[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 791 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.791

                     One Hundred Fifteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
           the third day of January, two thousand and eighteen


                                 An Act


 
    To amend the Small Business Act to expand intellectual property 
  education and training for small businesses, 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 ``Small Business Innovation Protection 
Act of 2017''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
    In this Act--
        (1) the term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of the 
    SBA;
        (2) the term ``Director'' means the Under Secretary of Commerce 
    for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO;
        (3) the term ``SBA'' means the Small Business Administration;
        (4) the term ``small business concern'' has the meaning given 
    the term in section 3(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
    632(a));
        (5) the term ``small business development center'' means a 
    center described in section 21 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
    648); and
        (6) the term ``USPTO'' means the United States Patent and 
    Trademark Office.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
    Congress finds that--
        (1) the USPTO and the SBA are positioned to--
            (A) build upon several successful intellectual property and 
        training programs aimed at small business concerns; and
            (B) increase the availability of and the participation in 
        the programs described in subparagraph (A) across the United 
        States; and
        (2) any education and training program administered by the 
    USPTO and the SBA should be scalable so that the program is able to 
    reach more small business concerns.
SEC. 4. SBA AND USPTO PARTNERSHIPS.
    (a) In General.--Beginning not later than 180 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with the 
Director, shall develop partnership agreements that--
        (1) provide for the--
            (A) development of high-quality training, including in-
        person or modular training sessions, for small business 
        concerns relating to domestic and international protection of 
        intellectual property;
            (B) leveraging of training materials already developed for 
        the education of inventors and small business concerns; and
            (C) participation of a nongovernmental organization; and
        (2) provide training--
            (A) through electronic resources, including Internet-based 
        webinars; and
            (B) at physical locations, including--
                (i) a small business development center; and
                (ii) the headquarters or a regional office of the 
            USPTO.
SEC. 5. SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.
    Section 21(c)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(c)(3)) is 
amended--
        (1) in subparagraph (S), by striking ``and'' at the end;
        (2) in subparagraph (T), by striking the period at the end and 
    inserting ``; and''; and
        (3) by adding at the end the following:
        ``(U) in conjunction with the United States Patent and 
    Trademark Office, providing training--
            ``(i) to small business concerns relating to--
                ``(I) domestic and international intellectual property 
            protections; and
                ``(II) how the protections described in subclause (I) 
            should be considered in the business plans and growth 
            strategies of the small business concerns; and
            ``(ii) that may be delivered--
                ``(I) in person; or
                ``(II) through a website.''.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.