In the Senate of the United States,
November 28, 2022.
Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 5796) entitled “An Act to amend title 35, United States Code, to establish a competition to award certificates that can be redeemed to accelerate certain matters at the Patent and Trademark Office, and for other purposes.”, do pass with the following
AMENDMENT:
SEC. 2. Award of certificates to accelerate certain matters at the Patent and Trademark Office.
(a) Award.—Chapter 2 of title 35, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
Ҥ 28. Award of certificates to accelerate certain matters at the Patent and Trademark Office
“(a) Definition.—In this section, the term ‘eligible entity’ means an entity that—
“(b) Establishment.—There is established a competition, to be held not less frequently than biennially, to award eligible entities certificates that can be redeemed to accelerate one of the following matters:
“(1) An ex parte reexamination proceeding, including 1 appeal to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board from that proceeding.
“(2) An application for a patent, including 1 appeal to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board from that application.
“(c) Administration.—The Director shall administer the competition established under subsection (b).
“(d) Application.—An entity seeking an award under subsection (b) shall submit to the Director an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Director may require.
(b) Rule of construction.—Nothing in this section, or the amendments made by this section, may be construed as affecting any action taken by the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office before the date of enactment of this Act with respect to the administration of the Patents for Humanity Program established in the notice entitled “Humanitarian Awards Pilot Program”, published at 77 Fed. Reg. 6544 (February 8, 2012).
(c) Technical and conforming amendment.—The table of sections for chapter 2 of title 35, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“28. Award of certificates to accelerate certain matters at the Patent and Trademark Office.”.
Attest:
Secretary
| |||||
AMENDMENT | |||||