41 U.S.C. § 4703 Validation of Proprietary Data Restrictions

• Library: United States Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through P.L. 118-22 with Court Rules updates (published on www.congress.gov on 12/01/2023)
• Year: 2023
• Citation: 41 U.S.C. § 4703

(a) CONTRACT THAT PROVIDES FOR DELIVERY OF TECHNICAL DATA.-A contract for property or services entered into by an executive agency that provides for the delivery of technical data shall provide that-

(1) a contractor or subcontractor at any tier shall be prepared to furnish to the contracting officer a written justification for any restriction the contractor or subcontractor asserts on the right of the Federal Government to use the data; and

(2) the contracting officer may review the validity of a restriction the contractor or subcontractor asserts under the contract on the right of the Federal Government to use technical data furnished to the Federal Government under the contract if the contracting officer determines that reasonable grounds exist to question the current validity of the asserted restriction and that the continued adherence to the asserted restriction by the Federal Government would make it impracticable to procure the item competitively at a later time.

(b) CHALLENGE OF RESTRICTION.-If after a review the contracting officer determines that a challenge to the asserted restriction is warranted, the contracting officer shall provide written notice to the contractor or subcontractor asserting the restriction. The notice shall state-

(1) the grounds for challenging the asserted restriction; and

(2) the requirement for a response within 60 days justifying the current validity of the asserted restriction.

(c) ADDITIONAL TIME FOR RESPONSES.-If a contractor or subcontractor asserting a restriction subject to this section submits to the contracting officer a written request showing the need for additional time to comply with the requirement to justify the current validity of the asserted restriction, the contracting officer shall provide appropriate additional time to adequately permit the justification to be submitted.

(d) MULTIPLE CHALLENGES.-If a party asserting a restriction receives notices of challenges to restrictions on technical data from more than one contracting officer, and notifies each contracting officer of the existence of more than one challenge, the contracting officer initiating the earliest challenge, after consultation with the party asserting the restriction and the other contracting officers, shall formulate a schedule of responses to each of the challenges that will afford the party asserting the restriction with an equitable opportunity to respond to each challenge.