
The Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program is a highly competitive three-phase award system that provides qualified small businesses with opportunities to propose innovative ideas that meet the Federal Government's specific research and development needs. SBIR is a congressionally mandated program and the big payoff of the program is ownership of SBIR derived technologies and sole source rights in Phase III. This article provides an overview of the SBIR program.