Use of NASA Property

NASA has a significant investment in both real and personal property. While there are different definitions of Government property by agency, generally the classifications include:

- Real Property: land, buildings, other structures and facilities, improvements, and affixed equipment; and
- Personal Property: movable and stationary equipment, machine tools, test equipment, furniture, vehicles, and similar items.

The proper management of both real and personal property helps to conserve costly Government resources. These assets must be maintained, protected, controlled, used, and disposed of in a most effective and efficient manner.

Real Property

The NASA Headquarters Office of Strategic Infrastructure, Facilities and Real Estate Division (FRED), provides policies, guidance and direction for NASA's real property program, including review and approval of real property agreements.
A real property agreement that grants the use of NASA real property to another party is known as an out-grant. Out-grants can be entered into using several formats and available authorities, including the other-transaction authority of the Space Act.

Click here to view the Types of Out-Grants and Procedural Requirements

Personal Property

Equipment is defined as a tangible asset that is functionally complete for its intended purpose, durable, and nonexpendable. Equipment is not intended for sale and does not ordinarily lose its identity or become a component part of another article when put in use. Equipment includes all items of property configured as mechanical, electrical, or electronic tools and apparatus which function independently, or in conjunction with other equipment that has a useful life of two years or more and is not consumed in use.
Equipment authorized for use in conjunction with a partnership agreement is not provided to the partner as a substitute for the purchasing of the same type of equipment by the partner under any contract or grant that the partner may have with a third party. Furthermore, the equipment is not excess to NASA's requirements and its use is anticipated upon its return to NASA.
On occasion, government equipment is loaned to a Partner in support of a partnership agreement. The obligation of the partner to NASA will be spelled out in the agreement document. Additionally, NPD 4200.1 (Equipment Management) requires that all loans of government equipment be done pursuant to NASA Form 893 (NF 893). NF 893 serves to document the equipment accountability record between NASA and the Partner for the loan of the government equipment.

For the purpose of this training, the only subset of personal property we will be discussing is equipment items.

Note: An International Agreement is required to loan government property to an international entity, in addition to the form NF 893. Click here for more information on loan requests.

Intellectual Property

It is NASA's policy that partnership agreements allocate any intellectual property rights created under the partnership.
NASA includes standard clauses for partnership agreements in appendices of the Space Act Agreements Guide, NAII 1050-1, and the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) Program Information Package, NAII 1050-2, and these are included in the Agency's Partnership Agreement Maker (PAM) system used to draft domestic unclassified agreements.

The considerations for data rights and inventions are relatively numerous and complex. Consultation with the Office of the General Counsel or Chief Counsel, as appropriate, is necessary for establishing these aspects of agreements and ensuring that the proper clauses are incorporated into an agreement.
The standard clauses are structured to facilitate the exchange of data necessary for the performance of work under the agreement, while providing for the protection of any proprietary data that is exchanged or developed. Generally, provisions are made to protect data created by NASA only if the data in question would have been proprietary if created by the partner rather than NASA; such protections can, by law, exist for up to five years, although NASA usually offers one to two years of protection. In addition, the partner may assert copyright in its works of authorship created under the agreement, but the partner is required to grant NASA a license in the copyrighted material.
When a partnership activity results in an invention, title to the invention typically remains with the inventing party. However, it is important to note that a number of particulars of the specific partnership arrangement could potentially influence the exact implementation of invention ownership, patenting, and licensing.

For more information about Real Property, contact Jenna Foertsch

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