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15 U.S. Code § 3719. Prize competitions
(a) DefinitionsIn this section:
(1) Agency
The term “agency” means a Federal agency.
(2) Director
The term “Director” means the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
(3) Federal agency
The term “Federal agency” has the meaning given under section 3703 of this title, except that term shall not include any agency of the legislative branch of the Federal Government.
(4) Head of an agency
The term “head of an agency” means the head of a Federal agency.
(b) In general
Each head of an agency, or the heads of multiple agencies in cooperation, may carry out a program to award prizes competitively to stimulate innovation that has the potential to advance the mission of the respective agency.
(c) Prize competitionsFor purposes of this section, a prize competition may be 1 or more of the following types of activities:
(1)
A point solution prize that rewards and spurs the development of solutions for a particular, well-defined problem.
(2)
An exposition prize competition that helps identify and promote a broad range of ideas and practices that may not otherwise attract attention, facilitating further development of the idea or practice by third parties.
(3)
Participation prize competitions that create value during and after the competition by encouraging contestants to change their behavior or develop new skills that may have beneficial effects during and after the competition.
(4)
Such other types of prize competitions as each head of an agency considers appropriate to stimulate innovation that has the potential to advance the mission of the respective agency.