[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 845 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 845

To amend chapter 29 of title 35, United States Code, to provide for the 
      recovery of patent litigation costs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 27, 2013

  Mr. DeFazio (for himself and Mr. Chaffetz) introduced the following 
       bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend chapter 29 of title 35, United States Code, to provide for the 
      recovery of patent litigation costs, 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 ``Saving High-Tech Innovators from 
Egregious Legal Disputes Act of 2013''.

SEC. 2. RECOVERY OF LITIGATION COSTS.

    (a) Amendment.--Chapter 29 of title 35, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 285 the following new section:
``Sec. 285A. Recovery of litigation costs
    ``(a) In General.--In an action involving the validity or 
infringement of a patent--
            ``(1) a party asserting invalidity or noninfringement may 
        move for judgment that the adverse party does not meet at least 
        one of the conditions described in subsection (d);
            ``(2) not later than 90 days after a party has moved for 
        the judgment described in paragraph (1), the adverse party 
        shall be provided an opportunity to prove such party meets at 
        least one of the conditions described in subsection (d);
            ``(3) as soon as practicable after the adverse party has 
        been provided an opportunity to respond under paragraph (2), 
        but not later than 120 days after a party has moved for the 
        judgment described in paragraph (1), the court shall make a 
        determination whether the adverse party meets at least one of 
        the conditions described in subsection (d); and
            ``(4) notwithstanding section 285, the Court shall award 
        the recovery of full costs to any prevailing party asserting 
        invalidity or noninfringement, including reasonable attorney's 
        fees, other than the United States, upon the entry of a final 
        judgment if the court determines that the adverse party did not 
        meet at least one of the conditions described in subsection 
        (d), unless the court finds that exceptional circumstances make 
        an award unjust.
    ``(b) Bond Required.--Any party that fails to meet a condition 
under subsection (a)(3) shall be required to post a bond in an amount 
determined by the court to cover the recovery of full costs described 
in subsection (a)(4).
    ``(c) Timing and Effect of Pending Motion.--With respect to any 
motion made pursuant to subsection (a)(1) the following applies:
            ``(1) In the case of a motion that is filed before the 
        moving party's initial disclosure are due--
                    ``(A) the court shall limit any discovery to 
                discovery that is necessary for the disposition of the 
                motion; and
                    ``(B) the court may delay issuing any scheduling 
                order until after ruling on the motion.
            ``(2) In the case of a motion that is filed after the 
        moving party's initial disclosures are due the court may delay 
        ruling on the motion until after the entry of final judgment.
            ``(3) In the case of a motion that is filed after the entry 
        of final judgment, any such motion must be combined with a 
        motion for fees to the prevailing party.
    ``(d) Condition Defined.--For purposes of this section, a 
`condition' means, with respect to the party alleging infringement, any 
of the following:
            ``(1) Original inventor.--Such party is the inventor, a 
        joint inventor, or in the case of a patent filed by and awarded 
        to an assignee of the original inventor or joint inventor, the 
        original assignee of the patent.
            ``(2) Exploitation of the patent.--Such party can provide 
        documentation to the court of substantial investment made by 
        such party in the exploitation of the patent through production 
        or sale of an item covered by the patent.
            ``(3) University or technology transfer organization.--Such 
        party is--
                    ``(A) an institution of higher education (as that 
                term is defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 
                Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001); or
                    ``(B) a technology transfer organization whose 
                primary purpose is to facilitate the commercialization 
                of technology developed by one or more institutions of 
                higher education.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 29 of title 35, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 285 the following new item:

        ``285A. Recovery of litigation costs for patent.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply to 
any action involving the validity or infringement of a patent for which 
a complaint is filed on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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