117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2773 

AN ACT 

To amend the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to address 

satellite offices of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, 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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Unleashing American 

3 Innovators Act of 2022’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

7 the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual 

8 Property and Director of the Office. 

9 (2) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the 

10 United States Patent and Trademark Office. 

11 (3) PATENT PRO BONO PROGRAMS.—The term 

12 ‘‘patent pro bono programs’’ means the programs 

13 established pursuant to section 32 of the Leahy14 Smith America Invents Act (35 U.S.C. 2 note). 

15 (4) SOUTHEAST REGION OF THE UNITED

16 STATES.—The term ‘‘southeast region of the United 

17 States’’ means the area of the United States that is 

18 comprised of the States of Virginia, North Carolina, 

19 South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Ala20 bama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas. 

21 SEC. 3. SATELLITE OFFICES. 

22 (a) AMENDMENTS TO PURPOSE AND REQUIRED CON23 SIDERATIONS.—Section 23 of the Leahy-Smith America 

24 Invents Act (35 U.S.C. 1 note) is amended— 

25 (1) in subsection (b)— 

26 (A) in paragraph (1)— 
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘increase outreach ac2 tivities to’’; and 

3 (ii) by inserting after ‘‘Office’’ the fol4 lowing: ‘‘, including by increasing outreach 

5 activities, including to individual inventors, 

6 small businesses, veterans, low-income pop7 ulations, students, rural populations, and 

8 any geographic group of innovators that 

9 the Director may determine to be under10 represented in patent filings’’; and 

11 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert12 ing the following: 

13 ‘‘(2) enhance patent examiner and administra14 tive patent judge retention, including patent exam15 iners and administrative patent judges from eco16 nomically, geographically, and demographically di17 verse backgrounds;’’; and 

18 (2) in subsection (c)(1)— 

19 (A) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

20 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

21 (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking the 

22 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

23 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(F) with respect to each office established 

25 after January 1, 2023, shall consider the prox-
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1 imity of the office to anchor institutions (such 

2 as hospitals primarily serving veterans and in3 stitutions of higher education), individual inven4 tors, small businesses, veterans, low-income 

5 populations, students, rural populations, and 

6 any geographic group of innovators that the Di7 rector may determine to be underrepresented in 

8 patent filings.’’. 

9 (b) SOUTHEAST REGIONAL OFFICE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

11 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

12 establish a satellite office of the Office in the south13 east region of the United States. 

14 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—When selecting a site 

15 for the office required under paragraph (1), the Di16 rector shall consider the following: 

17 (A) The number of patent-intensive indus18 tries located near the site. 

19 (B) How many research-intensive institu20 tions, including institutions of higher education, 

21 are located near the site. 

22 (C) The State and local government legal 

23 and business frameworks that support intellec24 tual property-intensive industries located near 

25 the site. 
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1 (c) STUDY ON ADDITIONAL SATELLITE OFFICES.— 

2 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this 

3 Act, the Director shall complete a study to determine 

4 whether additional satellite offices of the Office are nec5 essary to— 

6 (1) achieve the purposes described in section 

7 23(b) of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (35 

8 U.S.C. 1 note), as amended by this section; and 

9 (2) increase participation in the patent system 

10 by individual inventors, small businesses, veterans, 

11 low-income populations, students, rural populations, 

12 and any geographic group of innovators that the Di13 rector may determine to be underrepresented in pat14 ent filings. 

15 SEC. 4. COMMUNITY OUTREACH OFFICES. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

18 and (3), not later than 5 years after the date of en19 actment of this Act, the Director shall establish not 

20 fewer than 4 community outreach offices throughout 

21 the United States. 

22 (2) RESTRICTION.—No community outreach of23 fice established under paragraph (1) may be located 

24 in the same State as— 

25 (A) the principal office of the Office; or 
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1 (B) any satellite office of the Office. 

2 (3) REQUIREMENT FOR NORTHERN NEW ENG3 LAND REGION.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall es5 tablish not less than 1 community outreach of6 fice under this subsection in the northern New 

7 England region, which shall serve the States of 

8 Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. 

9 (B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining 

10 the location for the office required to be estab11 lished under subparagraph (A), the Director 

12 shall give preference to a location in which— 

13 (i) as of the date of enactment of this 

14 Act— 

15 (I) there is located not less than 

16 1 public institution of higher edu17 cation and not less than 1 private in18 stitution of higher education; and 

19 (II) there are located not more 

20 than 15 registered patent attorneys, 

21 according to data from the Office of 

22 Enrollment and Discipline of the Of23 fice; and 

24 (ii) according to data from the 2012 

25 Survey of Business Owners conducted by 
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1 the Bureau of the Census, less than 45 

2 percent of the firms (as that term is de3 fined for the purposes of that Survey) are 

4 owned by women, minorities, or veterans. 

5 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the community out6 reach offices established under subsection (a) are to— 

7 (1) further achieve the purposes described in 

8 section 23(b)(1) of the Leahy-Smith America In9 vents Act (35 U.S.C. 1 note), as amended by this 

10 Act; 

11 (2) partner with local community organizations, 

12 institutions of higher education, research institu13 tions, and businesses to create community-based 

14 programs that— 

15 (A) provide education regarding the patent 

16 system; and 

17 (B) promote the career benefits of innova18 tion and entrepreneurship; and 

19 (3) educate prospective inventors, including in20 dividual inventors, small businesses, veterans, low-in21 come populations, students, rural populations, and 

22 any geographic group of innovators that the Director 

23 may determine to be underrepresented in patent fil24 ings, about all public and private resources available 
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1 to potential patent applicants, including the patent 

2 pro bono programs. 

3 SEC. 5. UPDATES TO THE PATENT PRO BONO PROGRAMS. 

4 (a) STUDY AND UPDATES.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 

7 shall— 

8 (A) complete a study of the patent pro 

9 bono programs; and 

10 (B) submit the results of the study re11 quired under subparagraph (A) to the Com12 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 

13 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

14 Representatives. 

15 (2) SCOPE OF THE STUDY.—The study required 

16 under paragraph (1)(A) shall— 

17 (A) assess— 

18 (i) whether the patent pro bono pro19 grams, as in effect on the date on which 

20 the study is commenced, are sufficiently 

21 serving prospective and existing partici22 pants; 

23 (ii) whether the patent pro bono pro24 grams are sufficiently funded to serve pro25 spective participants; 
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1 (iii) whether any participation require2 ment of the patent pro bono programs, in3 cluding any requirement to demonstrate 

4 knowledge of the patent system, serves as 

5 a deterrent for prospective participants; 

6 (iv) the degree to which prospective 

7 inventors are aware of the patent pro bono 

8 programs; 

9 (v) what factors, if any, deter attor10 neys from participating in the patent pro 

11 bono programs; 

12 (vi) whether the patent pro bono pro13 grams would be improved by expanding 

14 those programs to include non-attorney ad15 vocates; and 

16 (vii) any other issue the Director de17 termines appropriate; and 

18 (B) make recommendations for such ad19 ministrative and legislative action as may be ap20 propriate. 

21 (b) USE OF RESULTS.—Upon completion of the study 

22 required under subsection (a), the Director shall work 

23 with the Pro Bono Advisory Council, the operators of the 

24 patent pro bono programs, and intellectual property law 

25 associations across the United States to update the patent 
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1 pro bono programs in response to the findings of the 

2 study. 

3 (c) EXPANSION OF INCOME ELIGIBILITY.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall work with 

5 and support, including by providing financial sup6 port to, existing patent pro bono programs and intel7 lectual property law associations across the United 

8 States to expand eligibility for the patent pro bono 

9 programs to an individual living in a household, the 

10 gross household income of which is not more than 

11 400 percent of the Federal poverty line. 

12 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

13 paragraph (1) may be construed to prevent a patent 

14 pro bono program from electing to establish a higher 

15 eligibility level, as compared to the level described in 

16 that paragraph. 

17 SEC. 6. PRE-PROSECUTION ASSESSMENT PILOT PROGRAM. 

18 (a) PILOT PROGRAM.—Not later than 1 year after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall estab20 lish a pilot program to assist first-time prospective patent 

21 applicants in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of 

22 a potential patent application submitted by such a pro23 spective applicant. 
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1 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the pilot pro2 gram required under subsection (a), the Director shall es3 tablish— 

4 (1) a notification process to notify a prospective 

5 patent applicant seeking an assessment described in 

6 that subsection that any assessment so provided may 

7 not be considered an official ruling of patentability 

8 from the Office; 

9 (2) conditions to determine eligibility for the 

10 pilot program, taking into consideration available re11 sources; 

12 (3) reasonable limitations on the amount of 

13 time to be spent providing assistance to each indi14 vidual first-time prospective patent applicant; 

15 (4) procedures for referring prospective patent 

16 applicants to legal counsel, including through the 

17 patent pro bono programs; and 

18 (5) procedures to protect the confidentiality of 

19 the information disclosed by prospective patent ap20 plicants. 

21 SEC. 7. FEE REDUCTION FOR SMALL AND MICRO ENTITIES. 

22 (a) TITLE 35.—Section 41(h) of title 35, United 

23 States Code, is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘50 percent’’ 

25 and inserting ‘‘60 percent’’; and 
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1 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘75 percent’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘80 percent’’. 

3 (b) FALSE CERTIFICATIONS.—Title 35, United 

4 States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in section 41, by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(j) PENALTY FOR FALSE ASSERTIONS.—In addition 

8 to any other penalty available under law, an entity that 

9 is found to have falsely asserted entitlement to a fee reduc10 tion under this section shall be subject to a fine, to be 

11 determined by the Director, the amount of which shall be 

12 not less than 3 times the amount that the entity failed 

13 to pay as a result of the false assertion, whether the Direc14 tor discovers the false assertion before or after the date 

15 on which a patent has been issued.’’; and 

16 (2) in section 123, by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(f) PENALTY FOR FALSE CERTIFICATIONS.—In ad19 dition to any other penalty available under law, an entity 

20 that is found to have falsely made a certification under 

21 this section shall be subject to a fine, to be determined 

22 by the Director, the amount of which shall be not less than 

23 3 times the amount that the entity failed to pay as a result 

24 of the false certification, whether the Director discovers 
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1 the false certification before or after the date on which 

2 a patent has been issued.’’. 

3 (c) LEAHY-SMITH AMERICA INVENTS ACT.—Section 

4 10(b) of the Leahy Smith America Invents Act (35 U.S.C. 

5 41 note) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘50 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘60 

7 percent’’; and 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘75 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘80 

9 percent’’. 

10 (d) STUDY ON FEES.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 

13 shall— 

14 (A) complete a study of the fees charged 

15 by the Office; and 

16 (B) submit the results of the study re17 quired under subparagraph (A) to the Com18 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 

19 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

20 Representatives. 

21 (2) SCOPE OF STUDY.—The study required 

22 under paragraph (1)(A) shall— 

23 (A) assess whether— 
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1 (i) fees for small and micro entities 

2 are inhibiting the filing of patent applica3 tions by those entities; 

4 (ii) fees for examination should ap5 proximately match the costs of examina6 tion and what incentives are created by 

7 using maintenance fees to cover the costs 

8 of examination; and 

9 (iii) the results of the assessments 

10 performed under clauses (i) and (ii) coun11 sel in favor of changes to the fee structure 

12 of the Office, such as— 

13 (I) raising standard application 

14 and examination fees; 

15 (II) reducing standard mainte16 nance fees; and 

17 (III) reducing the fees for small 

18 and micro entities as a percentage of 

19 standard application fees; and 
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1 (B) make recommendations for such ad2 ministrative and legislative action as may be ap3 propriate. 

Passed the Senate December 6, 2022. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2773 

AN ACT 

To amend the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to 

poses. ent and Trademark Office, and for other puraddress satellite offices of the United States Pat-