[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 139 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 139

To provide that certain tax planning strategies are not patentable, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             January 25 (legislative day, January 5), 2011

  Mr. Baucus (for himself, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Levin, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. 
 Wyden, Mr. Conrad, Mr. Enzi, and Mr. Kerry) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide that certain tax planning strategies are not patentable, 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 ``Equal Access to Tax Planning Act''.

SEC. 2. TAX STRATEGIES DEEMED WITHIN THE PRIOR ART.

    (a) In General.--For purposes of evaluating an invention under 
section 102 or 103 of title 35, United States Code, any strategy for 
reducing, avoiding, or deferring tax liability, whether known or 
unknown at the time of the invention or application for patent, shall 
be deemed insufficient to differentiate a claimed invention from the 
prior art.
    (b) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term ``tax 
liability'' refers to any liability for a tax under any Federal, State, 
or local law, or the law of any foreign jurisdiction, including any 
statute, rule, regulation, or ordinance that levies, imposes, or 
assesses such tax liability.
    (c) Effective Date; Applicability.--This section shall take effect 
on the date of enactment of this Act and shall apply to any patent 
application pending and any patent issued on or after that date.
                                 <all>