§ 346 — State contracting; intellectual property, software design, and information technology

(a) The Secretary of Administration shall include in Administrative Bulletin 3.5 a policy direction applicable to State procurement contracts that include services for the development of software applications, computer coding, or other intellectual property, which would allow the State of Vermont to grant permission to the contractor to use or own the intellectual property created under the contract for the contractor’s commercial purposes.
(b) The Secretary may recommend contract provisions that authorize the State to negotiate with a contractor to secure license terms and license fees, royalty rights, or other payment mechanism for the contractor’s commercial use of intellectual property developed under a State contract.
(c) If the Secretary authorizes a contractor to own intellectual property developed under a State contract, the Secretary may recommend language to ensure the State retains a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, and fully paid right to continue to use the intellectual property including escrow for perpetual use at least annually. (Added 2013, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 18; amended 2019, No. 49, § 2, eff. June 10, 2019.)