Flash Brief: FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation) Part 27 Information Collection Extension

Event Type: FAR Update

Severity: INFO

Date: 2024

Classification: Administrative / Compliance Maintenance

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TL;DR

The Regulatory Secretariat Division has submitted a routine request to OMB for a three-year extension of existing information collection requirements under FAR Part 27, which governs patents, data rights, and copyrights in federal contracting. This is a standard administrative renewal—not a regulatory change—and contractors should expect no immediate modifications to their intellectual property compliance obligations. The current approval expires February 28, 2026, and the proposed extension would maintain existing reporting requirements through 2029. Contractors in technology development, R&D, software, and manufacturing sectors should continue operating under current FAR Part 27 provisions while monitoring for the final OMB approval.

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Key Points

• What happened: The Regulatory Secretariat Division submitted a request to OMB to extend existing FAR Part 27 information collection requirements for three additional years beyond the current February 28, 2026 expiration date, maintaining current provisions for patent rights, technical data rights, and computer software rights reporting.
• Who is affected: Government contractors in technology-intensive sectors—particularly software development, aerospace, defense manufacturing, R&D services, and engineering—who deliver technical data, computer software, or inventions under federal contracts and must comply with FAR 52.227 series clauses.
• What the timeline is: Current OMB approval expires February 28, 2026; the proposed extension would run through February 2029; OMB review typically takes 60-90 days, with final approval expected in Q1-Q2 2025.
• What contractors should do NOW: No immediate action required—this is an administrative extension, not a regulatory change. Continue compliance with existing FAR Part 27 provisions, ensure proposal teams accurately represent limited rights data and restricted computer software in responses (FAR 52.227-15), and monitor your compliance tracking systems for the final OMB approval notice.

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Who Is Affected

Market Segments:

IT Services, Software Development, Research and Development, Defense, Aerospace, Engineering Services, Scientific Research, Technology Development, Manufacturing, Professional Services

NAICS Codes:

334111 (Electronic Computers), 334118 (Computer Terminals), 334290 (Other Communications Equipment), 334511 (Search/Navigation Equipment), 334513 (Industrial Process Variable Instruments), 334516 (Analytical Laboratory Instruments), 334614 (Software/Media Reproduction), 336411-336419 (Aircraft Manufacturing), 511210 (Software Publishers), 518210 (Data Processing/Hosting), 541330 (Engineering Services), 541511-541519 (Custom Computer Programming/Systems Design), 541611 (Administrative Management Consulting), 541690 (Other Scientific/Technical Consulting), 541712-541715 (R&D Services), 541720 (R&D in Social Sciences/Humanities), 611420 (Computer Training)

Agencies:

DOD, NASA, DOE, DHS (Department of Homeland Security), HHS, DOT, DOC, VA, GSA (General Services Administration)—any agency procuring technology development, software, or R&D services where intellectual property rights are material to contract performance.

Contract Vehicles:

OASIS+, SEWP, 8(a) STARS III, Alliant 2, CIO-SP3, CIO-SP4, ITES-SW2, T4NG—particularly vehicles supporting software development, systems integration, and technology R&D.

Compliance Surfaces:

FAR Part 27, DFARS (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement) 252.227 series, Patent Rights clauses, Data Rights provisions, Technical Data Rights, Computer Software Rights, SBIR Data Rights provisions.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Does this extension change our intellectual property obligations under existing contracts?

No. This is purely an administrative extension of existing information collection requirements. Your current obligations under FAR Part 27 and associated clauses (FAR 52.227 series) remain unchanged. Contractors should continue delivering technical data and software under the same rights categories (unlimited, government purpose, limited, restricted) as currently defined. The extension simply maintains the government's authority to collect this information for another three years without introducing new requirements or modifying existing data rights frameworks.

Q: Do we need to update our proposal templates or compliance matrices?

Not immediately. Since this is an extension rather than a revision, your existing proposal templates, compliance matrices, and standard representations under FAR 52.227-15 (Representation of Limited Rights Data and Restricted Computer Software) remain valid. However, this is an excellent opportunity to audit your proposal library to ensure your intellectual property representations are accurate and your teams understand the distinctions between unlimited rights, government purpose rights, limited rights data, and restricted computer software. Reference the Secure Operations Guide (/insights/secure-operations-guide) for best practices on maintaining compliant proposal content libraries.

Q: How does this affect our SBIR/STTR data rights protections?

SBIR/STTR data rights protections under FAR 52.227-20 are unaffected by this administrative extension. Small businesses performing SBIR/STTR contracts retain their enhanced data rights protections, including the ability to withhold technical data from public disclosure for extended periods. The extension maintains the government's ability to collect information about these rights but does not diminish the protections afforded to SBIR/STTR performers. Continue asserting SBIR data rights in accordance with your existing contract clauses and ensure your proposal teams properly identify SBIR-funded work when responding to follow-on solicitations.

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Definitions

• FAR Part 27: The section of the Federal Acquisition Regulation governing patents, data rights, and copyrights in government contracts, establishing the framework for intellectual property rights allocation between contractors and the government.
• Technical Data Rights: The government's rights to use, modify, reproduce, release, perform, display, or disclose technical data (drawings, specifications, documentation) delivered under a contract, categorized as unlimited rights, government purpose rights, or limited rights depending on funding source and development circumstances.
• Limited Rights Data: Technical data that embody trade secrets or are commercial/financial and confidential, developed exclusively at private expense, where the government receives restricted usage rights (internal use only, no external release without contractor permission).
• Restricted Computer Software: Computer software developed exclusively at private expense where the government receives limited rights to use the software with restricted disclosure and reproduction rights, protecting the contractor's proprietary investment.
• Government Purpose Rights: A middle-tier data rights category where the government can use, modify, reproduce, release, and disclose technical data or software within the government and to support contractors, but cannot release the data publicly or for commercial purposes without contractor permission.
• FAR 52.227-15: The solicitation provision requiring offerors to represent whether they will deliver technical data or computer software with less than unlimited rights, enabling the government to evaluate intellectual property implications before contract award.
• Information Collection: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, any government requirement for contractors to provide information, data, or reports; OMB must approve these collections and periodically review them to minimize burden while ensuring necessary information is available for program management and oversight.

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Intelligence Response

How Cabrillo Club's Platform Operationalizes This Event:

The Cabrillo Signals War Room detected this FAR Part 27 extension submission within hours of the Federal Register posting and automatically generated this flash briefing, cross-referencing the affected NAICS codes, agencies, and contract vehicles against your firm's active pipeline and capability portfolio. While this particular event requires no immediate compliance action, it demonstrates the platform's continuous regulatory monitoring capability—critical for identifying when administrative extensions transition to substantive rule changes that could impact your intellectual property strategy, proposal positioning, or contract negotiation posture.

The Cabrillo Signals Intelligence Hub maintains persistent tracking of FAR Part 27 and DFARS 252.227 series provisions, monitoring not just regulatory updates but also agency-specific implementation guidance, GAO protests involving data rights disputes, and COFC decisions that interpret technical data rights clauses. Saved searches within the Intelligence Hub can alert your contracts and legal teams when solicitations appear on SAM.gov (System for Award Management) containing non-standard data rights clauses or when agencies issue class deviations affecting intellectual property provisions—enabling proactive risk assessment before bid/no-bid decisions. For firms handling CUI (Controlled Unclassified Information) or technical data, cross-reference this monitoring with the CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) Compliance Guide (/insights/cmmc-compliance-guide) and CUI-Safe CRM Guide (/insights/cui-safe-crm-guide) to ensure your data rights assertions align with your cybersecurity posture.

Systems to Configure:

• Cabrillo Signals War Room — Already delivered this briefing; configure alert thresholds to escalate from INFO to ALERT severity if OMB issues substantive changes during the review process or if agencies publish implementation guidance that deviates from standard FAR Part 27 interpretations.
• Cabrillo Signals Intelligence Hub — Create saved searches for: (1) solicitations containing FAR 52.227-14 (Rights in Data—General) with non-standard modifications, (2) agency-specific data rights guidance documents, (3) GAO protests citing FAR Part 27 disputes, and (4) final OMB approval notices for this information collection extension.
• Proposal Studio (Proposal OS) — Audit your compliance matrix library to ensure FAR 52.227 series clauses are accurately mapped with current interpretations; verify that your win theme library includes positioning statements for intellectual property protection, particularly for proposals involving proprietary algorithms, software frameworks, or technical innovations developed at private expense.
• Proposal Studio Workflow Tracker — Update your Gate 3 (Solution Development) and Gate 5 (Proposal Development) checklists to include mandatory review of data rights assertions by contracts and legal personnel, ensuring FAR 52.227-15 representations are accurate and that limited rights data/restricted software are properly identified before proposal submission.

Notification Chain:

• Contracts Director / Chief Contracts Officer — Owns regulatory compliance posture; needs awareness of the extension timeline to plan for potential future changes and to ensure proposal teams are operating under current provisions through 2029.
• Legal Counsel / Intellectual Property Lead — Responsible for data rights strategy and protecting proprietary technical data; should monitor OMB's final approval for any clarifying language that could affect negotiation positions on non-standard clauses.
• Capture Managers / Proposal Managers — Must ensure proposal teams accurately represent limited rights data and restricted software in responses; this briefing confirms no immediate template changes are required but reinforces the importance of accurate FAR 52.227-15 representations.
• Business Development / Strategy Teams — Should understand that FAR Part 27 provisions remain stable through 2029, enabling consistent intellectual property positioning in long-term capture strategies for R&D, software development, and technology innovation contracts.

First 48-Hour Response Playbook:

• Hour 0-4: Contracts team reviews this briefing and confirms no immediate action required; notifies proposal teams that existing FAR Part 27 compliance procedures remain in effect; flags the February 28, 2026 expiration date for future monitoring.
• Hour 4-12: Legal/IP counsel reviews current contract portfolio to identify any active negotiations involving non-standard data rights clauses; confirms that this extension does not affect ongoing disputes or negotiations; documents the extension timeline in the regulatory compliance calendar.
• Hour 12-24: Proposal operations team audits compliance matrix library and proposal templates to verify FAR 52.227 series clauses are current; schedules refresher training for proposal teams on limited rights data and restricted software representations (FAR 52.227-15) to reinforce accuracy in upcoming submissions.
• Hour 24-48: Business development team reviews active capture pipeline to identify opportunities where intellectual property strategy is a differentiator (SBIR Phase III transitions, commercial software adaptations, proprietary algorithm applications); confirms that stable FAR Part 27 provisions through 2029 support long-term IP positioning strategies; updates capture plans to reflect regulatory stability.

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