II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2601 

To amend the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to extend the period during 

which the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and 

Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office may set 

or adjust certain fees, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2018 

Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. HATCH) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to extend 

the period during which the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the 

United States Patent and Trademark Office may set 

or adjust certain fees, 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 ‘‘Building Innovation 

5 Growth through Data for Intellectual Property Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘BIG Data for IP Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act— 

3 (1) the term ‘‘advanced data science analytics’’ 

4 means techniques, such as artificial intelligence, ma5 chine learning, and other methods of analyzing large 

6 data sets, that are used to make policy recommenda7 tions; 

8 (2) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Under Sec9 retary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and 

10 Director of the Office; 

11 (3) the term ‘‘Office’’ means the United States 

12 Patent and Trademark Office; 

13 (4) the term ‘‘PPAC’’ means the Patent Public 

14 Advisory Committee of the Office; and 

15 (5) the term ‘‘TPAC’’ means the Trademark 

16 Public Advisory Committee of the Office. 

17 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

18 Congress finds the following: 

19 (1) Section 10(a) of the Leahy-Smith America 

20 Invents Act (35 U.S.C. 41 note) grants the Director 

21 the authority to ‘‘set or adjust by rule any fee estab22 lished, authorized, or charged under title 35, United 

23 States Code, or the Trademark Act of 1946. . . . to 

24 recover the aggregate estimated costs to the Office 

25 for processing, activities, services, and materials re26 lating to patents (in the case of patent fees) and 


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1 trademarks (in the case of trademark fees), includ2 ing administrative costs of the Office’’. 

3 (2) The Office has worked with PPAC, TPAC, 

4 and the public to engage in a fee-setting process 

5 that is transparent, as envisioned by the Leahy6 Smith America Invents Act (Public Law 112–29; 

7 125 Stat. 284). 

8 (3) Since 2011, the Office has used this fee-set9 ting authority to implement a sustainable funding 

10 model with an operating reserve, which allows the 

11 Office to invest in long-term projects, including cru12 cial infrastructure upgrades that are necessary for a 

13 21st century intellectual property office, regardless 

14 of whether there are temporary fluctuations in pat15 ent or trademark filings. 

16 (4) The infrastructure upgrades described in 

17 paragraph (3) include the use of advanced data 

18 science analytics, which will help to— 

19 (A) improve productivity and quality with 

20 respect to the issuance of patents and trade21 marks; and 

22 (B) ensure— 

23 (i) the consistent application of laws 

24 by nearly 9,000 patent examiners and 

25 trademark examining attorneys; and 


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1 (ii) the certainty and strength of Fed2 erally-granted rights that are foundational 

3 to the economy of the United States. 

4 SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF SUNSET. 

5 Section 10(i)(2) of the Leahy-Smith America Invents 

6 Act (35 U.S.C. 41 note) is amended by striking ‘‘the 7- 

7 year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this 

8 Act’’ and inserting ‘‘the 10-year period beginning on the 

9 date of enactment of the BIG Data for IP Act’’. 

10 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

11 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

12 of this Act, the Director shall submit to Congress a report 

13 that includes— 

14 (1) the status of the capabilities of the informa15 tion technology systems of the Office with respect 

16 to— 

17 (A) the examination of patents and trade18 marks; and 

19 (B) proceedings conducted before the— 

20 (i) Patent Trial and Appeal Board of 

21 the Office; and 

22 (ii) Trademark Trial and Appeal 

23 Board of the Office; 


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1 (2) a 5-year plan for further modernization of 

2 the information technology systems described in 

3 paragraph (1); and 

4 (3) an accounting of the use by the Office of 

5 advanced data science analytics, including from com6 mercially available sources, to improve the patent 

7 and trademark examination process where appro8 priate, including— 

9 (A) a description of how the Office uses 

10 advanced data science analytics with respect to 

11 the examination of patents and trademarks 

12 to— 

13 (i) improve consistency; 

14 (ii) detect common sources of error; 

15 and 

16 (iii) improve productivity; 

17 (B) a 5-year plan for further development 

18 of advanced data science analytics for the uses 

19 described in subparagraph (A); and 

20 (C) a description of how the findings made 

21 as a result of the uses of advanced data science 

22 analytics under subparagraph (A) shall be made 

23 available to the public on a regular basis. 

Æ 


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