II 112th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 139 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.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Equal Access to Tax Planning Act.

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.