The scope of this second exception under§ 102(b)(l)(B) of the AlA.

1.2 OBJECTIVE and Scope. The Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (or "AIA") is an Act by the U.S. Congress to provide for patent reform. §146 (6) (l) requires the office of advocacy to conduct a study conforming to:

(l) SMALL BUSINESS STUDY.--

(1) DEFINITIONS.--In this subsection--

(A) The term “Chief Counsel” means the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration;

(B) the term “General Counsel” means the General Counsel of the United States Patent and Trademark Office; and

(C) The term “small business concern” has the meaning given that term under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).

(2) STUDY.--

(A) IN GENERAL.--The Chief Counsel, in consultation with the General Counsel, shall conduct a study of the effects of eliminating the use of dates of invention in determining whether an applicant is entitled to a patent under title 35, United States Code.

(B) AREAS OF STUDY.--The study conducted under subparagraph (A) shall include examination of the effects of eliminating the use of invention dates, including examining--

(i) How the change would affect the ability of small business concerns to obtain patents and their costs of obtaining patents;

(ii) Whether the change would create, mitigate, or exacerbate any disadvantages for applicants for patents that are small business concerns relative to applicants for patents that are not small business concerns, and whether the change would create any advantages for applicants for patents that are small business concerns relative to applicants for patents that are not small business concerns;

(iii) The cost savings and other potential benefits to small business concerns of the change; and

(iv) The feasibility and costs and benefits to small business concerns of alternative means of determining whether an applicant is entitled to a patent under title 35, United States Code.

2.0 ACRONYMS.

3.0 GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY (GFP) AND INFORMATION (GFI). N/A

4.0 CONTRACTOR FURNISHED PROPERTY AND SERVICES. The Contractor shall be required to provide all necessary property, software and services not provided by the Government to enable Contractor personnel to perform services under this award.

5.0 SPECIFIC TASKS. The methodology and hypotheses put forth in the technical proposal, which should clearly show how the research will be conducted, are binding, and are expected to be an integral part of the final report. The analysis is expected to fully document the issues related to small business and innovation, job growth, and green entrepreneurship. Factors that will favorably impact the ratings of a proposal include: soundness of methodology, demonstrated knowledge of the covered literature, familiarity with small business research, novelty of the ideas put forth, and quality and use of data. See the "Background" and "Scope" sections above for further expectations for this research. The final product should contain a thorough review of the current and relevant literature, discussion of the data and findings, and overall conclusions. The report should demonstrate policy relevance to current issues. For other details on the final product, see the "Deliverables" and "Performance Requirement Summary" sections that follow.

5.1. Attend Project Kick-Off Meeting. The Contractor shall attend a project kick-off meeting with the COR either in person or via telephone with other members of the Government team to discuss the scope. The meeting date shall be conducted within 10 calendar days after award and will be scheduled by the COR.

5.2. Develop the report. Contractors must adhere to the following when submitting drafts and the final report, with the final version completed not more than one year from the date of award.

5.2.1. Contractors will work with the contracting officer's representative (COR) to give periodic written updates. All preliminary drafts of the final report must be clearly marked "draft."

5.2.2. The final report must be thoroughly edited and of high quality before submission to the COR. All research and data projects are subject to the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Advocacy data quality and peer review guidelines. Per these guidelines, peer review may range from internal Advocacy staff review to that of external reviewers in relevant fields such as academics or technical experts. Feedback from this process will be incorporated into subsequent drafts before the report can be finalized for release.

5.2.3. The final report must contain an executive summary and table of contents. It must conform with the current version of one of the major style guides, such as the University of Chicago Manual of Style or the American Psychological Association (APA) Style Manual, in terms of grammar, style, and organization. In particular, each table and figure must have a source specified on the page; references, footnotes and bibliographies shall be formatted consistent with a major style guide; and all pages shall have page numbers, including tables and figures.

5.2.4. All government agency websites are required to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Section 508 of the ADA's 1998 amendments requires the electronic documents posted by Federal agencies to be accessible to employees and members of the public with disabilities to the extent that it does not pose an "undue burden." To comply with this mandate, the final report must be formatted according to the Office of Advocacy's guidelines to achieve 508 compatibility, with these guidelines provided by the COR at the time of the award. Per the guidelines, written descriptions of all figures and charts in the final report must be provided in a separate document.

5.2.5. The contractor shall provide the Office of Advocacy with an electronic version of the study within twelve months from the contract start date. The research is expected to progress roughly along the milestone timeline in table 5-1 and with the following benchmark submissions to the COR.

5.2.6. The final report must be double-spaced. The format of the electronic version must be a native word processing software format. An Acrobat (PDF) file is not acceptable. All tables, graphics, and charts must be supplied in an editable software format. The type used in the document will be no smaller than 12 point for manuscript text; 10 point for tables, graphics and charts; and 9 point for footnotes.

5.2.7. The Office of Advocacy will prepare a cover page carrying the following disclaimer, "The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations found in this study are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of Advocacy, the United States Small Business Administration, or the United States Government."

5.2.8. Following approval and acceptance of the final report, the Office of Advocacy will assign a date for public release of the report. Upon release, an electronic final report, along with an Office of Advocacy-prepared research summary, will be posted on Advocacy's web site, http://www.sba.gov/advocacy/847, and the report also will be available for sale at cost through the National Technical Information Service.

5.2.9. The definition of small businesses should be the same as used by the U.S.

Small Business Administration's Office of Size Standards.

5.2.10. The Office of Advocacy encourages contractors to publish their findings in professional journals, if possible, but they can do so only after completing the contract. They must also give appropriate citation to the Office of Advocacy for sponsoring the research and reference the SBA contract number.

Table 5-1 Milestones

review and Advocacy review

6.0 PROGRESS REVIEWS/REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

6.1. Milestone timelines will be monitored through the use of in-progress reviews (IPRs) and monthly status reports. The Contractor shall coordinate and conduct a monthly IPR with the COR and other Government representatives. IPRs may be conducted by teleconference. IPRs shall be short, concise descriptions of work progress, shall address and resolve shortfalls and shall identify any issues that pertain to the production of the deliverables, to include draft chapters, final draft, and final approved draft. The Contractor shall prepare meeting minutes and submit them to the COR within five (5) working days of the date of each meeting. Meeting minutes shall be prepared in a generally accepted business format in Microsoft Word. The contractor shall deliver and update monthly, a milestone chart showing all development periods, deliveries, review periods, and other pertinent information required to establish a general baseline for IPRs.

6.2. The Contractor shall prepare a monthly status report. These status reports shall be submitted to the COR NLT the fifth (5) of each month following the reporting period except for the final month of performance, which is addressed in paragraph 6.3 below. Status reports shall be formatted in Microsoft Word using correct grammar and spelling and shall be submitted electronically. The COR will notify the Contractor of acceptability within seven (7) calendar days of receipt. If unsatisfactory, Contractor shall have five (5) working days to address Government comments and submit revised reports. The monthly status reports shall include the following information:

6.2.1. A summary of activities, status of ongoing tasks, progress, and planned activities.

6.2.2. A schedule of deliverables and deliveries during the report period.

6.2.3. A list of issues and/or problems and how it was resolved.

6.2.4. Projected activities for the next reporting period.

6.3. The Contractor shall submit a final report to the COR that catalogs all work and all work performance measures accomplished during the task order period. It shall include all results of analyses, summary of deliverables, conclusions and recommendations. The final report shall be provided NLT 15 calendar days following the Government’s approval and acceptance of the final approved draft, but NLT 10 days before end of task order period of performance. A general business format is acceptable for this report.

7.0 INSPECTION/SURVEILLANCE AND ACCEPTANCE. The COR will perform quality assurance by using the Government prepared Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) in conjunction with the Contractor’s Quality Control Plan (QCP).

7.1. Contractor-performed inspections are independent of those performed by the COR. The Contractor shall perform all inspections prior to requesting acceptance of the work by the COR.

7.2. Final Government inspection and acceptance of all work performed, reports and other deliverables will be performed at the place of delivery or locations designated by the COR.

7.3. General acceptance criteria or quality measures as set forth in paragraphs 7.4 through 7.8 below will be applied to each deliverable and other work product received from the Contractor under this PWS.

7.4. Accuracy – All deliverables shall be accurate in presentation, technical content, and adherence to accepted elements of style.

7.5. Clarity – All deliverables shall be concise and clear at every level of distribution. All diagrams shall be easy to understand and be relevant to the supporting narrative.

7.6. Consistency to Requirements – All deliverables must satisfy the requirements of this PWS.

7.7. File Editing – All text and diagrammatic files shall be delivered in editable format.

7.7.1. Content – Deliverables shall provide sufficient information/detail to document thoroughly the topic being covered, be self-explanatory and able to stand on their own merit.

7.8. Timeliness – Deliverables shall be submitted on or before the due date specified in this PWS.

8.0 QUALITY CONTROL PLAN. The Contractor shall establish and maintain a complete QCP to ensure the requirements of the task order are provided as specified. One copy of the Contractor’s QCP shall be provided to the COR at the kick-off meeting.

8.1. The plan shall include:

8.1.1. An inspection system covering all deliverables provided by the Contractor. It shall specify the areas to be inspected on both a scheduled or unscheduled basis, how often inspections are accomplished, and the title of the individuals who shall perform the inspection.

8.1.2. The methods for identifying and preventing defects in the quality of deliverables performed before the level of performance becomes unacceptable.

8.1.3. Provisions for records to be maintained by the Contractor on all inspections conducted by the Contractor and the necessary corrective actions taken. This documentation shall be made available to the Government upon request during the term of the task order.

8.1.4. Corrective Actions. At any time it is determined by the CO that the quality control system, personnel, instructions, controls, tests, or records are not providing results, in conformance with task order requirements, action shall be taken by the Contractor to correct the deficiency, e.g. replacement of personnel, additional quality control inspections.

9.0 PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY (PRS). The table below summarizes the contractual requirements that will be verified as contractually compliant by the COR. Each requirement includes a Government-determined performance standard, the minimum acceptable quality level, and the method that will be used to monitor the deliveries.

9.1. Non-PRS Items: Requirements not specifically listed in the PRS will be monitored through observations, review of Contractor’s quality control program and other quality assurance methods.

Table 9.1 Performance Requirements Summary

Desired Outcome

Performance Standard

Acceptable Quality Level (AQL)

Monitoring Surveillance Method

Incentive/ Disincentive

The COR will perform 100% inspection.

Full payment shall be made for 100% compliance to the acceptable quality level shall be tallied and resultant data will be used to substantiate objective Contractor past performance ratings.

Final Draft

Full payment shall be made for 100% compliance to the acceptable quality level shall be tallied and resultant data will be used to substantiate objective Contractor past performance ratings.

Final Approved Draft

Full payment shall be made for 100% compliance to the acceptable quality level shall be tallied and resultant data will be used to substantiate objective Contractor past performance ratings.

Full payment shall be made for 100% compliance to the acceptable quality level shall be tallied and resultant data will be used to substantiate objective Contractor past performance ratings.

10.0 DELIVERABLES ACCEPTANCE AND PAYMENT.

10.1. The COR is responsible for monitoring the delivery and due times and may recommend changes to the proposed deliverable schedule relating to research report development to the Contracting Officer (CO). Contract changes will only be authorized by the CO through a contract modification.

Table 10.2 Deliverables

Small Business Study – Leahy-Smith America Invents Act

reports) Periodic updates on a schedule agreed to between the Contractor and the COR

10.3. Payment. The Contractor shall submit a schedule of delivery and a proposed milestone payment plan. The milestone payment plan shall be based on deliverables. The Contractor shall be paid IAW the final COR approved plan and the Government’s acceptance of services performed under this award. The Contractor shall not be paid more often than monthly.

11.0 TRAVEL. The Government will not reimburse the Contractor for travel in order to perform this contract.

12.0 PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS. The Contractor shall provide personnel to perform the specific tasks outlined in this PWS.

12.1. Education. A Ph.D. in any field.

12.2. Work Experience. Minimum of - The researcher shall have technical expertise in the subject matter, adequate research, writing skills, and doctrine development experience to produce a coherent report.

12.3. In the event the Contractor desires to substitute or change personnel, the Contractor shall submit to the COR, all documentation of the qualifications and experience of proposed personnel described in paragraph 12.0 for Government review. The COR will evaluate and respond (via email) with acceptance or non-acceptance, to include reason(s), within 72 hours. No personnel may be used to perform any services until such requirements are fully documented and verified by the Government.

13.0 Access to sensitive information. N/A

14.0. DELIVERABLE DISTRIBUTION. All deliverables shall be delivered to the COR.

15.0. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS. FAR clause 52.227-17, Rights in Data—Special Work is incorporated by reference in this contract. For purposes of this contract, the term “works” shall also include all final reports, drafts, or deliverables whether contemplated or completed under the tasks outlined throughout the is PWS.

15.1 Privacy Act. The Contractor shall not create or maintain a Privacy Act system of records prior to public notice. If the Contractor receives a Privacy Act request, the Contractor shall be responsible for searching for the records and providing those records to a Government official who, as the authorized official, will make the decision on releasing the Privacy Act information.

16.0 Contractor Identification. Contractor personnel shall clearly identify themselves by including the Contractors name in all email correspondence, clearly displaying on outside of clothing a badge provided by the Contractor to be worn at all meetings conducted with the Government, and introducing themselves as a Contractor employee at the beginning of every meeting, telephone or video-teleconference.

17.0 ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST. The Contractor shall identify, at the time of proposal to the Government, any organizational conflict of interest clauses they or their sub-Contractors are subject to, current or within three years of federal Government contract services, by providing, with their offer, a copy of the clause, a description of the contract services performed, a contract number, a Governmental POC, and a phone number for that POC. The Contractor shall not employ any person who is an employee of the U.S. Government, whether military or civilian, if employing that person would create a conflict of interest.

18.0 Period and Place of Performance. The Period of Performance shall not exceed 12 months from the date of award. The Contractor shall perform all work at its own facilities.