Bill · S. 1660· Senate(119-S-1660)
Research Advancing to Market Production for Innovators Act
- Introduced
- 5/7/2025
- Last activity
- 5/7/2025 — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
- Sponsored by
- Christopher Coons
- Cosponsors
- - 0 - 1
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
The Research Advancing to Market Production for Innovators Act aims to improve how small businesses move technology from the SBIR and STTR programs into the commercial market. It updates the peer review process to prioritize the likelihood of commercial success and requires agencies to appoint Technology Commercialization Officials to guide awardees. The bill expands technical and business assistance, including adding cybersecurity support and allowing funds to be used for hiring staff. It also establishes a commercialization impact assessment to track the success of frequent award recipients and creates a prioritized patent examination program through the USPTO.
Yes· 3 of 11
Does this make it easier to run a small business?+9
Significantly enhances support for SBIR/STTR small businesses via commercialization officials, flexible assistance, and patent prioritization.
Would business owners be better off under this?+8
Directly benefits owners of small businesses participating in SBIR and STTR programs.
Does this make patent and copyright rules fairer?+6
Establishes a prioritized patent examination program for SBIR/STTR recipients and provides scam prevention outreach.
The opposite
No question was scored the opposite.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
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Better Guidance for Innovators: The creation of a Technology Commercialization Official in each agency provides awardees with an expert to help them transition technologies to the market and advocate for Phase III awards (Section 4).
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Expanded Business Support: Small businesses can now receive assistance for cybersecurity and use funding to hire or augment staff for training activities (Section 5).
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Increased Flexibility in Assistance: Awardees can now select their own technical and business assistance providers, rather than being limited to vendors selected by the agency (Section 5).
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Faster Patent Protection: SBIR and STTR recipients will benefit from a prioritized patent examination program and outreach regarding scam prevention (Section 8).
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Educational Opportunities: Awardees have a new option to participate in I-Corps teams courses, with authorized funding sources to cover the costs (Section 6).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
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Funding Limitations: The bill imposes a cap on the total value of awards provided under phase flexibility, limiting them to 10 percent of total funds for most agencies and 15 percent for the National Institutes of Health (Section 3).
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Increased Oversight: Federal agencies may now perform targeted reviews of technical and business assistance funding (Section 5).
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Stricter Evaluation Criteria: By requiring peer reviews to include the likelihood of commercialization, projects with high scientific merit but lower immediate commercial potential may face more difficulty in selection (Section 2).
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Good For Business Owners+8Good For Middle Aged+4Good For Young Adults+4Good For Students+3
- Economy And Finance
- Improves Small Business Support+9Improves Economic Growth+5Increases Job Creation+4
- Education And Technology
- Improves Intellectual Property Fairness+6
- National Security And Foreign Policy
- Improves Cybersecurity Defense+5
- Healthcare
- Increases Research Funding+3
- Governance And Ideology
- Improves Government Transparency+2
- 5/7/2025
- Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- Introduced in Senate
One bill Congress.gov lists as related to this one — companions in the other chamber, earlier versions, and bills this one absorbed or was folded into.
John CurtisRepublican · Utah