SBIR data rights: what the legend protects and for how long

Data and software delivered under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contract can arrive with a legend that limits how the Government may use and release them, and the legend shows when that limit ends. These are the SBIR/STTR data rights: the license rights the Government holds in technical data and computer software that a small business develops or generates under such a contract. Under Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) clause 252.227-7018, dated AUG 2025, the protection period starts on the contract award date and ends 20 years later, unless the agency and the contractor negotiate a different period after award.

What the rights cover

Clause 252.227-7018 defines SBIR/STTR data as all technical data or computer software developed or generated in performing a Phase I, II, or III SBIR/STTR contract or subcontract. During the protection period the Government has SBIR/STTR data rights, defined as limited rights in technical data and restricted rights in computer software. Rights not granted to the Government stay with the contractor.

The 2019 text of the Small Business Administration (SBA) Policy Directive describes the technical data side in its definition at Section 3(ii). Internal Government use is permitted. Use for procurement, manufacture, or commercial purposes is not, and release outside the Government is limited to specified exceptions. SBA's data rights tutorial summarizes this as a limited license that does not allow disclosure outside the Government.

Some data sits outside the protection. Paragraph (c)(1) of the clause gives the Government unlimited rights in items such as form, fit, and function data and data needed for installation, operation, maintenance, or training. Under DFARS 227.7104-2, special license rights can be negotiated only after award and only by mutual agreement, and the Government cannot make an award depend on agreeing to negotiate them.

How the protection period changed

The Policy Directive revision published in the Federal Register on April 2, 2019 (84 FR 12794) took effect on May 2, 2019. Section 3(hh) defines the protection period as beginning at award and ending not less than twenty years from that date. Section 8(b)(4) says the period runs twenty years, or longer at the participating agency's discretion, and allows the agency and the small business to negotiate some other period. SBA's preamble says the start moved from delivery of the last deliverable to the date of award and that extensions based on later awards were eliminated.

The DFARS followed later. A final rule published on December 18, 2024 (89 FR 103338) took effect on January 17, 2025, and the revised clauses carry the date JAN 2025. The rule describes the earlier DFARS approach as a 5-year period that could be extended indefinitely and replaces it with a single, non-extendable 20-year period. It also changes what follows the period: the Government now receives government purpose rights, where it previously received unlimited rights.

The clause keeps older awards on their own terms. Paragraph (c)(5) says later SBIR/STTR contracts do not extend the protection period, and that the version of the clause in the contract under which the data was generated controls.

What happens after the protection period

DFARS 227.7104-2(a)(2) says the Government then holds government purpose rights, which do not expire. The 2019 Policy Directive defines government purposes as activities in which the United States Government is a party, including competitive procurement, and excludes use or disclosure for commercial purposes.

Release of government purpose rights data is conditioned. Paragraph (c)(2)(iii) of the clause allows release only to a recipient that has signed the use and nondisclosure agreement at DFARS 227.7103-7 or that is a Government contractor under clause 252.227-7025.

The legend and the marking rules

Paragraph (g) of the clause lists the authorized markings, and the SBIR/STTR data rights legend is at (g)(6). The legend has the heading SBIR/STTR DATA RIGHTS and blanks for the contract number, the contractor name and address, the expiration of the SBIR/STTR data protection period, and the expiration of the government purpose rights period. It states that the Government's rights are restricted during the protection period as provided in paragraph (c)(5), and that government purpose rights follow unless an expiration date is shown. It does not apply to data in which the Government has unlimited rights or to negotiated special license rights, and it requires reproductions to carry the markings.

Paragraph (g)(1) sets the placement: the legend appears on the transmittal document or storage container and on each page of printed material containing restricted data. If only part of a page is restricted, the contractor identifies that part.

Two rules cover omissions. Under (g)(2)(i), data delivered without restrictive markings is presumed to carry unlimited rights. Under (g)(2)(ii), a contractor may ask to add markings, at its own expense, within 6 months of delivery or within an approved extension.

What to check

• Does the legend carry the heading SBIR/STTR DATA RIGHTS, the contract number, the contractor name and address, and both expiration dates?
• Is the legend on the transmittal document or storage container and on each page of printed material containing restricted data?
• Which version of clause 252.227-7018 is in the contract under which the data was generated? Paragraph (c)(5) says that version controls.
• Does the data fall in a category the clause places outside the protection, such as form, fit, and function data?
• For government purpose rights data, has the recipient signed the use and nondisclosure agreement at DFARS 227.7103-7, or is it a Government contractor under clause 252.227-7025?

Azcuna's TRACE is one offline viewer for S1000D, MIL-STD-3001 XML, and PDF technical manuals. It keeps the source location and the markings of everything it shows and never modifies the source. It was proposed to NAVAIR under Navy SBIR Phase I topic DON26BZ05-NV078, and the proposal was submitted on September 23, 2026.

Sources

1. 1252.227-7018 Rights in Other Than Commercial Technical Data and Computer Software - Small Business Innovation Research Program and Small Business Technology Transfer Program (AUG 2025) · Acquisition.gov (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement)
2. 2227.7104-2 Rights in SBIR or STTR data · Acquisition.gov (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement)
3. 3Small Business Innovation Research Program and Small Business Technology Transfer Program Policy Directive (84 FR 12794, April 2, 2019) · Small Business Administration, via the Federal Register
4. 4Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement: Small Business Innovation Research Program Data Rights (DFARS Case 2019-D043) (89 FR 103338, December 18, 2024) · Department of Defense, via the Federal Register
5. 5What are SBIR data rights and why are they important? · Small Business Administration (SBIR.gov)