Rules of construction

(a) In general None of the amendments made by this title may be construed to— (1) transfer ownership of a measure developed by a qualified clinical data registry to the Secretary or any other entity without the authorization of the qualified clinical data registry; or (2) require a qualified clinical data registry to relinquish intellectual property rights as a condition of having a measure considered for inclusion in the annual final list of measures. (b) IP The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall recognize that measures developed by qualified clinical data registries are the intellectual property of such registries, including any specifications, methodologies, scoring algorithms, specialty or subspecialty guidelines, and related materials associated with such measures. Nothing in this title shall prohibit a qualified clinical data registry from voluntarily licensing a measure to the Secretary or other entities under terms agreed to by such registry.