II 

Calendar No. 347 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D 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 

MARCH 19, 2018 

Reported by Mr. RISCH, without amendment 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act— 

3 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad4 ministrator of the SBA; 

5 (2) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Under Sec6 retary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and 

7 Director of the USPTO; 

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

9 Administration; 

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

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

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

13 (5) the term ‘‘small business development cen14 ter’’ means a center described in section 21 of the 

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

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

17 States Patent and Trademark Office. 

18 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

19 Congress finds that— 

20 (1) the USPTO and the SBA are positioned 

21 to— 

22 (A) build upon several successful intellec23 tual property and training programs aimed at 

24 small business concerns; and 


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1 (B) increase the availability of and the 

2 participation in the programs described in sub3 paragraph (A) across the United States; and 

4 (2) any education and training program admin5 istered by the USPTO and the SBA should be scal6 able so that the program is able to reach more small 

7 business concerns. 

8 SEC. 4. SBA AND USPTO PARTNERSHIPS. 

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

10 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis11 trator, in consultation with the Director, shall develop 

12 partnership agreements that— 

13 (1) provide for the— 

14 (A) development of high-quality training, 

15 including in-person or modular training ses16 sions, for small business concerns relating to 

17 domestic and international protection of intel18 lectual property; 

19 (B) leveraging of training materials al20 ready developed for the education of inventors 

21 and small business concerns; and 

22 (C) participation of a nongovernmental or23 ganization; and 

24 (2) provide training— 


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1 (A) through electronic resources, including 

2 Internet-based webinars; and 

3 (B) at physical locations, including— 

4 (i) a small business development cen5 ter; and 

6 (ii) the headquarters or a regional of7 fice of the USPTO. 

8 SEC. 5. SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 

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

10 U.S.C. 648(c)(3)) is amended— 

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

12 the end; 

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

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

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

16 ‘‘(U) in conjunction with the United States Pat17 ent and Trademark Office, providing training— 

18 ‘‘(i) to small business concerns relating 

19 to— 

20 ‘‘(I) domestic and international intel21 lectual property protections; and 

22 ‘‘(II) how the protections described in 

23 subclause (I) should be considered in the 

24 business plans and growth strategies of the 

25 small business concerns; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) that may be delivered— 

2 ‘‘(I) in person; or 

3 ‘‘(II) through a website.’’. 


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Calendar No. 347 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 791 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to expand intelbusinesses, and for other purposes. lectual property education and training for small 

MARCH 19, 2018 

Reported without amendment 


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