Royalties Administration
The following sections provide information about the NIH Royalty Program. We believe
the information will be useful to the NIH technology transfer community, as well as NIH
and non-NIH inventors.
NIH Royalty Program
History
Prior to 1990, the NIH contracted with the National Technology Information Service
(NTIS) to collect and classify NIH royalty payments from licensees. On a semiannual
basis, NTIS would remit the royalty income to NIH, once they had taken a percentage of
the dollars to cover their administrative costs. A decision was made in the early 1990s to
discontinue the contractual relationship with NTIS, in part as a cost savings measure.
Thus, in the early 1990s, the NIH took over the responsibility of collecting and
classifying all royalty payments from licensees. This decision, along with the significant
growth and complexities inherent in the Royalty Program, had a dramatic impact on the roles and responsibilities within the NIH.
NIH Royalty Policy
The Technology Transfer Manual, Chapter 311, sets forth policies and procedures for the
receipt and distribution of royalties.
Roles and Responsibilities
The Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) Royalties Administration Unit (RAU) and the Office
of Financial Management (OFM) work closely to manage the NIH Royalties Program.
Roles and Responsibilities include:
OTT RAU Responsibilities
- Notifying NIH Institute Technology Development Coordinators and Licensees of executed licenses
- Identifying licensee contacts and forwarding payment instructions
- Identifying and pursuing the payments from licensees, including Execution Fees, Minimum Annual Royalties, Benchmark Payments, Patent Prosecution Reimbursement, etc
- Processing and posting payments in an electronic tracking system
- Notifying inventors to release materials upon receipt of royalties as stipulated in the license agreement
- Reconciling monthly receipts with OFM
- Calculating and authorizing all Royalty distributions to Inter-Institutional Agreement Licensees
- Forwarding delinquent licensees to OFM Debt Collection Office, the Department of Justice, or terminating licenses
OFM Responsibilities
- Receiving notification of collections received via lockbox at Mellon Bank and wire transfers from the Federal Reserve Bank in New York
- Processing and posting payments in an electronic tracking system
- Notifying inventors and Inter-Institutional Technology Partners of previous and/or upcoming payouts
- Issuing 1099s and 1042s at year-end
- Completing monthly and semi-annual reconciliation of royalty receipts
Royalty Distributions to Inventors FAQs
Royalty Payments & Sales and Progress Reports FAQs
IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ALL INVENTORS
If you move, or change financial institutions, you must notify Johanna Grodzicki or
Sandra Waddy of these changes. This is your responsibility. Checks mailed to old
addresses are returned to the U. S. Treasury. Direct deposits to an old account number at
your previous financial institution are also returned to the U. S. Treasury. This will cause
a delay in receiving your royalty payment. If you have new banking information,
complete the ACH VENDOR/MISCELLANEOUS PAYMENT ENROLLMENT FORM
at http://ofm.od.nih.gov/forms.html and return to Johanna Grodzicki or Sandra Waddy at
the address below. In addition, type or hand-write the word INVENTOR next to the
heading in the PAYEE/COMPANY INFORMATION section.
Ofice of Financial Management (OFM) Royalty
National Institutes of Health
Government Accounting Branch
2115 East Jefferson St. MSC 8500
Bethesda, Maryland 20892-8500
Missing Inventors
The following inventors may be entitled to royalty payments. If your name is included in
the list, or if you know someone in the list, please contact the OFM Royalty Coordinator
or Staff.
- Friz Friedl
- Yohei Ito
- Ixuo Kimmura
- Estate of Thomas L. O´Donohue
- Toyoro Osato
- Carole Smith
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