Designating Proprietary Information in Federal Grant Applications

In general, disclosing proprietary information in a grant application should occur only when needed to present information that is critical to the review of the grant proposal.   If a proposal is funded, most grant-related information in the proposal is considered public information and may be made public, so if  proprietary information is included it is important to indicate it appropriately on the forms pages and in the body of the application or cover page.   Doing so ensures that the federal agency will only use the information for the evaluation of the application, and aids in the identification of what may be exempt from disclosure to the public.     

Funding agencies may have a required question or field on their standard forms to capture whether proprietary information is included.  An affirmative to the question indicates that patentable ideas, trade secrets, or privileged information is included.  Consulting the agency specific grant application guidelines will advise on how to identify such information in the body of the application materials.

For example, the National Science Foundation (NSF) requires the “Proprietary or Privileged Information” box on the Cover Sheet to be marked, in addition to clearly marking the information in the proposal with an appropriate label or legend.  [NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) Chapter II.D.1]   

Similarly, to identify proprietary information on a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant proposal, check “Yes” to Question 3 on the “Other Project Information” page on the application forms pages, and clearly mark each line or paragraph containing the proprietary information.

[General Instructions for NIH and Other PHS Agencies (Section G. 220)]

Other federal agencies may have similar application requirements, please read your grant solicitation or guidelines carefully.