Congressional Record, Volume 164 Issue 158 (Tuesday, September 25, 2018)

[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 158 (Tuesday, September 25, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H8815-H8817]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

STUDY OF UNDERREPRESENTED CLASSES CHASING ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE
SUCCESS ACT OF 2018

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 6758) to direct the Under Secretary of Commerce for
Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and
Trademark Office, in consultation with the Administrator of the Small
Business Administration, to study and provide recommendations to
promote the participation of women and minorities in entrepreneurship
activities and the patent system, to extend by 8 years the Patent and
Trademark Office's authority to set the amounts for the fees it
charges, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:

H.R. 6758

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 ``Study of Underrepresented
Classes Chasing Engineering and Science Success Act of 2018''
or the ``SUCCESS Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Patents and other forms of intellectual property are
important engines of innovation, invention, and economic
growth.
(2) Many innovative small businesses, which create over 20
percent of the total number of new jobs created in the United
States each year, depend on patent protections to
commercialize new technologies.
(3) Universities and their industry partners also rely on
patent protections to transfer innovative new technologies
from the laboratory or classroom to commercial use.
(4) Recent studies have shown that there is a significant
gap in the number of patents applied for and obtained by
women and minorities.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the United States has the responsibility to work with the
private sector to close the gap in the number of patents
applied for and obtained by women and minorities to harness
the maximum innovative potential and continue to promote
United States leadership in the global economy.

SEC. 3. REPORT.

(a) Study.--The Director, in consultation with the
Administrator and any other head of an appropriate agency,
shall conduct a study that--
(1) identifies publicly available data on the number of
patents annually applied for and obtained by, and the
benefits of increasing the number of patents applied for and
obtained by women, minorities, and veterans and small
businesses owned by women, minorities, and veterans; and
(2) provides legislative recommendations for how to--
(A) promote the participation of women, minorities, and
veterans in entrepreneurship activities; and
(B) increase the number of women, minorities, and veterans
who apply for and obtain patents.
(b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Director shall submit to the
Committees on the Judiciary and Small Business of the House
of Representatives and the Committees on the Judiciary and
Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate a report on
the results of the study conducted under subsection (a).

SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF FEE-SETTING AUTHORITY.

Section 10(i)(2) of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act
(Public Law 112-29; 125 Stat. 319; 35 U.S.C. 41 note) is
amended by striking ``7-year'' and inserting ``15-year''.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Small Business Administration.
(2) Agency.--The term ``agency'' means a department,
agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government.
(3) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Under
Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director
of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Ohio (Mr. Chabot) and the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio.

General Leave

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous materials on H.R. 6758, currently under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Ohio?
There was no objection.
Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6758, the SUCCESS Act.
Back in 2011, I was one of five Members of Congress who cosponsored
the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act that the President eventually
signed into law. In it, a provision was included to provide the
Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office with the
authority to set fees to cover the cost of examining patent
applications and registering trademarks.
Today, as a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, I
recognize the need to extend that authority another 8 years.
The PTO plays a critical role in the development of new technologies.
The agency operates on fees it collects from patent and trademark
applicants. To ensure that the PTO has the resources it needs to
properly examine patent applications and register trademarks to study
the issue of patenting by women, minority, and veteran entrepreneurs,
and to perform the countless other activities it undertakes that are
essential to maintaining America's competitiveness, Congress needs to
reauthorize the PTO's authority to adjust its fees.

[[Page H8816]]

Additionally, we need to ensure that every American with a great new
idea has access to the tools necessary for success in order for our
Nation to realize its full potential and to secure an even brighter
economic future for ourselves and our children.
The SUCCESS Act helps us achieve that goal by requiring that the PTO
provide recommendations to Congress on how to increase the
participation of women, minorities, and veterans in entrepreneurship
activities in the patent system.
While American ingenuity is unparalleled, recent reports indicate
that we have not tapped into all that the American people have to
offer. Those reports indicate that while U.S. women earn almost half of
all undergraduate degrees in science and engineering, and an estimated
39 percent of all new Ph.D.s in those fields, it appears that only
between 10 percent and 20 percent of innovators listed on patents are
women. A 2017 study showed that racial minorities fair even worse.
Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to thank Representatives
Comstock and Adams for introducing language that served as the
inspiration for the study included in H.R. 6758. I want to also thank
my fellow members on the Judiciary and Small Business Committees for
being original cosponsors of this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important piece of
legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I
might consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be the lead Democratic cosponsor of H.R.
6758, the SUCCESS Act.
This bill takes the important step of extending for 8 more years the
Patent and Trademark Office's authority to set its own fees. It is a
timely bill, and it is a timely time that we are passing this bill,
because the fee-setting authority for the USPTO expired on September 16
of 2018.
This bill will allow the USPTO to have the ability to set the amount
it charges for each of the services it provides to patent and trademark
applicants.

{time} 1815

The ability to set its fees will also help the USPTO with its long-
term planning. The fees are set to recover aggregate estimate costs of
the patent and trademark operations, including all administrative
costs.
This bill would renew the USPTO's fee-setting authority consistent
with the framework of the America Invents Act, which was enacted in
2011. Section 29 of the America Invents Act called for the Director of
the United States Patent and Trademark Office to ``establish methods
for studying the diversity of patent applicants, including those
applicants who are minorities, women, or veterans.''
This bill directs the Director of the USPTO, in consultation with the
Administrator of the Small Business Administration, to conduct a study
on the number of patents annually applied for and obtained by U.S.
women, minorities, and veterans. The study would provide
recommendations to promote the participation of women and minorities in
entrepreneurship and in the patent system.
This data is necessary so Congress and the public can fully
understand the demographic nature of the patent applicant pool. This
study will be critical in developing policies to help underrepresented
groups engage in entrepreneurial activities that are the backbone of
our American economy.
Women, racial minorities, and low-income individuals are
significantly underrepresented in the innovation ecosystem. For
example, the Institute for Women's Policy Research reported in 2016
less than 20 percent of U.S. patents listed one or more women as
inventors, and under 8 percent listed a woman as the primary inventor.
The exclusion of women, minorities, and other underserved communities
is beneficial not just for inventors, but for the business sector as
well.
For these reasons, I am proud to cosponsor this bill. I urge all of
my colleagues to support this important legislation, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, we have no further speakers, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may
consume to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Adams).
Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6758, the SUCCESS Act.
As the world's leader for innovation and entrepreneurship, the United
States has historically been a breeding ground for the best ideas and
creative approaches that improve our quality of life and solve some of
the world's most complex problems. However, currently, women, people of
color, and low-income communities hold significantly fewer patents than
other demographics. A recent study even showed that children born to
parents in the top 1 percent of income are 10 times more likely to
become an innovator and hold a patent than those born into low-income
families. Innovation should not be a skill set only available to the
superrich or those with the most resources.
The SUCCESS Act is an important first step to better understanding
why the patent gaps exist. It will take a collective effort to create a
more equitable system. With data collected via the SUCCESS Act, timely
research and the number of programs across the Nation addressing
underrepresentation, the Federal Government can better promote policies
that increase the opportunity for those underrepresented groups to
successfully qualify.
I strongly believe that it is our duty to ensure that all people have
an equal opportunity to compete for patents and participate in the
innovation economy. The future of American innovation is diverse, and
the SUCCESS Act will help us begin to close the gap in patenting and
ensure that all innovators, creatives, and patent seekers have a seat
at the table.
Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to support this legislation.
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I am again asking that my
colleagues support this very commonsense bill, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to
close, and I will be very brief.
Mr. Speaker, I would just like to thank the gentleman from Georgia
for his hard work on this legislation. We worked together on a number
of bills in the past, and I really do appreciate the bipartisan effort
in this area.
I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, and I
yield back the balance of my time
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 6758, the
SUCCESS Act.
This bipartisan legislation would direct the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office and the Small Business Administration to study the
underrepresentation of women, minorities, and veterans among patent
holders. It would also require the agencies to recommend legislative
solutions for increasing participation by these underrepresented groups
in entrepreneurship activities, and increasing the number of them who
apply for and obtain patents.
The SUCCESS Act would provide an important first step toward
narrowing the race and gender gap among patent holders. One study
estimated that per capita GDP could grow 4.6 percent if more women and
African Americans were included in the initial stages of the innovation
process. It also found that exposure to innovation during childhood has
an important impact on a person's desire to become an inventor. That
makes it critical that young people have diverse role models in all
fields of study.
The bill was strengthened, in the Judiciary Committee, by the
Gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Schneider, whose amendment added veterans
to the list of underrepresented groups that will be studied. Promoting
greater inclusion in the innovation ecosystem is good for our economy
and good for underserved communities, and I am pleased to support the
bill.
The SUCCESS Act would also extend the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office's fee setting authority for eight years. Since this authority
was first granted to the PTO under the America Invents Act, seven years
ago, it has helped put the agency on solid financial footing, and it
has enabled the PTO to continue performing the important work of
protecting Americans' intellectual property.
I appreciate the leadership of Mr. Chabot and Mr. Johnson, the
sponsors of this bill, and the other bipartisan cosponsors of this
legislation. I want to particularly thank Ms. Velazquez, the Ranking
Member of the Small Business Committee, for all that she has done to
bring attention to the lack of diversity among patent holders, and to
the important issues highlighted in this bill.

[[Page H8817]]

I look forward to continuing to work with her, and the other bill
sponsors to advance not only this legislation, but also other measures
to address the underrepresentation of women, minorities, and veterans
within the innovation ecosystem.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6758,
the ``Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing Engineering and Science
Success Act of 2018.''
H.R. 6758, also known as the SUCCESS Act, provides recommendations to
promote the participation of women and minorities in entrepreneurship
and the patent system.
H.R. 6758 extends, by eight years, the Patent and Trademark Office's
authority to set its own fees.
As the legislation declares, it is the sense of Congress that the
United States has the responsibility to work with the private sector to
close the gap in the number of patents applied for and obtained by
women and minorities to harness the maximum innovative potential and
continue to promote United States leadership in the global economy.
H.R. 6758 requires the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office, in consultation with the Small Business Administration to
conduct a study that identifies publicly available data on the number
of patents annually applied for and obtained by, and the benefits of
increasing the number of women and minority businesses owned by women
and minorities.
The study directed by this bill will guide the legislative
recommendations for how to promote the participation of women and
minorities in entrepreneurship activities and for how to increase the
number of women and minorities who apply for and obtain patents.
Additionally, H.R. 6758:
Requires the study conducted under section 3(a) to be submitted to
the Committees on the Judiciary and Small Business of the House of
Representatives and the Committees on the Judiciary and Small Business
and Entrepreneurship of the Senate within one year of the date of
enactment of the Act; and
Extends, for eight years, the authority for the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office to set its own fees under Section 10(i)(2) of the
Leahy-Smith America Invents Act.
The Institute for Women's Policy Research reported that in 2016, less
than 20 percent of U.S. patents listed one or more women as inventors,
and under eight percent listed a woman as the primary inventor.
In 2017, the Equality of Opportunity Project found that white
children are three times more likely to become inventors than black
children, and that children from wealthy families are ten times more
likely to have filed for a patent than children from families below the
median income.
One study estimates that GDP per capita could rise up to 4.6 percent
with the inclusion of more women and African Americans in the initial
stages of the process of innovation.
These statistics prove that we need more activity and involvement
from a diverse pool of entrepreneurs and inventors.
I urge all Members to join me in voting in favor of H.R. 6758.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 6758, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to direct
the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director
of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, in consultation with
the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, to study and
provide recommendations to promote the participation of women,
minorities, and veterans in entrepreneurship activities and the patent
system, to extend by 8 years the Patent and Trademark Office's
authority to set the amounts for the fees it charges, and for other
purposes.''.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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