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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5537 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5537

 To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property 
   and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to 
establish and carry out a pilot program to expedite the examination of 
       applications for certain patents, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 16, 2024

  Mrs. Blackburn (for herself and Mr. Welch) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property 
   and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to 
establish and carry out a pilot program to expedite the examination of 
       applications for certain patents, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Leadership in Critical and Emerging 
Technologies Act'' or the ``Leadership in CET Act''.

SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM FOR EXPEDITING EXAMINATION OF CERTAIN CRITICAL 
              AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PATENT APPLICATIONS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Covered application.--The term ``covered application'' 
        means an application for patent with respect to an eligible 
        critical or emerging technology.
            (2) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Under 
        Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of 
        the Office.
            (3) Eligible critical or emerging technology.--The term 
        ``eligible critical or emerging technology'' means--
                    (A) artificial intelligence, as defined in section 
                5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative 
                Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401);
                    (B) microelectronics, as defined in section 
                10731(a) of the Research and Development, Competition, 
                and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 19331(a)); or
                    (C) quantum information science, as defined in 
                section 2 of the National Quantum Initiative Act (15 
                U.S.C. 8801).
            (4) Expedite.--The term ``expedite'' means, with respect to 
        a covered application, to advance that covered application out 
        of turn through the use of a petition to make special.
            (5) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the United States 
        Patent and Trademark Office.
            (6) Pilot program.--The term ``pilot program'' means the 
        pilot program established under subsection (b).
    (b) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Director shall establish a pilot program to 
expedite the examination, under section 131 of title 35, United States 
Code, of covered applications.
    (c) Purpose.--The purpose of the pilot program shall be to 
encourage innovation by, and the leadership of, the United States with 
respect to critical or emerging technologies by ensuring that covered 
applications receive prompt consideration.
    (d) Implementation.--In carrying out the pilot program, the 
Director--
            (1) shall establish the process by which covered 
        applications are expedited;
            (2) may waive--
                    (A) the petition fee described in section 1.102(d) 
                of title 37, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 
                successor regulation; or
                    (B) any other requirement of the Office relating to 
                the accelerated examination program or the prioritized 
                examination program; and
            (3) may establish reasonable limitations on the number of 
        covered applications that an applicant may submit for expedited 
        examination under the pilot program.
    (e) Qualifying Applications.--To best achieve the purpose of the 
pilot program, the Director shall ensure that a covered application 
satisfies the following requirements to qualify for the pilot program:
            (1) The applicant submitting the covered application is--
                    (A) an entity that is incorporated in the United 
                States; or
                    (B) an inventor who resides in the United States.
            (2) The covered application is a noncontinuing, original, 
        and nonprovisional patent application.
    (f) Termination.--
            (1) In general.--The pilot program shall terminate on the 
        earlier of the following:
                    (A) The date that is 5 years after the date on 
                which the Director first issues a patent for an 
                invention claimed in a covered application that is 
                expedited under the pilot program.
                    (B) The date on which the Director has accepted 
                10,000 covered applications for participation in the 
                pilot program, without regard to whether those covered 
                applications have been expedited under the pilot 
                program.
            (2) Renewal.--If the pilot program terminates under 
        paragraph (1)(B), the Director may renew the pilot program for 
        the shorter of the following:
                    (A) An additional 5-year period.
                    (B) An additional period--
                            (i) beginning on the date on which the 
                        pilot program terminates under paragraph 
                        (1)(B); and
                            (ii) ending on the date on which the 
                        Director has accepted an additional 10,000 
                        covered applications for participation in the 
                        pilot program, without regard to whether those 
                        covered applications have been expedited under 
                        the pilot program.
            (3) Notice of renewal.--The Director shall notify Congress 
        of the intent of the Director to renew the pilot program under 
        paragraph (2) not later than the date that is the earlier of 
        the following:
                    (A) The date that is 60 days before the date 
                described in paragraph (1)(A).
                    (B) The date that is 30 days after the date on 
                which the Director has accepted 8,000 covered 
                applications for participation in the pilot program, 
                without regard to whether those covered applications 
                have been expedited under the pilot program.
    (g) Public Availability of Information.--The Director shall make 
publicly available in an easily accessible location on the website of 
the Office information about the pilot program, including--
            (1) the number of covered applications received by the 
        Director for participation in the pilot program;
            (2) the number of covered applications described in 
        paragraph (1) that the Director has accepted for participation 
        in the pilot program; and
            (3) the number of patents that have been issued for 
        inventions claimed in covered applications expedited under the 
        pilot program.
    (h) Report to Congress.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date on 
        which the pilot program terminates (including any renewal of 
        the pilot program under subsection (f)(2)), the Director shall 
        submit to Congress a report that assesses the impact and 
        effectiveness of the pilot program based on all available data.
            (2) Applicability.--The collection of any data for the 
        purposes of carrying out paragraph (1) shall be exempt from 
        subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code 
        (commonly referred to as the ``Paperwork Reduction Act'').
                                 <all>
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