Rationalization Proposal

in the USSR, a technical concept that is new and useful for the enterprise, organization, or institution to which it is submitted and that envisions a change in article design, production technology, and machinery or a change in the composition of materials that are used. The characteristics of a rationalization proposal and the rules for its protection are established by the 1973 Statute on Discoveries, inventions, and Rationalization Proposals. Rationalization proposals are distinguished from organizational proposals, which are directed at reorganization of an enterprise’s staff and structure and improvement in accounting and reporting systems.

The application for a rationalization proposal—with drawings, diagrams, and drafts, if necessary—is submitted to the enterprise whose activity the proposal concerns; if the proposal can be used at different enterprises, it is submitted to the appropriate ministry or department. All applications received are recorded and reviewed at the enterprise within 15 days or at the ministry or department within a month and a half. During this period the author of the proposal must be informed that the concept submitted has been recognized as a rationalization proposal and adopted for use, that an experimental test of the proposal is being made, or that the proposal is rejected. If the decision is favorable, the author of the proposal is given a certificate that is the basis for the rights of authorship and remuneration. Protection of the rights of proposal authors is provided for in different legal forms by all other socialist countries.