Small Business Innovation Protection Act of 2017
Public Law 115–259
Small Business Innovation Protection Act of 2017
259
115–259
Statute Compilation
United States House of Representatives
Office of the Legislative Counsel
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
GPO Statute Compilations USLM converter, version 20210527.1
2021-10-15
Small Business Innovation Protection Act of 2017
14302
115
2018-10-09
Small Business Innovation Protection Act of 2017
[(Public Law 115–259)]
[This law has not been amended]
[Currency: This publication is a compilation of the text of Public Law 115–259. It was last amended by the public law listed in the As Amended Through note above and below at the bottom of each page of the pdf version and reflects current law through the date of the enactment of the public law listed at https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/comps/]
[Note: While this publication does not represent an official version of any Federal statute, substantial efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of its contents. The official version of Federal law is found in the United States Statutes at Large and in the United States Code. The legal effect to be given to the Statutes at Large and the United States Code is established by statute (1 U.S.C. 112, 204).]

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.
[15 U.S.C. 631 note]

SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Small Business Innovation Protection Act of 2017”.
SEC. 2.
[15 U.S.C. 648c note]

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.
[15 U.S.C. 648c note]

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)
[15 U.S.C. 648c]

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.”
.