[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3736 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3736

  To provide that certain uses of a patent or copyright in compliance 
 with an order of the Federal Communications Commission for emergency 
 communications services shall be construed as use or manufacture for 
                           the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 12, 2013

 Ms. DeGette (for herself and Mr. Farenthold) introduced the following 
       bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide that certain uses of a patent or copyright in compliance 
 with an order of the Federal Communications Commission for emergency 
 communications services shall be construed as use or manufacture for 
                           the United States.

    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 ``Protect Advanced Communications for 
Emergency Services Act of 2013'' or the ``PACES Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) there are an estimated 302,000,000 active wireless 
        mobile device users in the United States with an estimated 
        51,000,000 people in the United States living in households 
        that rely solely on wireless communication devices (almost 25 
        percent of households in the United States), of which 
        21,000,000 are children;
            (2) people in the United States make more than 300,000 
        wireless E-9-1-1 (enhanced 9-1-1) calls daily;
            (3) a majority of 9-1-1 calls now originate from mobile 
        devices, making an advanced wireless 9-1-1 service system a 
        critical national asset for law enforcement, homeland security, 
        and emergency responders who rely on this wireless location-
        based information to effectively dispatch assistance;
            (4) the Federal Communications Commission mandates all 
        wireless phone carriers and IP-enabled voice service providers 
        to provide services enabling users to dial 9-1-1 with a stated 
        purpose of allowing government first responders, homeland 
        security, police, fire and other government public safety 
        officials the ability to accurately locate 9-1-1 callers using 
        wireless devices;
            (5) the growing reliance of the people of the United States 
        and public safety, homeland security, and law enforcement 
        officials on emerging wireless technologies is leading to the 
        need for national text to 9-1-1, as well as picture and video 
        9-1-1 capabilities from mobile devices;
            (6) emerging technologies can be a critical component of 
        the end-to-end communications infrastructure connecting the 
        public with emergency medical service providers and emergency 
        dispatch providers, public safety, fire service, and law 
        enforcement officials, and hospital emergency and trauma care 
        facilities, to reduce emergency response times and provide 
        appropriate care;
            (7) improved public safety remains an important public 
        health objective of Federal, State, and local governments and 
        substantially facilitates interstate and foreign commerce;
            (8) wireless carriers and their vendors, in complying with 
        the Federal mandate to provide E-9-1-1 location-based 
        technology, have become targets of or been impacted by patent 
        infringement lawsuits;
            (9) patent infringement lawsuits brought by what the 
        Federal Trade Commission has termed ``Patent Assertion 
        Entities'' are--
                    (A) compromising the ability of wireless carriers 
                to provide current wireless 9-1-1 services; and
                    (B) deterring the implementation of innovative new 
                technologies that could meet next generation 9-1-1 
                public safety needs such as text, picture, and video 9-
                1-1 capabilities;
            (10) section 1498 of title 28, United States Code, was 
        designed to protect those required by the Government to provide 
        a service ``by or for the United States'' while also providing 
        legitimate patent holders with an appropriate means to recover 
        reasonable and entire compensation for their patents;
            (11) this Act clarifies that patented technologies required 
        to provide 9-1-1, enhanced 9-1-1, and other emergency 
        communications services, as defined in section 7 of the 
        Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999 (47 
        U.S.C. 615b), are provided by and for the United States and 
        with the authorization or consent of the United States for the 
        purposes of section 1498 of title 28, United States Code; and
            (12) this Act does not modify or invalidate any patent, 
        preserves all patent claims, and does not prevent patent 
        litigation.

SEC. 3. JURISDICTION FOR CLAIMS REGARDING OTHER EMERGENCY SERVICES.

    Section 1498 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(f) Jurisdiction for Claims Regarding 9-1-1, Enhanced 9-1-1, or 
Other Emergency Communications Service.--Beginning after the date of 
enactment of this subsection, any action under section 271 of title 35 
against a wireless carrier subject to section 20.18 of title 47, Code 
of Federal Regulations, or any successor thereto, or an IP-enabled 
voice service provider subject to section 6(a) of the Wireless 
Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999 (47 U.S.C. 615a-1(a)), 
regarding the provision of 9-1-1, enhanced 9-1-1, or other emergency 
communications service (as defined in section 7 of the Wireless 
Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999 (47 U.S.C. 615b)), shall 
be filed in accordance with this section.''.
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