Office of Research & Technology Assessment (ORTA)

Cooperative Research and Development Agreements

CRADAs are cooperative research and development agreements between Fermilab and industrial partners that contribute to the goals of each party. A CRADA may be cost shared between the industrial partners and Fermilab or may be 100% funded by the industrial partners. While it is generally the case that companies are able to retain rights to their own inventions made under a CRADA, there are exceptions. Similarly, the rights to intellectual property created by the Laboratory under a CRADA are retained by Fermilab. However the industrial partner does have an option to license Fermilab’s inventions. It is best to defer to ORTA or the Legal Office in all discussions of intellectual property rights.

• U.S. Department of Energy – Cooperative Research and Development Agreements – DOE Order 438.1
• U.S. Department of Energy – DOE CRADA Agreements Manual – DOE M 483.1-1

GENERIC DOE CRADA PROCESS

	Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory	Joint	Industry Partner
1		Researchers discuss ideas Identify area of mutual interest Draft a research plan Generate CRADA Proposal package
2	Review CRADA Proposal Package Develop and complete Joint Work Statement (JWS). Forward draft CRADA to prospective partner.		Identify In-house Project Support
3		Draft Statement of Work (SOW) with milestones.
4	Submit JWS to DOE Operations Office		Review Draft CRADA
5		Negotiate CRADA Terms
6	Prepare Final CRADA	Review final SOW
7	Obtain necessary DOE approvals		Approve CRADA
8		Execute CRADA

M. Smith – Last Update 12/18/06