I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2955 

To amend title 28, United States Code, to clarify that the Court of Appeals 

for the Federal Circuit has exclusive jurisdiction of appeals relating 

to patents, plant variety protection, or copyrights, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 16, 2005 

Mr. SMITH of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 28, United States Code, to clarify that the 

Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has exclusive 

jurisdiction of appeals relating to patents, plant variety 

protection, or copyrights, 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 ‘‘Intellectual Property 

5 Jurisdiction Clarification Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATE COURT JURISDICTION. 

7 Section 1338(a) of title 28, United States Code, is 

8 amended by striking the second sentence and inserting the 
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1 following: ‘‘No State court shall have jurisdiction over any 

2 claim for relief arising under any Act of Congress relating 

3 to patents, plant variety protection, or copyrights.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT. 

5 Section 1295(a)(1) of title 28, United States Code, 

6 is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(1) of an appeal from a final decision of a dis8 trict court of the United States, the District Court 

9 of Guam, the District Court of the Virgin Islands, 

10 or the District Court of the Northern Mariana Is11 lands, in any civil action in which a party has as12 serted a claim for relief arising under any Act of 

13 Congress relating to patents or plant variety protec14 tion;’’. 

15 SEC. 4. REMOVAL. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 89 of title 28, United 

17 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol18 lowing new section: 

19 ‘‘§ 1454. Patent, plant variety protection, and copy20 right cases 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A civil action in which any party 

22 asserts a claim for relief arising under any Act of Con23 gress relating to patents, plant variety protection, or copy24 rights may be removed to the district court of the United 
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1 States for the district and division embracing the place 

2 where such action is pending. 

3 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULES.—The removal of an action 

4 under this section shall be made in accordance with sec5 tion 1446 of this chapter, except that if the removal is 

6 based solely on this section— 

7 ‘‘(1) the action may be removed by any party; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(2) the time limitations contained in section 

10 1446(b) may be extended at any time for cause 

11 shown. 

12 ‘‘(c) REMAND.—If a civil action is removed solely 

13 under this section, the district court— 

14 ‘‘(1) shall remand all claims that are not within 

15 the original or supplemental jurisdiction of the dis16 trict court under any Act of Congress; and 

17 ‘‘(2) may, under the circumstances specified in 

18 section 1367(c), remand any claims within the sup19 plemental jurisdiction of the district court under sec20 tion 1367.’’. 

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec22 tions for chapter 89 of title 28, United States Code, is 

23 amended by adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘1454. Patent, plant variety protection, and copyright cases.’’. 
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1 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any 

3 civil action commenced on or after the date of the enact4 ment of this Act. 

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