Defense Acquisitions: DOD Should Take Additional Actions to Improve How It Approaches Intellectual Property
Fast Facts
The Department of Defense uses intellectual property (IP) to operate and maintain its weapons systems. IP includes computer software, technical data, user manuals, and more. Over the past 3 decades, we reported that insufficient IP can reduce mission readiness and lead to surging costs.
DOD is taking steps to improve how it acquires and licenses IP, in part by employing a group of IP experts and identifying specific responsibilities for organizations within the department.
We made 4 recommendations, including that DOD determine the collaboration, staffing, and resources needed to carry out its proposed approach for its group of IP experts.
Highlights
Why This Matters
The Department of Defense (DOD) acquires and licenses intellectual property (IP)—such as computer software and technical data—for its cutting-edge weapon systems. Yet, DOD often does not acquire the IP it needs to operate and maintain those systems, which can lead to surging costs later. In 2019, DOD assigned specific IP responsibilities to organizations within the department.
Key Takeaways
DOD organizations are working to meet their assigned IP responsibilities. However, DOD has not fully addressed how the IP Cadre—DOD's new group of specialized experts—will fulfill all of its responsibilities. The IP Cadre faces uncertainty in these areas:
Funding and staffing: DOD currently plans to provide the Director of the IP Cadre and his team in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) with funding for five positions through fiscal year 2023. IP Cadre members told us the temporary positions were a disincentive during the hiring process and could present future staffing obstacles.
Program support: The members of the IP Cadre at OSD expect to tap into a larger pool of IP experts across DOD to support program offices by helping them develop IP strategies and negotiate with contractors, among other things. However, DOD has not yet detailed how the Director of the IP Cadre and the OSD team will work with these other experts.
Expertise: DOD officials said the department lacks sufficient expertise in two key areas—IP valuation (determining its worth) and financial analysis. DOD is currently conducting a pilot project to study valuation strategies. However, DOD officials said more work is needed to provide this expertise.
Determining the IP Cadre's staffing and resource needs will help DOD better position the IP Cadre for success.
Department of Defense Intellectual Property Cadre
How GAO Did This Study
We reviewed guidance, reports, and documentation on IP issues; interviewed DOD personnel, military officials, and industry groups; and reviewed the existing regulatory and agency frameworks related to IP.
Recommendations
We made four recommendations to DOD, including that DOD should determine the collaboration, staffing, and resources needed across DOD to execute its proposed approach for the IP Cadre. DOD concurred with all four recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment should ensure that DOD's planned guidebook on IP clarifies how DOD personnel can pursue detailed manufacturing or process data. (Recommendation 1) |
DOD concurred with our recommendation. In April 2023, DOD identified actions it plans to take in the coming year to address this recommendation, including issuing a planned guidebook on intellectual property with clarifying guidance regarding the acquisition and licensing of detailed manufacturing and process data. In July 2024, DOD officials estimated this guidebook will be completed and published by the end of December 2024. DOD officials noted that while the guidebook is a work in progress, the IP Cadre has initiated and/or completed other related initiatives through which updated guidance is being incorporated and published in other DOD work products.
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| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should determine the collaboration, staffing, and resources needed, both within the Office of the Secretary of Defense and across the components, to execute DOD's proposed federated approach for the IP Cadre. (Recommendation 2) |
DOD concurred with our recommendation. In March 2023, OSD converted its four initial temporary civilian billets to permanent billets, and in April 2023, DOD identified additional actions it planned to take in the coming year to address this recommendation, including assessing staffing and resource needs for the IP Cadre. OSD officials said the IP Cadre is assessing long-term needs for IP expertise at various levels of the acquisition community, and considering whether new training and education on IP can mitigate the need for formal staffing. In July 2024, DOD officials estimated a completion date by the end of December 2024.
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| Department of Defense | The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition should ensure that the Director of the IP Cadre collaborates with the President of DAU to prioritize IP-related tasks that DAU should undertake between 2023 through 2025. (Recommendation 3) |
DOD concurred with this recommendation. In August 2023, DOD told us that the IP Cadre and DAU had collaborated to apply educational priorities and resourcing considerations to the 5-year strategic plan. The results of this collaboration were captured in an August 2022 update to DAU's IP strategic plan. DOD provided a copy of this updated strategic plan, which identifies IP-related tasks that DAU should prioritize through 2026, and a detailed schedule for executing these tasks.
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| Department of Defense | The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition should ensure that the Director of the IP Cadre develops additional guidance to help component heads and DACMs identify the DOD personnel in key career fields that would benefit most from receiving IP training and credentials. (Recommendation 4) |
DOD concurred with our recommendation. In April 2023, DOD identified actions it planned to take in the coming year to address this recommendation, including developing guidance that will identify personnel in key career fields that would benefit from receiving IP training and credentials. However, in July 2024, DOD officials were unable to provide an estimated completion date, noting that the OSD IP Cadre could not develop the guidance until DOD-level guidance was developed regarding key career fields that would benefit from receiving IP training and credentials.
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