[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2601 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2601

   To amend the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to extend the period 
during which the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property 
 and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office may set 
            or adjust certain fees, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 22, 2018

 Mr. Coons (for himself and Mr. Hatch) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to extend the period 
during which the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property 
 and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office may set 
            or adjust certain fees, 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 ``Building Innovation Growth through 
Data for Intellectual Property Act'' or the ``BIG Data for IP Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) the term ``advanced data science analytics'' means 
        techniques, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, 
        and other methods of analyzing large data sets, that are used 
        to make policy recommendations;
            (2) the term ``Director'' means the Under Secretary of 
        Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the Office;
            (3) the term ``Office'' means the United States Patent and 
        Trademark Office;
            (4) the term ``PPAC'' means the Patent Public Advisory 
        Committee of the Office; and
            (5) the term ``TPAC'' means the Trademark Public Advisory 
        Committee of the Office.

SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Section 10(a) of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act 
        (35 U.S.C. 41 note) grants the Director the authority to ``set 
        or adjust by rule any fee established, authorized, or charged 
        under title 35, United States Code, or the Trademark Act of 
        1946. . . . to recover the aggregate estimated costs to the 
        Office for processing, activities, services, and materials 
        relating to patents (in the case of patent fees) and trademarks 
        (in the case of trademark fees), including administrative costs 
        of the Office''.
            (2) The Office has worked with PPAC, TPAC, and the public 
        to engage in a fee-setting process that is transparent, as 
        envisioned by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (Public Law 
        112-29; 125 Stat. 284).
            (3) Since 2011, the Office has used this fee-setting 
        authority to implement a sustainable funding model with an 
        operating reserve, which allows the Office to invest in long-
        term projects, including crucial infrastructure upgrades that 
        are necessary for a 21st century intellectual property office, 
        regardless of whether there are temporary fluctuations in 
        patent or trademark filings.
            (4) The infrastructure upgrades described in paragraph (3) 
        include the use of advanced data science analytics, which will 
        help to--
                    (A) improve productivity and quality with respect 
                to the issuance of patents and trademarks; and
                    (B) ensure--
                            (i) the consistent application of laws by 
                        nearly 9,000 patent examiners and trademark 
                        examining attorneys; and
                            (ii) the certainty and strength of 
                        Federally-granted rights that are foundational 
                        to the economy of the United States.

SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF SUNSET.

    Section 10(i)(2) of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (35 U.S.C. 
41 note) is amended by striking ``the 7-year period beginning on the 
date of the enactment of this Act'' and inserting ``the 10-year period 
beginning on the date of enactment of the BIG Data for IP Act''.

SEC. 5. REPORT.

    Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Director shall submit to Congress a report that includes--
            (1) the status of the capabilities of the information 
        technology systems of the Office with respect to--
                    (A) the examination of patents and trademarks; and
                    (B) proceedings conducted before the--
                            (i) Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the 
                        Office; and
                            (ii) Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of 
                        the Office;
            (2) a 5-year plan for further modernization of the 
        information technology systems described in paragraph (1); and
            (3) an accounting of the use by the Office of advanced data 
        science analytics, including from commercially available 
        sources, to improve the patent and trademark examination 
        process where appropriate, including--
                    (A) a description of how the Office uses advanced 
                data science analytics with respect to the examination 
                of patents and trademarks to--
                            (i) improve consistency;
                            (ii) detect common sources of error; and
                            (iii) improve productivity;
                    (B) a 5-year plan for further development of 
                advanced data science analytics for the uses described 
                in subparagraph (A); and
                    (C) a description of how the findings made as a 
                result of the uses of advanced data science analytics 
                under subparagraph (A) shall be made available to the 
                public on a regular basis.
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