I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2791 

To amend title 35, United States Code, with respect to patent fees, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 8, 2005 

Mr. SENSENBRENNER (for himself, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. GOODLATTE, 

Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. JENKINS, 

Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. COBLE, and Mr. WEXLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 35, United States Code, with respect to 

patent fees, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Patent 

5 and Trademark Fee Modernization Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FEES FOR PATENT SERVICES. 

7 (a) GENERAL PATENT FEES.—Section 41(a) of title 

8 35, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
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1 ‘‘(a) GENERAL FEES.—The Director shall charge the 

2 following fees: 

3 ‘‘(1) FILING AND BASIC NATIONAL FEES.— 

4 ‘‘(A) On filing each application for an 

5 original patent, except for design, plant, or pro6 visional applications, $300. 

7 ‘‘(B) On filing each application for an 

8 original design patent, $200. 

9 ‘‘(C) On filing each application for an 

10 original plant patent, $200. 

11 ‘‘(D) On filing each provisional application 

12 for an original patent, $200. 

13 ‘‘(E) On filing each application for the re14 issue of a patent, $300. 

15 ‘‘(F) The basic national fee for each inter16 national application filed under the treaty de17 fined in section 351(a) of this title entering the 

18 national stage under section 371 of this title, 

19 $300. 

20 ‘‘(G) In addition, excluding any sequence 

21 listing or computer program listing filed in an 

22 electronic medium as prescribed by the Direc23 tor, for any application the specification and 

24 drawings of which exceed 100 sheets of paper 

25 (or equivalent as prescribed by the Director if 
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1 filed in an electronic medium), $250 for each 

2 additional 50 sheets of paper (or equivalent as 

3 prescribed by the Director if filed in an elec4 tronic medium) or fraction thereof. 

5 ‘‘(2) EXCESS CLAIMS FEES.—In addition to the 

6 fee specified in paragraph (1)— 

7 ‘‘(A) on filing or on presentation at any 

8 other time, $200 for each claim in independent 

9 form in excess of 3; 

10 ‘‘(B) on filing or on presentation at any 

11 other time, $50 for each claim (whether de12 pendent or independent) in excess of 20; and 

13 ‘‘(C) for each application containing a mul14 tiple dependent claim, $360. 

15 For the purpose of computing fees under this para16 graph, a multiple dependent claim referred to in sec17 tion 112 of this title or any claim depending there18 from shall be considered as separate dependent 

19 claims in accordance with the number of claims to 

20 which reference is made. The Director may by regu21 lation provide for a refund of any part of the fee 

22 specified in this paragraph for any claim that is can23 celed before an examination on the merits, as pre24 scribed by the Director, has been made of the appli25 cation under section 131 of this title. Errors in pay-
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1 ment of the additional fees under this paragraph 

2 may be rectified in accordance with regulations pre3 scribed by the Director. 

4 ‘‘(3) EXAMINATION FEES.— 

5 ‘‘(A) For examination of each application 

6 for an original patent, except for design, plant, 

7 provisional, or international applications, $200. 

8 ‘‘(B) For examination of each application 

9 for an original design patent, $130. 

10 ‘‘(C) For examination of each application 

11 for an original plant patent, $160. 

12 ‘‘(D) For examination of the national stage 

13 of each international application, $200. 

14 ‘‘(E) For examination of each application 

15 for the reissue of a patent, $600. 

16 The provisions of section 111(a)(3) of this title re17 lating to the payment of the fee for filing the appli18 cation shall apply to the payment of the fee specified 

19 in this paragraph with respect to an application filed 

20 under section 111(a) of this title. The provisions of 

21 section 371(d) of this title relating to the payment 

22 of the national fee shall apply to the payment of the 

23 fee specified in this paragraph with respect to an 

24 international application. The Director may by regu25 lation provide for a refund of any part of the fee 
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1 specified in this paragraph for any applicant who 

2 files a written declaration of express abandonment 

3 as prescribed by the Director before an examination 

4 has been made of the application under section 131 

5 of this title, and for any applicant who provides a 

6 search report that meets the conditions prescribed 

7 by the Director. 

8 ‘‘(4) ISSUE FEES.— 

9 ‘‘(A) For issuing each original patent, ex10 cept for design or plant patents, $1,400. 

11 ‘‘(B) For issuing each original design pat12 ent, $800. 

13 ‘‘(C) For issuing each original plant pat14 ent, $1,100. 

15 ‘‘(D) For issuing each reissue patent, 

16 $1,400. 

17 ‘‘(5) DISCLAIMER FEE.—On filing each dis18 claimer, $130. 

19 ‘‘(6) APPEAL FEES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) On filing an appeal from the exam21 iner to the Board of Patent Appeals and Inter22 ferences, $500. 

23 ‘‘(B) In addition, on filing a brief in sup24 port of the appeal, $500, and on requesting an 
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1 oral hearing in the appeal before the Board of 

2 Patent Appeals and Interferences, $1,000. 

3 ‘‘(7) REVIVAL FEES.—On filing each petition 

4 for the revival of an unintentionally abandoned ap5 plication for a patent, for the unintentionally delayed 

6 payment of the fee for issuing each patent, or for an 

7 unintentionally delayed response by the patent owner 

8 in any reexamination proceeding, $1,500, unless the 

9 petition is filed under section 133 or 151 of this 

10 title, in which case the fee shall be $500. 

11 ‘‘(8) EXTENSION FEES.—For petitions for 1- 

12 month extensions of time to take actions required by 

13 the Director in an application— 

14 ‘‘(A) on filing a first petition, $120; 

15 ‘‘(B) on filing a second petition, $330; and 

16 ‘‘(C) on filing a third or subsequent peti17 tion, $570.’’. 

18 (b) PATENT MAINTENANCE FEES.—Section 41(b) of 

19 title 35, United States Code, is amended to read as fol20 lows: 

21 ‘‘(b) MAINTENANCE FEES.—The Director shall 

22 charge the following fees for maintaining in force all pat23 ents based on applications filed on or after December 12, 

24 1980: 

25 ‘‘(1) 3 years and 6 months after grant, $900. 
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1 ‘‘(2) 7 years and 6 months after grant, $2,300. 

2 ‘‘(3) 11 years and 6 months after grant, 

3 $3,800. 

4 Unless payment of the applicable maintenance fee is re5 ceived in the United States Patent and Trademark Office 

6 on or before the date the fee is due or within a grace pe7 riod of 6 months thereafter, the patent will expire as of 

8 the end of such grace period. The Director may require 

9 the payment of a surcharge as a condition of accepting 

10 within such 6-month grace period the payment of an appli11 cable maintenance fee. No fee may be established for 

12 maintaining a design or plant patent in force.’’. 

13 (c) PATENT SEARCH FEES.—Section 41(d) of title 

14 35, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(d) PATENT SEARCH AND OTHER FEES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) PATENT SEARCH FEES.—(A) The Director 

17 shall charge a fee for the search of each application 

18 for a patent, except for provisional applications. The 

19 Director shall establish the fees charged under this 

20 paragraph to recover an amount not to exceed the 

21 estimated average cost to the Office of searching ap22 plications for patent either by acquiring a search re23 port from a qualified search authority, or by causing 

24 a search by Office personnel to be made, of each ap25 plication for patent. For the 3-year period beginning 
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1 on December 8, 2004, the fee for a search by a 

2 qualified search authority of a patent application de3 scribed in clause (i), (iv), or (v) of subparagraph (B) 

4 may not exceed $500, of a patent application de5 scribed in clause (ii) of subparagraph (B) may not 

6 exceed $100, and of a patent application described 

7 in clause (iii) of subparagraph (B) may not exceed 

8 $300. The Director may not increase any such fee 

9 by more than 20 percent in each of the next 3 1- 

10 year periods, and the Director may not increase any 

11 such fee thereafter. 

12 ‘‘(B) For purposes of determining the fees to be 

13 established under this paragraph, the cost to the Of14 fice of causing a search of an application to be made 

15 by Office personnel shall be deemed to be— 

16 ‘‘(i) $500 for each application for an origi17 nal patent, except for design, plant, provisional, 

18 or international applications; 

19 ‘‘(ii) $100 for each application for an origi20 nal design patent; 

21 ‘‘(iii) $300 for each application for an 

22 original plant patent; 

23 ‘‘(iv) $500 for the national stage of each 

24 international application; and 
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1 ‘‘(v) $500 for each application for the re2 issue of a patent. 

3 ‘‘(C) The provisions of section 111(a)(3) of this 

4 title relating to the payment of the fee for filing the 

5 application shall apply to the payment of the fee 

6 specified in this paragraph with respect to an appli7 cation filed under section 111(a) of this title. The 

8 provisions of section 371(d) of this title relating to 

9 the payment of the national fee shall apply to the 

10 payment of the fee specified in this paragraph with 

11 respect to an international application. 

12 ‘‘(D) The Director may by regulation provide 

13 for a refund of any part of the fee specified in this 

14 paragraph for any applicant who files a written dec15 laration of express abandonment as prescribed by 

16 the Director before an examination has been made 

17 of the application under section 131 of this title, and 

18 for any applicant who provides a search report that 

19 meets the conditions prescribed by the Director. 

20 ‘‘(E) For purposes of subparagraph (A), a 

21 ‘qualified search authority’ may not include a com22 mercial entity unless— 

23 ‘‘(i) the Director conducts a pilot program 

24 of limited scope, conducted over a period of not 

25 more than 18 months, which demonstrates that 
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1 searches by commercial entities of the available 

2 prior art relating to the subject matter of inven3 tions claimed in patent applications— 

4 ‘‘(I) are accurate; and 

5 ‘‘(II) meet or exceed the standards of 

6 searches conducted by and used by the 

7 Patent and Trademark Office during the 

8 patent examination process; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the Director submits a report on the 

10 results of the pilot program to the Congress 

11 and the Patent Public Advisory Committee that 

12 includes— 

13 ‘‘(I) a description of the scope and du14 ration of the pilot program; 

15 ‘‘(II) the identity of each commercial 

16 entity participating in the pilot program; 

17 ‘‘(III) an explanation of the method18 ology used to evaluate the accuracy and 

19 quality of the search reports; and 

20 ‘‘(IV) an assessment of the effects 

21 that the pilot program, as compared to 

22 searches conducted by the Patent and 

23 Trademark Office, had and will have on— 

24 ‘‘(aa) patentability determina25 tions; 
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1 ‘‘(bb) productivity of the Patent 

2 and Trademark Office; 

3 ‘‘(cc) costs to the Patent and 

4 Trademark Office; 

5 ‘‘(dd) costs to patent applicants; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ee) other relevant factors; 

8 ‘‘(iii) the Patent Public Advisory Com9 mittee reviews and analyzes the Director’s re10 port under clause (ii) and the results of the 

11 pilot program and submits a separate report on 

12 its analysis to the Director and the Congress 

13 that includes— 

14 ‘‘(I) an independent evaluation of the 

15 effects that the pilot program, as compared 

16 to searches conducted by the Patent and 

17 Trademark Office, had and will have on 

18 the factors set forth in clause (ii)(IV); and 

19 ‘‘(II) an analysis of the reasonable20 ness, appropriateness, and effectiveness of 

21 the methods used in the pilot program to 

22 make the evaluations required under clause 

23 (ii)(IV); and 

24 ‘‘(iv) the Congress does not, during the 1- 

25 year period beginning on the date on which the 
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1 Patent Public Advisory Committee submits its 

2 report to the Congress under clause (iii), enact 

3 a law prohibiting searches by commercial enti4 ties of the available prior art relating to the 

5 subject matter of inventions claimed in patent 

6 applications. 

7 ‘‘(F) The Director shall require that any search 

8 by a qualified search authority that is a commercial 

9 entity is conducted in the United States by persons 

10 that— 

11 ‘‘(i) if individuals, are United States citi12 zens; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) if business concerns, are organized 

14 under the laws of the United States or any 

15 State and employ United States citizens to per16 form the searches. 

17 ‘‘(G) A search of an application that is the sub18 ject of a secrecy order under section 181 or other19 wise involves classified information may only be con20 ducted by Office personnel. 

21 ‘‘(H) A qualified search authority that is a 

22 commercial entity may not conduct a search of a 

23 patent application if the entity has any direct or in24 direct financial interest in any patent or in any 
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1 pending or imminent application for patent filed or 

2 to be filed in the Patent and Trademark Office. 

3 ‘‘(2) OTHER FEES.—The Director shall estab4 lish fees for all other processing, services, or mate5 rials relating to patents not specified in this section 

6 to recover the estimated average cost to the Office 

7 of such processing, services, or materials, except that 

8 the Director shall charge the following fees for the 

9 following services: 

10 ‘‘(A) For recording a document affecting 

11 title, $40 per property. 

12 ‘‘(B) For each photocopy, $.25 per page. 

13 ‘‘(C) For each black and white copy of a 

14 patent, $3. 

15 The yearly fee for providing a library specified in 

16 section 12 of this title with uncertified printed copies 

17 of the specifications and drawings for all patents in 

18 that year shall be $50.’’. 

19 (d) ADJUSTMENTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 41(f) of title 35, 

21 United States Code, shall apply to the fees estab22 lished under the amendments made by this section, 

23 beginning in fiscal year 2006. 

24 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Effective De25 cember 8, 2004, section 41(f) of title 35, United 
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1 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘(a) and (b)’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘(a), (b), and (d)’’. 

3 (e) FEES FOR SMALL ENTITIES.—Section 41(h) of 

4 title 35, United States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Fees charged 

6 under subsection (a) or (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject 

7 to paragraph (3), fees charged under subsections 

8 (a), (b), and (d)(1)’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

10 paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(3) The fee charged under subsection (a)(1)(A) shall 

12 be reduced by 75 percent with respect to its application 

13 to any entity to which paragraph (1) applies, if the appli14 cation is filed by electronic means as prescribed by the 

15 Director.’’. 

16 (f) SIZE STANDARDS FOR SMALL ENTITIES.— 

17 (1) STUDY.—The Director, in conjunction with 

18 the Administrator of the Small Business Administra19 tion and the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

20 Small Business Administration, shall conduct a 

21 study on the effect of patent fees on the ability of 

22 small entity inventors to file patent applications. 

23 Such study shall examine whether a separate cat24 egory of reduced patent fees is necessary to ensure 
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1 adequate development of new technology by small 

2 entity inventors. 

3 (2) REPORT.—The Director shall, not later 

4 than 6 months after the date of the enactment of 

5 this Act, submit a report on the results of the study 

6 under paragraph (1) to the Committee on the Judi7 ciary and the Committee on Small Business of the 

8 House of Representatives and the Committee on the 

9 Judiciary and the Committee on Small Business and 

10 Entrepreneurship of the Senate. 

11 (g) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

12 (1) Section 41 of title 35, United States Code, 

13 is amended— 

14 (A) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘(c)(1)’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘(c) LATE PAYMENT OF FEES.— 

16 (1)’’; 

17 (B) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘(e)’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘(e) WAIVERS OF CERTAIN FEES.—’’; 

19 (C) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘(f)’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘(f) ADJUSTMENTS IN FEES.—’’; 

21 (D) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘(g)’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘(g) EFFECTIVE DATES OF

23 FEES.—’’; 
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1 (E) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘(h)(1)’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘(h) REDUCTIONS IN FEES FOR

3 CERTAIN ENTITIES.—(1)’’; and 

4 (F) in subsection (i), by striking ‘‘(i)(1)’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘(i) SEARCH SYSTEMS.—(1)’’. 

6 (2) Section 119(e)(2) of title 35, United States 

7 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A) or 

8 (C) of’’. 

9 SEC. 3. ADJUSTMENT OF TRADEMARK FEES. 

10 (a) FEE FOR FILING APPLICATION.—The fee under 

11 section 31(a) of the Trademark Act of 1946 (15 U.S.C. 

12 1113(a)) for filing an electronic application for the reg13 istration of a trademark shall be $325. If the trademark 

14 application is filed on paper, the fee shall be $375. The 

15 Director may reduce the fee for filing an electronic appli16 cation for the registration of a trademark to $275 for any 

17 applicant who prosecutes the application through elec18 tronic means under such conditions as may be prescribed 

19 by the Director. Beginning in fiscal year 2006, the provi20 sions of the second and third sentences of section 31(a) 

21 of the Trademark Act of 1946 shall apply to the fees es22 tablished under this section. 

23 (b) REFERENCE TO TRADEMARK ACT OF 1946.—For 

24 purposes of this section, the ‘‘Trademark Act of 1946’’ 

25 refers to the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the reg-
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1 istration and protection of trademarks used in commerce, 

2 to carry out the provisions of certain international conven3 tions, and for other purposes.’’, approved July 5, 1946 (15 

4 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.). 

5 SEC. 4. CORRECTION OF ERRONEOUS NAMING OF OFFICER. 

6 (a) CORRECTION.—Section 13203(a) of the 21st Cen7 tury Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization 

8 Act (Public Law 107–273; 116 Stat. 1902) is amended— 

9 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking 

10 ‘‘COMMISSIONER’’ and inserting ‘‘DIRECTOR’’; and 

11 (2) in paragraphs (1) and (2), by striking 

12 ‘‘Commissioner’’ each place it appears and inserting 

13 ‘‘Director’’. 

14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

15 subsection (a) shall be effective as of the date of the enact16 ment of Public Law 107–273. 

17 SEC. 5. PATENT AND TRADEMARK FUNDING. 

18 Section 42(c) of title 35, United States Code, is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘(c)(1)’’; 

21 and 

22 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

23 paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(2) There is established in the Treasury a Patent 

25 and Trademark Fee Reserve Fund. If fee collections by 
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1 the Patent and Trademark Office for a fiscal year exceed 

2 the amount appropriated to the Office for that fiscal year, 

3 fees collected in excess of the appropriated amount shall 

4 be deposited in the Patent and Trademark Fee Reserve 

5 Fund. After the end of each fiscal year, the Director shall 

6 make a finding as to whether the fees collected for that 

7 fiscal year exceed the amount appropriated to the Patent 

8 and Trademark Office for that fiscal year. If the amount 

9 collected exceeds the amount appropriated, the Director 

10 shall, if the Director determines that there are sufficient 

11 funds in the Reserve Fund, make payments from the Re12 serve Fund to persons who paid patent or trademark fees 

13 during that fiscal year. The Director shall by regulation 

14 determine which persons receive such payments and the 

15 amount of such payments, except that such payments in 

16 the aggregate shall equal the amount of funds deposited 

17 in the Reserve Fund during that fiscal year, less the cost 

18 of administering the provisions of this paragraph.’’ 

19 SEC. 6. REPEAL OF PATENT AND TRADEMARK FEE PROVI20 SIONS OF THE CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIA21 TIONS ACT, 2005. 

22 Title VIII of division B of the Consolidated Appro23 priations Act, 2005 (35 U.S.C. 41 note; Public Law 108– 

24 447; 118 Stat. 2924) is repealed. 
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1 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE, APPLICABILITY, AND TRANSI2 TIONAL PROVISION. 

3 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as otherwise provided 

4 in this Act and this section, this Act and the amendments 

5 made by this Act shall take effect as of December 8, 2004. 

6 (b) APPLICABILITY.— 

7 (1)(A) Except as provided in subparagraphs 

8 (B) and (C), the amendments made by section 2 

9 shall apply to all patents, whenever granted, and to 

10 all patent applications pending on or filed after the 

11 effective date set forth in subsection (a) of this sec12 tion. 

13 (B)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), sections 

14 41(a)(1), 41(a)(3), and 41(d)(1) of title 35, United 

15 States Code, as amended by this Act, shall apply 

16 only to— 

17 (I) applications for patents filed under sec18 tion 111(a) of title 35, United States Code, on 

19 or after the effective date set forth in sub20 section (a) of this section, and 

21 (II) international applications entering the 

22 national stage under section 371 of title 35, 

23 United States Code, for which the basic na24 tional fee specified in section 41 of title 35, 

25 United States Code, was not paid before the ef-
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1 fective date set forth in subsection (a) of this 

2 section. 

3 (ii) Section 41(a)(1)(D) of title 35, United 

4 States Code as amended by this Act, shall apply only 

5 to applications for patent filed under section 111(b) 

6 of title 35, United States Code, before, on, or after 

7 the effective date set forth in subsection (a) of this 

8 section in which the filing fee specified in section 41 

9 of title 35, United States Code, was not paid before 

10 the effective date set forth in subsection (a) of this 

11 section. 

12 (C) Section 41(a)(2) of title 35, United States 

13 Code, as amended by this Act, shall apply only to 

14 the extent that the number of excess claims, after 

15 giving effect to any cancellation of claims, is in ex16 cess of the number of claims for which the excess 

17 claims fee specified in section 41 of title 35, United 

18 States Code, was paid before the effective date set 

19 forth in subsection (a) of this section. 

20 (2) The amendments made by section 3 shall 

21 apply to all applications for the registration of a 

22 trademark filed or amended on or after the effective 

23 date set forth in subsection (a) of this section. 

24 (c) TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS.— 
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1 (1) SEARCH FEES.—During the period begin2 ning on the effective date set forth in subsection (a) 

3 of this section and ending on the date on which the 

4 Director establishes search fees under the authority 

5 provided in section 41(d)(1) of title 35, United 

6 States Code, the Director shall charge— 

7 (A) for the search of each application for 

8 an original patent, except for design, plant, pro9 visional, or international application, $500; 

10 (B) for the search of each application for 

11 an original design patent, $100; 

12 (C) for the search of each application for 

13 an original plant patent, $300; 

14 (D) for the search of the national stage of 

15 each international application, $500; and 

16 (E) for the search of each application for 

17 the reissue of a patent, $500. 

18 (2) TIMING OF FEES.—The provisions of sec19 tion 111(a)(3) of title 35, United States Code, relat20 ing to the payment of the fee for filing the applica21 tion shall apply to the payment of the fee specified 

22 in paragraph (1) with respect to an application filed 

23 under section 111(a) of title 35, United States Code. 

24 The provisions of section 371(d) of title 35, United 

25 States Code, relating to the payment of the national 
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1 fee shall apply to the payment of the fee specified 

2 in paragraph (1) with respect to an international ap3 plication. 

4 (3) REFUNDS.—The Director may by regula5 tion provide for a refund of any part of the fee spec6 ified in paragraph (1) for any applicant who files a 

7 written declaration of express abandonment as pre8 scribed by the Director before an examination has 

9 been made of the application under section 131 of 

10 title 35, United States Code, and for any applicant 

11 who provides a search report that meets the condi12 tions prescribed by the Director. 

13 SEC. 8. DEFINITION. 

14 In this Act, the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Under 

15 Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Di16 rector of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. 

17 SEC. 9. CLERICAL AMENDMENT. 

18 Subsection (c) of section 311 of title 35, United 

19 States Code, is amended by aligning the text with the text 

20 of subsection (a) of such section. 

Æ