[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2601 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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115th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2601
To amend the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to extend the period
during which the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property
and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office may set
or adjust certain fees, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 22, 2018
Mr. Coons (for himself and Mr. Hatch) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to extend the period
during which the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property
and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office may set
or adjust certain fees, 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 ``Building Innovation Growth through
Data for Intellectual Property Act'' or the ``BIG Data for IP Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act--
(1) the term ``advanced data science analytics'' means
techniques, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning,
and other methods of analyzing large data sets, that are used
to make policy recommendations;
(2) the term ``Director'' means the Under Secretary of
Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the Office;
(3) the term ``Office'' means the United States Patent and
Trademark Office;
(4) the term ``PPAC'' means the Patent Public Advisory
Committee of the Office; and
(5) the term ``TPAC'' means the Trademark Public Advisory
Committee of the Office.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Section 10(a) of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act
(35 U.S.C. 41 note) grants the Director the authority to ``set
or adjust by rule any fee established, authorized, or charged
under title 35, United States Code, or the Trademark Act of
1946. . . . to recover the aggregate estimated costs to the
Office for processing, activities, services, and materials
relating to patents (in the case of patent fees) and trademarks
(in the case of trademark fees), including administrative costs
of the Office''.
(2) The Office has worked with PPAC, TPAC, and the public
to engage in a fee-setting process that is transparent, as
envisioned by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (Public Law
112-29; 125 Stat. 284).
(3) Since 2011, the Office has used this fee-setting
authority to implement a sustainable funding model with an
operating reserve, which allows the Office to invest in long-
term projects, including crucial infrastructure upgrades that
are necessary for a 21st century intellectual property office,
regardless of whether there are temporary fluctuations in
patent or trademark filings.
(4) The infrastructure upgrades described in paragraph (3)
include the use of advanced data science analytics, which will
help to--
(A) improve productivity and quality with respect
to the issuance of patents and trademarks; and
(B) ensure--
(i) the consistent application of laws by
nearly 9,000 patent examiners and trademark
examining attorneys; and
(ii) the certainty and strength of
Federally-granted rights that are foundational
to the economy of the United States.
SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF SUNSET.
Section 10(i)(2) of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (35 U.S.C.
41 note) is amended by striking ``the 7-year period beginning on the
date of the enactment of this Act'' and inserting ``the 10-year period
beginning on the date of enactment of the BIG Data for IP Act''.
SEC. 5. REPORT.
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Director shall submit to Congress a report that includes--
(1) the status of the capabilities of the information
technology systems of the Office with respect to--
(A) the examination of patents and trademarks; and
(B) proceedings conducted before the--
(i) Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the
Office; and
(ii) Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of
the Office;
(2) a 5-year plan for further modernization of the
information technology systems described in paragraph (1); and
(3) an accounting of the use by the Office of advanced data
science analytics, including from commercially available
sources, to improve the patent and trademark examination
process where appropriate, including--
(A) a description of how the Office uses advanced
data science analytics with respect to the examination
of patents and trademarks to--
(i) improve consistency;
(ii) detect common sources of error; and
(iii) improve productivity;
(B) a 5-year plan for further development of
advanced data science analytics for the uses described
in subparagraph (A); and
(C) a description of how the findings made as a
result of the uses of advanced data science analytics
under subparagraph (A) shall be made available to the
public on a regular basis.
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