[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4829 Introduced in House (IH)]
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114th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4829
To amend section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 with respect to
requirements for domestic industries, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 22, 2016
Mr. Cardenas (for himself and Mr. Farenthold) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 with respect to
requirements for domestic industries, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Trade Protection Not Troll
Protection Act''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to ensure that the resources of the
United States International Trade Commission are focused on protecting
genuine domestic industries, to restore confidence with the trading
partners of the United States that the Commission will not be a
duplicative forum for enforcing intellectual property rights when
United States district courts are already available, and to safeguard
the public health and welfare and the United States economy (including
competitive conditions).
SEC. 3. UNFAIR PRACTICES IN IMPORT TRADE.
(a) In General.--Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C.
1337) is amended as follows:
(1) Subsection (a) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (3)--
(i) by striking ``or'' at the end of
subparagraph (B);
(ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking
``engineering, research and development, or
licensing.'' and inserting ``engineering and
research and development; or''; and
(iii) by adding after subparagraph (C) the
following:
``(D) substantial investment in licensing activities that
leads to the adoption and development of articles that
incorporate the patent, copyright, trademark, mask work, or
design.'';
(B) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph
(5); and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
``(4) For purposes of paragraph (3), the complainant may not rely
upon activities by its licensees unless the license leads to the
adoption and development of articles that incorporate the claimed
patent, copyright, trademark, mask work, or design for sale in the
United States.''.
(2) Subsection (b) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (1), by inserting after the first
sentence the following: ``For a complaint under oath, a
person may be relied upon to qualify as an industry
under subsection (a)(2) only if the person joins the
complaint under oath, except that nothing in this
sentence shall be construed to compel such a person to
join the complaint.''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(4)(A) The Commission shall identify, at the beginning of an
investigation, whether the investigation presents a dispositive issue
appropriate for an expedited fact finding and an abbreviated hearing
limited to that issue, and shall direct the assigned administrative law
judge to rule on such issue early in the investigation. The Commission,
in its notice of instituting the investigation, shall set out specific
timeframes for such expedited fact finding and hearing.
``(B) If the Commission identifies a domestic industry as the
dispositive issue in question, the Commission shall direct the assigned
administrative law judge to expedite fact finding in the investigation
on the domestic industry requirement, including an early evidentiary
hearing, and to issue an initial determination on this matter within
100 days after the investigation is instituted.
``(C) Any initial determination by the assigned administrative law
judge under subparagraph (A) or (B) shall stay the investigation
pending Commission action.''.
(3) Subsection (c) is amended--
(A) by striking the first sentence and inserting
the following: ``(1) The Commission shall determine,
with respect to each investigation conducted by it
under this section, whether or not there is a violation
of this section, except that the Commission--
``(A) may, by issuing a consent order or on the basis of an
agreement between the private parties to the investigation,
including an agreement to present the matter for arbitration,
terminate any such investigation, in whole or in part, without
making such a determination; or
``(B) may determine during the course of the investigation
that the exclusion of the articles under investigation would
not be in the interest of the public, after considering the
nature of the articles concerned and the effect of such
exclusion upon the public health and welfare, the United States
economy (including competitive conditions), the production of
like or directly competitive articles by the complainant and
its licensees, United States consumers, and any other relevant
considerations, and terminate any such investigation, in whole
or in part, without making any further determination.'';
(B) in the second sentence, by striking ``Each
determination'' and inserting the following:
``(2) Each determination'';
(C) by inserting after ``the Federal Circuit for
review in accordance with chapter 7 of title 5, United
States Code.'' the following: ``In addition, any person
adversely affected by a ruling of the Commission under
subsection (b)(4) may appeal such ruling, within 60
days after all administrative remedies are exhausted,
to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit for review in accordance with chapter 7 of
title 5, United States Code. In the event that the
Commission's ruling is appealed under this subsection
and upon motion by the adversely affected party, the
Commission shall stay all further proceedings in the
investigation until all appeals are final.'';
(D) by striking ``its findings on the public health
and welfare, competitive conditions in the United
States economy,'' and inserting ``its findings on the
public health and welfare, the United States economy
(including competitive conditions),''; and
(E) by inserting ``by the complainant and its
licensees'' after ``the production of like or directly
competitive articles''.
(4) Subsection (d)(1) is amended by striking the first
sentence and inserting the following: ``If the Commission
determines, as a result of an investigation under this section,
that there is a violation of this section and that exclusion of
the articles concerned would be in the interest of the public,
after considering the nature of the articles concerned and the
effect of such exclusion upon the public health and welfare,
the United States economy (including competitive conditions),
the production of like or directly competitive articles by the
complainant and its licensees, United States consumers, and any
other relevant considerations, the Commission shall direct that
the articles concerned that are imported by any person
violating the provision of this section be excluded from entry
into the United States.''.
(5) Subsection (e)(1) is amended by striking the first
sentence and inserting the following: ``If, during the course
of an investigation under this section, the Commission
determines that there is reason to believe that there is a
violation of this section and that exclusion of the articles
concerned would be in the interest of the public, the
Commission may direct that the articles concerned that are
imported by any person with respect to whom there is reason to
believe that such person is violating this section be excluded
from entry into the United States, after considering the nature
of the articles concerned and the effect of such exclusion upon
the public health and welfare, the United States economy
(including competitive conditions), the production of like or
directly competitive articles by the complainant and its
licensees, United States consumers, and any other relevant
considerations.''.
(6) Subsection (f)(1) is amended by striking the first
sentence and inserting the following: ``In addition to, or in
lieu of, taking action under subsection (d) or (e), the
Commission may issue and cause to be served on any person
violating this section, or believed to be violating this
section, as the case may be, an order directing such person to
cease and desist from engaging in the unfair methods or acts
involved, after considering the nature of the articles
concerned and the effect of such exclusion upon the public
health and welfare, the United States economy (including
competitive conditions), the production of like or directly
competitive articles by the complainant and its licensee,
United States consumers, and any other relevant
considerations.''.
(7) Subsection (g)(1) is amended by amending the matter
following subparagraph (E) to read as follows:
``the Commission shall presume the facts alleged in the complaint to be
true and shall, upon request, issue an exclusion from entry or a cease
and desist order, or both, limited to that person, after considering
the nature of the articles concerned and the effect of such exclusion
upon the public health and welfare, the United States economy
(including competitive conditions), the production of like or directly
competitive articles by the complainant and its licensees, United
States consumers, and any other relevant considerations.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall
apply to complaints filed under section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930
on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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