Inactive

This is a Small Business Sources Sought Notice. This is not a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of Technology Transfer (OTT... This is a Small Business Sources Sought Notice. This is not a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of Technology Transfer (OTT), is conducting a market survey to ascertain the availability and potential capability of potential offerors to provide payment of patent maintenance and annuity fees in the United States (U.S.) and foreign countries. The anticipated period of performance is a one-year base period with four (4) one-year option periods. BACKGROUND Pursuant to the Federal Technology Transfer Act (FTTA) of 1986, the NIH Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) is responsible for certain aspects of the technology transfer programs for the NIH and CDC. An important part of the Act is obtaining and maintaining patent protection for the inventions of NIH and CDC employees. The OTT assists in pursuit of patent prosecution in the United States and a number of foreign countries primarily under the terms of the Patent Cooperative Treaty (PCT) but may file patent applications in countries not under the terms of the PCT. Worldwide patent filings may provide an incentive for a company to license the technology and bring the drug/therapy to market. Countries worldwide, including the United States, typically require that patent annuity and/or maintenance fees be paid. If the fees are not paid in a timely manner, patent applications or patents will lapse and have no further enforcement or intellectual property value. These worldwide patent applications may be licensed to companies who may use the patent or sell commercial products in one or more countries and remit royalties to the NIH. The licensing royalties are provided to the IC and the inventors. The NIH and CDC could lose millions of dollars in potential royalties if these patent application/patents were to lapse due to non-payment of annuity fees. Please refer to the attached Statement of Work for more details regarding this requirement. DESCRIPTION OF INFORMATION TO INCLUDE IN THE CAPABILITY STATEMENT The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for this requirement is 541990 (All Other Professional, Scientific and Technical Services) with a size standard of $16.9 million. In light of this project summary, all interested concerns are invited to submit a tailored capability statement. The capability statement should reference Sources Sought Number HHS-NIH-OD-OLAO-SS-22-005 and should be no longer than 15 pages in length and shall include the following: (1) Name and Address of the Organization, (2) The size and type of business: Small Business; 8(a) Small Business; Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business; HubZone Small Business, as listed under SAM.gov, (3) Point of Contact with name, title, voice/telephone, facsimile number, and email address, (4) DUNS number, (5) Contractor’s capability statement that addresses the organization’s ability, knowledge, experience and personnel to perform the service described in the requirements above (Pamphlets and standard brochures will not be considered responsive to this Sources Sought Notice), (6) List of organizations to whom similar types of services have been previously provided to include contract number, dollar value, name and phone number of the Contracting Officer, and (7) Do not submit pricing information in your response to this Sources Sought notice. This market survey is being conducted only for the purpose of identifying potential sources and to gather current market information. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether this procurement will be set aside. Responding firms should provide an electronic copy of their capability statement to Sheryn N. Etti at ettis@mail.nih.gov (Ref. HHS-NIH-OD-OLAO-SS-22-005). ALL INFORMATION SUBMITTED IN RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE MUST BE RECEIVED ON OR BEFORE THE CLOSING DATE. THE CLOSING DATE FOR RESPONSES IS JANUARY 20, 2022 at 2:00 PM EASTERN TIME. All questions and/or comments regarding this Sources Sought Notice must be in writing and may be emailed to Sheryn N. Etti at ettis@mail.nih.gov. Comments and questions will NOT be answered but may assist in creating a solicitation for this requirement. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).