II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3583 

To address patent thickets. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 11, 2024 

Mr. WELCH (for himself, Mr. BRAUN, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To address patent thickets. 

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

3 SECTION 1. ADDRESSING PATENT THICKETS. 

4 (a) LIMIT ON NUMBER OF PATENTS PER PATENT

5 GROUP THAT MAY BE ASSERTED IN ACTION FOR IN6 FRINGEMENT.—Section 271(e) of title 35, United States 

7 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(7)(A) A person who brings an action for infringe9 ment of a patent under this section against a party de10 scribed in subparagraph (B) may assert in the action not 

11 more than one patent per Patent Group. 

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1 ‘‘(B) A party described in this subparagraph is— 

2 ‘‘(i) a person who— 

3 ‘‘(I) submits an application for approval of 

4 a drug under subsection (b)(2) or (j) of section 

5 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 

6 Act (21 U.S.C. 355), or is a holder of such an 

7 approved application; or 

8 ‘‘(II) submits an application for licensure 

9 of a biological product under section 351(k) of 

10 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 262(k)), or is a holder of such a licensure; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) a person making, using, selling, offering 

13 for sale, introducing or delivering into interstate 

14 commerce, or importing— 

15 ‘‘(I) a drug approved pursuant to an appli16 cation under subsection (b)(2) or (j) of section 

17 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 

18 Act (21 U.S.C. 355); or 

19 ‘‘(II) a biological product licensed under 

20 section 351(k) of the Public Health Service Act 

21 (42 U.S.C. 262(k)). 

22 ‘‘(C) A person who brings an action described in sub23 paragraph (A) asserting a patent against a party may not 

24 bring any additional actions described in that subparaVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:43 Jan 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3583.IS S3583
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1 graph asserting a patent in the same Patent Group 

2 against that party. 

3 ‘‘(D)(i) For purposes of this paragraph, the term 

4 ‘Patent Group’ means 2 or more commonly owned patents 

5 or applications that— 

6 ‘‘(I) are identified on 1 or more disclaimers 

7 under section 253 to obviate obviousness-type double 

8 patenting of another commonly owned patent; or 

9 ‘‘(II) are subject to 1 or more disclaimers under 

10 section 253 to obviate obviousness-type double pat11 enting of another commonly owned patent. 

12 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of clause (i)(I)— 

13 ‘‘(I) each patent or application that identifies 

14 the same patent or application on a disclaimer under 

15 section 253 is part of the same Patent Group; and 

16 ‘‘(II) each patent or application that is identi17 fied on a disclaimer under section 253 is part of the 

18 same Patent Group as the patent or application sub19 ject to the disclaimer.’’. 

20 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub21 section (a) shall apply with respect to an application sub22 mitted under subsection (b)(2) or (j) of section 505 of the 

23 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355) 

24 or section 351(k) of the Public Health Service Act (42 

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1 U.S.C. 262(k)) on or after the date of enactment of this 

2 Act. 

Æ