II 110th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 2369 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES November 15, 2007 Mr. Baucus (for himself, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Levin, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Obama, and Mr. Bingaman) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 35, United States Code, to provide that certain tax planning inventions are not patentable, and for other purposes.

1.

Tax planning inventions not patentable

(a)

In general

Section 101 of title 35, United States Code, is amended— (1)by striking Whoever and inserting (a) Patentable inventions.—Whoever, and (2)by adding at the end the following: (b)

Tax planning inventions

(1)

Unpatentable subject matter

A patent may not be obtained for a tax planning invention. (2)

Definitions

For purposes of paragraph (1)— (A)the term tax planning invention means a plan, strategy, technique, scheme, process, or system that is designed to reduce, minimize, avoid, or defer, or has, when implemented, the effect of reducing, minimizing, avoiding, or deferring, a taxpayer’s tax liability or is designed to facilitate compliance with tax laws, but does not include tax preparation software and other tools or systems used solely to prepare tax or information returns, (B)the term taxpayer means an individual, entity, or other person (as defined in section 7701 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986), (C)the terms tax, tax laws, tax liability, and taxation refer to any Federal, State, county, city, municipality, foreign, or other governmental levy, assessment, or imposition, whether measured by income, value, or otherwise, and (D)the term State means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States. . (b)

Applicability

The amendments made by this section— (1)shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, (2)shall apply to any application for patent or application for a reissue patent that is— (A)filed on or after the date of the enactment of this Act, or (B)filed before that date if a patent or reissue patent has not been issued pursuant to the application as of that date, and (3)shall not be construed as validating any patent issued before the date of the enactment of this Act for an invention described in section 101(b) of title 35, United States Code, as added by this section.