CFR

1160.22—Goal of the Strategic Partnership initiative.

(a) This new initiative is designed to provide the private sector with the opportunity to discuss the possible benefits of forming Strategic Partnerships among firms representing the entire food chain of specific technologies. By focusing on a specific technology, these partnerships will have the capability to integrate the innovation activities for a broad range of applications made possible by that technology. The integrative function differentiates this initiative from earlier Department of Commerce initiatives which deal with only one stage of the commercial process. Strategic Partnerships differ from traditional cooperative R&D consortia which are composed primarily of competitors who cooperate only in the early precompetitive stage of innovation. In contrast, Strategic Partnerships are made up generally of noncompeting companies (see § 1160.21(a)) and are capable of accomplishing the entire process of innovation working on a proprietary basis.

(b) The immediate goal of this initiative is to hold workshops upon a request from the private sector in key technologies at which the stakeholder industries in the food chain for each technology will have a chance to consider potential applications of the technology, current status of the technology, what R&D needs to be performed, the competitive position of U.S. industry in that technology, including the status of foreign competition, and the ways in which U.S. stakeholders might organize themselves to maximize commercial benefits. The ultimate outcome of such workshops will be entirely at the discretion of the private sector and may include the formation of one or more Strategic Partnerships, other types of multifirm ventures, or no action at all. The Department will not undertake to form specific partnerships. This will be solely at the discretion of the participants.

Code of Federal Regulations

[56 FR 41282, Aug. 20, 1991; 56 FR 51257, Oct. 10, 1991]

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