Section 7Sec./Art. 7

Rights and Responsibilities of a Government Funding Agency. - Under this Act, the GFA shall:

(a)Protect government interest in the IPs and IPRs generated from the R&D that it funded through suitable provisions in the research funding agreement. The GFA is authorized to withhold from public disclosure, for a reasonable time, any information relating to potential IPR of the RDI, to allow the RDI to pursue full protection of such IPR;

(b)Monitor efforts and effectiveness of the RDI in securing IP protection and pursuing IP commercialization, as well as provide alternative solutions and assistance in case of shortfall in the RDFs performance in protecting, utilizing and commercializing the IP;

(c)Ensure adequate freedom to use the IP for further research to expand the knowledge frontier and requirements for publication of information as appropriate in accordance with government policy or academic policy, or institutional mandate of the RDI; and

(d)Allow sharing of revenues from IP commercialization in a way that is not onerous to commercialization: Provided, That when the GFA assumes commercialization of the IPs, it shall, subject to existing laws requiring transparency and accountability, the Commission on Audit (COA) Rules and Regulations and as required under Article IX, Section 20 of this Act, be allowed to directly negotiate agreements for the commercialization of IPs: Provided, further, That it shall obtain a written recommendation from the Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and secure a fairness opinion report from an independent third party body composed of experts from the public and private sectors as may be determined by the DOST.

The fairness opinion report shall contain a statement expressing the opinion of the body as to the fairness to the GFA of the proposed transaction, particularly its financial terms. The report shall include, but not be limited to, a review and analysis of the proposed transaction, financial statements, industry information, economic conditions and assumptions used therein and a comparison of similar transactions: Provided, however, That it shall not be precluded from resorting to other modes of commercialization as allowed by ail applicable laws.