Performance Work Statement (PWS) (Final) Redacted.pdf

Performance Work Statement (PWS)

Patent Application Drafting Support Services

09 November 2026

C.1.0 SCOPE

C.1.1 Objective. The objective of this requirement is to obtain patent services for the preparation of six (6) unclassified U.S. patent applications. The patent service is for an invention created by inventors working for the U.S. Army Research Laboratory at the Adelphi Laboratory Center, Adelphi, MD. The Contractor shall prepare a Patent application for the following invention disclosure tasks, within the technical areas of Mechanical, Electrical, and Chemical Engineering.

• Task 1: ARL 23-11 (Electrical)

• Task 2: ARL 24-15 (Mechanical)

• Task 3: ARL 25-18 (Electrical)

• Task 4: ARL 25-19 (Electrical)

• Task 5: ARL 25-22 (Chemical)

• Task 6: ARL 25-13 (Chemical)

C2.0 APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS

C.2.1 The Contractor shall utilize and be in compliance with the following documents in this task: Title 35, United States Code (U.S.C.), Title 37 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), and any other applicable laws and legal authorities, including the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Manuel of Patent Examining Procedures.

C.3.0 REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS

The following paragraphs outline the efforts for accomplishing the scope as stated in section C.1.0 under this contract, the Government may issue task orders for the efforts provided below.

C.3.1 Draft Patent Application. The Contractor shall prepare and complete a draft unclassified, non-provisional patent application based upon the invention disclosure provided as Government Furnished Information (GFI) upon task award. The draft application shall include the specification, the claims, the abstract, information disclosure statement (IDS) and drawings and shall be written in accordance with C.2.1.

C.3.1.1 Specification. The Contractor shall provide a completed specification to include the following: Title, Cross Reference to Related Applications, Government Interest, Field of the Invention, Background of the Invention, Summary of the Invention, Brief description of the Invention, and Detailed Description of the Invention.

C.3.1.1.1 The Contractor shall ensure that the title shall appear as the heading on the first page of the invention. The Contractor shall use up to 500 characters; the title should be short and concise.

C.3.1.2 Cross-Reference to Related Applications. The Contractor shall ensure any non-provisional application claiming the benefit of one (1) or more prior filed co-pending non-provisional applications must contain in the first sentence of the specification following the title, a reference to each prior application. The Contractor shall ensure all Cross– references to other related patent applications are included in the application.

C.3.1.3 Government Interest. The Contractor shall ensure that the Government Interest paragraph shall state the following: “Governmental Interest – The invention described herein may be manufactured, used and licensed by or for the U.S. Government.”

C.3.1.4 Field of the Invention. The Contractor shall ensure that there is a short statement of the field of endeavor to which the invention pertains. The Contractor shall ensure the section includes paraphrasing of the applicable U.S. Patent Classification Definitions or the subject matter of the claimed invention.

C.3.1.5 Background of the Invention. The Contractor shall ensure that the application contains a description of the information including references to specific documents related to the invention.

C.3.1.6 Brief Summary of the Invention. The Contractor shall provide the substance of the claim invention in summary form. The Contractor shall ensure the summary states the object of the invention and articulates advantages of the inventions.

C.3.1.7 Brief Description of the Drawings. The Contractor shall provide a written description of the drawings, a listing of all figures by numbers and corresponding statements explaining what each figure depicts.

C.3.1.8 Detailed Description of the Invention. The Contractor shall provide a detailed description of making and using the invention. The Contractor shall ensure that the description is in full, clear, concise and exact terms. The Contractor shall ensure any references used shall be cited in this section.

C.3.1.9 The Contractor shall ensure the specification is typed double-spaced, on paper meeting the requirements of 37 CFR 1.52; which shall be on 8 1/2 x 11 inch size paper or approximately 21.6 cm x 27.9 cm and having a ruled left margin of at least 2.5 cm (1 inch). The top of each page of the application including claims must have a margin of 2.5 cm and a right and bottom margin of at least 2.0 cm (.75 inch). The pages of the entire draft application shall be numbered consecutively, starting with 1, the numbers being centrally located below the text. Every fifth line of each page of the specification shall be numbered, the numbering to start anew on each page; and no page shall contain more than thirty lines.

Paragraph numbers shall be placed at the left margin beginning with [0001] (in bold print) followed by at least four spaces and shall be sequential to the end of the Specification.

C.3.1.10 The Contractor shall ensure the Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) Docket Number is placed in the upper right hand corner of each page of the Specification as specified in the awarded Task Order.

C.3.2 Claims. The Contractor shall ensure all claims are identified and “particularly point out and distinctly state the subject matter of the invention; the claim defines the scope of the invention”, in accordance with the patent office requirements. The Contractor shall ensure that all claims cover a range of inventions including the broadest specification coverage of an independent claim permitted in view of the available prior art to the narrowest specification coverage of an independent claim to ensure all patentable aspects of the invention are protected. The Contractor shall explain its proposed Claim strategy and discuss proposed Claim scope in view of the inventor’s disclosure to ensure US Patent acceptability. The Contractor shall not use multiple dependent claims unless authorized by the Technical Point of Contract (TPOC). The Contractor shall ensure each claim beginning with the number “5” on the fifth line shall have line numbers placed in the left margin every five lines within each Claim and shall be a single sentence.

C.3.3 Information Disclosure Statement (IDS). The Contractor shall ensure relevant art provided by the TPOC, the inventor, or otherwise known to the Contractor shall be identified by the IDS. The Contractor shall prepare an information disclosure statement in compliance with 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.

C.3.4. Patent Drawings. The Contractor shall provide one set of formal drawings to include the following:

C.3.4.1 The Contractor shall prepare the drawings on 8.5 inch by 11 inch paper in compliance with the requirements set forth in 37 CFR 1.84. The Contractor shall ensure the TPOC provided RDECOM docket number that appears in the accompanying invention disclosure on the first page, top right hand corner is placed on the drawing in accordance with 37 CFR 1.84. The Contractor shall provide Formal Drawings upon final TPOC acceptance of the draft application. The Contractor may complete the Drawings by sub-contractual efforts without obtaining prior written approval from the TPOC.

C.3.4.2 The Contractor shall include a key to the numbering of the Drawings by reference number and item name to be provided to the TPOC in a separate attachment accompanying any draft patent application(s) that contains at least one Drawing.

C.3.5 Interview with Inventor. The Contractor shall interview the inventor via phone or in person to confirm information in the invention disclosure is up to date and/or obtain additional technical information in the preparation of the draft patent application. The Contractor shall update the draft application to include all findings disclosed during the interview with the inventor. The Contractor shall submit in writing all In-person interviews for TPOC approval. Upon approval, the TPOC will arrange for personal interviews of the inventor on unclassified draft patent applications within two (2) working days and no later additional cost to the Government. The Contractor agrees that TPOC may communicate directly with the preparer concerning questions about the preparation of a specific deliverable such as a draft patent application or draft response to an Office Action.

C.4.5 Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) DFARS clause 252.204-7012, which required the contractor to comply with NIST 800-171.

252.204-7012 Safeguarding Covered Defense Information and Cyber Incident Reporting.

(ii)(A) The Contractor shall implement NIST SP 800-171, as soon as practical, but not later than December 31, 2017. For all contracts awarded prior to October 1, 2017, the Contractor shall notify the DoD Chief Information Officer (CIO), via email at osd.dibcsia@mail.mil, within 30 days of contract award, of any security requirements specified by NIST SP 800- 171 not implemented at the time of contract award.

(B) The Contractor shall submit requests to vary from NIST SP 800-171 in writing to the Contracting Officer, for consideration by the DoD CIO. The Contractor need not implement any security requirement adjudicated by an authorized representative of the DoD CIO to be nonapplicable or to have an alternative, but equally effective, security measure that may be implemented in its place.

(C) If the DoD CIO has previously adjudicated the contractor’s requests indicating that a requirement is not applicable or that an alternative security measure is equally effective, a copy of that approval shall be provided to the Contracting Officer when requesting its recognition under this contract.

(D) If the Contractor intends to use an external cloud service provider to store, process, or transmit any covered defense information in performance of this contract, the Contractor shall require and ensure that the cloud service provider meets security requirements equivalent to those established by the Government for the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Moderate baseline (https://www.fedramp.gov/documents-templates/) and that the cloud service provider complies with requirements in paragraphs (c) through (g) of this clause for cyber incident reporting, malicious software, media preservation and protection, access to additional information and equipment necessary for forensic analysis, and cyber incident damage assessment.

(3) Apply other information systems security measures when the Contractor reasonably determines that information systems security measures, in addition to those identified in paragraphs (b)(1) and (2) of this clause, may be required to provide adequate security in a dynamic environment or to accommodate special circumstances (e.g., medical devices) and any individual, isolated, or temporary deficiencies based on an assessed risk or vulnerability. These measures may be addressed in a system security plan.

(c) Cyber incident reporting requirement.

(1) When the Contractor discovers a cyber incident that affects a covered contractor information system or the covered defense information residing therein, or that affects the contractor’s ability to perform the requirements of the contract that are designated as operationally critical support and identified in the contract, the Contractor shall—

(i) Conduct a review for evidence of compromise of covered defense information, including, but not limited to, identifying compromised computers, servers, specific data, and user accounts. This review shall also include analyzing covered contractor information system(s) that were part of the cyber incident, as well as other information systems on the Contractor’s network(s), that may have been accessed as a result of the incident in order to identify compromised covered defense information, or that affect the Contractor’s ability to provide operationally critical support; and

(ii) Rapidly report cyber incidents to DoD at https://dibnet.dod.mil.

(2) Cyber incident report. The cyber incident report shall be treated as information created by or for DoD and shall include, at a minimum, the required elements at https://dibnet.dod.mil.

(3) Medium assurance certificate requirement. In order to report cyber incidents in accordance with this clause, the Contractor or subcontractor shall have or acquire a DoD-approved medium assurance certificate to report cyber incidents. For information on obtaining a DoD-approved medium assurance certificate, see https://public.cyber.mil/eca/.

(d) Malicious software. When the Contractor or subcontractors discover and isolate malicious software in connection with a reported cyber incident, submit the malicious software to DoD Cyber Crime Center (DC3) in accordance with instructions provided by DC3 or the Contracting Officer. Do not send the malicious software to the Contracting Officer.

(e) Media preservation and protection. When a Contractor discovers a cyber incident has occurred, the Contractor shall preserve and protect images of all known affected information systems identified in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this clause and all relevant monitoring/packet capture data for at least 90 days from the submission of the cyber incident report to allow DoD to request the media or decline interest.

(f) Access to additional information or equipment necessary for forensic analysis. Upon request by DoD, the Contractor shall provide DoD with access to additional information or equipment that is necessary to conduct a forensic analysis.

(g) Cyber incident damage assessment activities. If DoD elects to conduct a damage assessment, the Contracting Officer will request that the Contractor provide all of the damage assessment information gathered in accordance with paragraph (e) of this clause.

(h) DoD safeguarding and use of contractor attributional/proprietary information. The Government shall protect against the unauthorized use or release of information obtained from the contractor (or derived from information obtained from the contractor) under this clause that includes contractor attributional/proprietary information, including such information submitted in accordance with paragraph (c). To the maximum extent practicable, the Contractor shall identify and mark attributional/proprietary information. In making an authorized release of such information, the Government will implement appropriate procedures to minimize the contractor attributional/proprietary information that is included in such authorized release, seeking to include only that information that is necessary for the authorized purpose(s) for which the information is being released.

(i) Use and release of contractor attributional/proprietary information not created by or for DoD. Information that is obtained from the contractor (or derived from information obtained from the contractor) under this clause that is not created by or for DoD is authorized to be released outside of DoD—

(1) To entities with missions that may be affected by such information;

(2) To entities that may be called upon to assist in the diagnosis, detection, or mitigation of cyber incidents;

(3) To Government entities that conduct counterintelligence or law enforcement investigations;

(4) For national security purposes, including cyber situational awareness and defense purposes (including with Defense Industrial Base (DIB) participants in the program at 32 CFR part 236); or

(5) To a support services contractor (“recipient”) that is directly supporting Government activities under a contract that includes the clause at 252.204-7009 , Limitations on the Use or Disclosure of Third-Party Contractor Reported Cyber Incident Information.

(j) Use and release of contractor attributional/proprietary information created by or for DoD.

Information that is obtained from the contractor (or derived from information obtained from the contractor) under this clause that is created by or for DoD (including the information submitted pursuant to paragraph (c) of this clause) is authorized to be used and released outside of DoD for purposes and activities authorized by paragraph (i) of this clause, and for any other lawful Government purpose or activity, subject to all applicable statutory, regulatory, and policy based restrictions on the Government’s use and release of such information.

(k) The Contractor shall conduct activities under this clause in accordance with applicable laws and regulations on the interception, monitoring, access, use, and disclosure of electronic communications and data.

(l) Other safeguarding or reporting requirements. The safeguarding and cyber incident reporting required by this clause in no way abrogates the Contractor’s responsibility for other safeguarding or cyber incident reporting pertaining to its unclassified information systems as required by other applicable clauses of this contract, or as a result of other applicable U.S. Government statutory or regulatory requirements.