II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 791 

To amend the Small Business Act to expand intellectual property education 

and training for small businesses, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 30, 2017 

Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. RISCH) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to expand intellectual 

property education and training for small businesses, 

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 ‘‘Small Business Inno5 vation Protection Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad9 ministrator of the SBA; 


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1 (2) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Under Sec2 retary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and 

3 Director of the USPTO; 

4 (3) the term ‘‘SBA’’ means the Small Business 

5 Administration; 

6 (4) the term ‘‘small business concern’’ has the 

7 meaning given the term in section 3(a) of the Small 

8 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)); 

9 (5) the term ‘‘small business development cen10 ter’’ means a center described in section 21 of the 

11 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648); and 

12 (6) the term ‘‘USPTO’’ means the United 

13 States Patent and Trademark Office. 

14 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

15 Congress finds that— 

16 (1) the USPTO and the SBA are positioned 

17 to— 

18 (A) build upon several successful intellec19 tual property and training programs aimed at 

20 small business concerns; and 

21 (B) increase the availability of and the 

22 participation in the programs described in sub23 paragraph (A) across the United States; and 

24 (2) any education and training program admin25 istered by the USPTO and the SBA should be scalVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:07 Apr 06, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S791.IS S791

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1 able so that the program is able to reach more small 

2 business concerns. 

3 SEC. 4. SBA AND USPTO PARTNERSHIPS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 180 

5 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis6 trator, in consultation with the Director, shall develop 

7 partnership agreements that— 

8 (1) provide for the— 

9 (A) development of high-quality training, 

10 including in-person or modular training ses11 sions, for small business concerns relating to 

12 domestic and international protection of intel13 lectual property; 

14 (B) leveraging of training materials al15 ready developed for the education of inventors 

16 and small business concerns; and 

17 (C) participation of a nongovernmental or18 ganization; and 

19 (2) provide training— 

20 (A) through electronic resources, including 

21 Internet-based webinars; and 

22 (B) at physical locations, including— 

23 (i) a small business development cen24 ter; and 


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1 (ii) the headquarters or a regional of2 fice of the USPTO. 

3 SEC. 5. SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 

4 Section 21(c)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 

5 U.S.C. 648(c)(3)) is amended— 

6 (1) in subparagraph (S), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

7 the end; 

8 (2) in subparagraph (T), by striking the period 

9 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(U) in conjunction with the United States Pat12 ent and Trademark Office, providing training— 

13 ‘‘(i) to small business concerns relating 

14 to— 

15 ‘‘(I) domestic and international intel16 lectual property protections; and 

17 ‘‘(II) how the protections described in 

18 subclause (I) should be considered in the 

19 business plans and growth strategies of the 

20 small business concerns; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) that may be delivered— 

22 ‘‘(I) in person; or 

23 ‘‘(II) through a website.’’. 

Æ 


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