32 CFR § 37.205 - What judgments must I make about the nature of the project?

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t32/s37.205"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "32 CFR § 37.205 - What judgments must I make about the nature of the project?"
title_number: 32
title_name: "National Defense"
section_number: "37.205"
section_name: "What judgments must I make about the nature of the project?"
chapter_name: "OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE"
subchapter_number: "C"
subchapter_name: "DoD GRANT AND AGREEMENT REGULATIONS"
part_number: "37"
part_name: "TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "5 U.S.C. 301 and 10 U.S.C. 113."
regulatory_source: "68 FR 47160, Aug. 7, 2003, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "37"
---


# 37.205 What judgments must I make about the nature of the project?

You must:

(a) Conclude that the principal purpose of the project is stimulation or support of research (*i.e.,* assistance), rather than acquiring goods or services for the benefit of the Government (*i.e.,* acquisition);

(b) Decide that the basic, applied, or advanced research project is relevant to the policy objective of civil-military integration (*see* appendix A of this part); and

(c) Ensure that, to the maximum extent practicable, any TIA that uses the authority of 10 U.S.C. 2371 (*see* appendix B of this part) does not support research that duplicates other research being conducted under existing programs carried out by the Department of Defense. This is a statutory requirement of 10 U.S.C. 2371.

(d) When your TIA is a type of assistance transaction other than a grant or cooperative agreement, satisfy the condition in 10 U.S.C. 2371 to judge that the use of a standard grant or cooperative agreement for the research project is not feasible or appropriate. As discussed in appendix B to this part:

(1) This situation arises if your TIA includes a patent provision that is less restrictive than is possible under the Bayh-Dole statute (because the patent provision is what distinguishes a TIA that is a cooperative agreement from a TIA that is an assistance transaction other than a grant or cooperative agreement).

(2) You satisfy the requirement to judge that a standard cooperative agreement is not feasible or appropriate when you judge that execution of the research project warrants a less restrictive patent provision than is possible under Bayh-Dole.