STIP Product Type Fact Sheet for DOE Laboratory Researchers

Patents

ABOUT STI

In the course of performing research and development (R&D) and other scientific and technological work, researchers funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) produce scientific and technical information (STI) to document and disseminate their findings.

STI includes products such as journal articles, technical reports, conference presentations, books, and more. Through the Scientific and Technical Information Program (STIP), the DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) collaborates with people across the DOE complex, including Headquarters programs, field offices, national laboratories, and other facilities. The STIP partnership ensures that the results of DOE- funded work are identified, disseminated, and preserved. Thus, OSTI collects STI produced across the DOE laboratory and facility complex as well as from financial assistance recipients.

DEFINITION

A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, which in the United States is issued by the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The patent gives the holder exclusive rights to a process, design or new invention for a designated period of time. The assignee could be a government agency or a company that is a contractor or grant recipient. After a patent is issued, the USPTO includes the patent in its database, making the patent application, full text, and other descriptive information accessible to the public. If DOE-funded research led to the patent, then this research result is of interest to DOE as a form of STI. The DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) obtains patent records of interest to DOE directly from USPTO; however, to ensure comprehensiveness, broad dissemination, and archival preservation, inventors funded by DOE may find it useful to submit information to OSTI through their particular STI submission channels.

SUBMISSIONS

Each DOE laboratory has a site program to manage scientific and technical information produced under the contract and to make it available to DOE's Office of Scientific and Technical Information. Each site's STI Manager is involved in the process; for more information, see the listing of STI Managers at https://www.osti.gov/stip/about/stip-community#STIManagers.

For patents, the researcher has the option to (1) use the Lab's processes for STI submission, providing metadata for a patent as well as a full-text document in searchable PDF format or (2) rely on the OSTI-USPTO process for ensuring access via a link to the document hosted by USPTO. If the latter is the Lab's preference, periodic review of the Lab's patents in the OSTI collection is desirable to ensure that all patents from the Lab are being included.