Editorial Notes

Codification

The text of subsec. (a) of section 2320 of this title, which was transferred to this section and amended by Pub. L. 116–283, § 1833(b), was based on Pub. L. 98–525, title XII, § 1216(a), Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2595; Pub. L. 98–577, title III, § 301(b), Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 3076; Pub. L. 99–145, title IX, § 961(d)(1), Nov. 8, 1985, 99 Stat. 703; Pub. L. 99–500, § 101(c) [title X, § 953(a)], Oct. 18, 1986, 100 Stat. 1783–82, 1783–169, and Pub. L. 99–591, § 101(c) [title X, § 953(a)], Oct. 30, 1986, 100 Stat. 3341–82, 3341–169; Pub. L. 99–661, div. A, title IX, formerly title IV, § 953(a), Nov. 14, 1986, 100 Stat. 3949, renumbered title IX, Pub. L. 100–26, § 3(5), Apr. 21, 1987, 101 Stat. 273; Pub. L. 100–26, § 7(a)(4), Apr. 21, 1987, 101 Stat. 275; Pub. L. 100–180, div. A, title VIII, § 808(a), Dec. 4, 1987, 101 Stat. 1128; Pub. L. 101–189, div. A, title VIII, § 853(b)(2), Nov. 29, 1989, 103 Stat. 1518; Pub. L. 111–383, div. A, title VIII, § 824(b), Jan. 7, 2011, 124 Stat. 4269; Pub. L. 112–81, div. A, title VIII, § 815(a)(1), Dec. 31, 2011, 125 Stat. 1491; Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title VIII, § 809(a), (b), (e), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2266, 2267; Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title VIII, § 804(b)(2)(A)(i), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3738. Pub. L. 99–500, Pub. L. 99–591, and Pub. L. 99–661 generally amended section 2320(a) substantially identically; as executed, text reflected amendment by Pub. L. 99–661.

Amendments

2021—Pub. L. 116–283, § 1833(b)(1), (2)(A), transferred subsec. (a) of section 2320 of this title to this section, effectively redesignated par. (1) as subsec. (a), and redesignated pars. (2) and (3) as subsecs. (b) and (c), respectively.

Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1833(b)(2)(A), (B)(i), after redesignation of par. (1) of section 2320(a) of this title as subsec. (a) of this section, inserted subsec. heading and, in existing provisions, designated first two sentences as par. (1) and the remainder as par. (2) and inserted par. headings. Amendment designating “the third sentence as paragraph (2)” was executed by including the fourth sentence within par. (2) as well, to reflect the probable intent of Congress.

Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1833(b)(2)(B), substituted “Regulations prescribed under paragraph (1) may not” for “Such regulations may not”, inserted dash after “impair”, reorganized remainder of text into designated subpars. (A) and (B), and, at end of subpar. (A), substituted “by law; or” for “by law. Such regulations also may not impair”.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1833(b)(3)(A), (B), after redesignation of par. (2) of section 2320(a) of this title as subsec. (b) of this section, inserted heading, substituted “Regulations prescribed under subsection (a)” for “Such regulations” in introductory provisions, and redesignated subpars. (A) to (I) as pars. (1) to (9), respectively.

Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1833(b)(3)(C), redesignated cls. (i) and (ii) as subpars. (A) and (B), respectively.

Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1833(b)(3)(D), substituted “paragraphs (3), (4), and (7)” for “subparagraphs (C), (D), and (G)”.

Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1833(b)(3)(E), substituted “paragraph (2)” for “subparagraph (b)” in heading and “Paragraph (2) does not” for “Subparagraph (B) does not” in introductory provisions and redesignated cls. (i) to (iv) as subpars. (A) to (D), respectively.

Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1833(b)(3)(F), substituted “paragraph (2)” for “subparagraph (b)” in heading and “Notwithstanding paragraph (2)” for “Notwithstanding subparagraph (B)” in introductory provisions and redesignated cl. (i), its subcls. (I) to (III), cl. (ii), and cl. (iii) as subpar. (A), cls. (i) to (iii), subpar. (B), and subpar. (C), respectively.

Subsec. (b)(5). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1833(b)(3)(G), in existing provisions, designated first sentence as subpar. (A), inserted heading, and substituted “Except as provided in paragraphs (6) and (7),” for “Except as provided in subparagraphs (F) and (G),” and designated second sentence as subpar. (B), inserted heading, and realigned margin.

Subsec. (b)(6). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1833(b)(3)(H), substituted “paragraph (5)” for “subparagraph (E)”.

Subsec. (b)(7). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1833(b)(3)(I), in existing provisions, designated first sentence as subpar. (A) and substituted “Notwithstanding paragraphs (2) and (5)” for “Notwithstanding subparagraphs (B) and (E)” and “section 4401” for “section 2446a” and designated second and third sentences as subpars. (B) and (C), respectively.

Subsec. (b)(8). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1833(b)(3)(J)(i), (ii), inserted heading and redesignated cls. (i) and (ii) as subpars. (A) and (B), respectively.

Subsec. (b)(8)(A). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1833(b)(3)(J)(iii)–(vi), redesignated subcl. (I) as cl. (i) and substituted “paragraph (1)” for “subparagraph (A)”, redesignated subcl. (II) as cl. (ii) and substituted “paragraph (3)” for “subparagraph (C)”, and redesignated subcl. (III) as cl. (iii) and substituted “paragraph (4)” for “subparagraph (D)”.

Subsec. (b)(8)(B). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1833(b)(3)(J)(vii), substituted “paragraph (2)” for “subparagraph (B)”.

Subsec. (b)(9). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1833(b)(3)(K), inserted heading, redesignated cl. (i) as subpar. (A) and substituted “paragraph (3) or (4)” for “subparagraph (C) or (D)”, redesignated cl. (ii) as subpar. (B) and substituted “this subchapter” for “this section”, and redesignated cl. (iii) as subpar. (C).

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1833(b)(4), inserted heading, substituted “subsection (a)” for “paragraph (1)” and “this subsection” for “this paragraph”, inserted dash after “terms, the Secretary”, and reorganized remainder of text into designated pars. (1) and (2).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section and amendment by Pub. L. 116–283 effective Jan. 1, 2022, with additional provisions for delayed implementation and applicability of existing law, see section 1801(d) of Pub. L. 116–283, set out as an Effective Date of 2021 Amendment note preceding section 3001 of this title.

Reverse Engineering or Re-Engineering for Production of Items

Pub. L. 118–159, div. A, title VIII, § 882, Dec. 23, 2024, 138 Stat. 2017, provided that:

“(a)

Reverse Engineering or Re-engineering Process.—

Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 23, 2024], the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, in coordination with each Secretary of a military department and the Director of the Defense Logistics Agency, shall establish a process to—

“(1)

identify items for which—

“(A)

technical data is not available; or

“(B)

rights in such technical data does not allow for manufacturing of the item; and

“(2)

create streamlined procedures for production of a item identified under paragraph (1) through reverse engineering or re-engineering—

“(A)

if production of the item may be required for point of use manufacturing or for a contested logistics environment (as defined in section 2926 of title 10, United States Code);

“(B)

if the manufacturer of the item will not meet the schedule for delivery required by the contracting officer to maintain weapon system readiness or responsiveness in the event of mobilization; or

“(C)

with respect to a item for which a head of the contracting activity can only acquire by entering into a sole source contract, if such head submits to the service acquisition executive (as defined in section 101 of title 10, United States Code) a written determination that such reverse engineering or re-engineering is beneficial to sustain training or operations of the Department of Defense with respect to such item.

“(b)

Annual Report.—

“(1)

In general.—

Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until December 31, 2030, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, in coordination with each Secretary of a military department and the Director of the Defense Logistics Agency, shall submit to the congressional defense committees [Committees on Armed Services and Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives] a report on the use of reverse engineering or re-engineering carried out pursuant to the process required under subsection (a).

“(2)

Contents.—

Each report required by paragraph (1) shall include the following:

“(A)

A list of items produced through reverse engineering or re-engineering, disaggregated by element of the Department of Defense described in section 111(b) of title 10, United States Code that used the process established under subsection (a).

“(B)

Representative case studies of items listed under subparagraph (A), including a description of the use case of each item, the efforts used to acquire the technical data or technical data rights needed to manufacture the item, and the estimated cost or time savings obtained, the estimated cost or time savings obtained over an estimated time horizon of ten years of acquisition requirements, including the identification of recurring and nonrecurring costs.

“(C)

Recommendations and lessons learned that may inform contracting guidance and procedures, especially regarding the creation of technical data packages and technical data rights through reverse engineering or re-engineering.”