II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2773 

To amend the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to address satellite offices 

of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2021 

Mr. LEAHY (for himself and Mr. TILLIS) 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 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Innovators Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

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

9 the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual 

10 Property and Director of the Office. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 2773 IS

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

2 United States Patent and Trademark Office. 

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

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

5 established pursuant to section 32 of the Leahy6 Smith America Invents Act (35 U.S.C. 2 note). 

7 (4) SOUTHEAST REGION OF THE UNITED

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

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

10 comprised of the States of Virginia, North Carolina, 

11 South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Ala12 bama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas. 

13 SEC. 3. SATELLITE OFFICES. 

14 (a) AMENDMENTS TO PURPOSE AND REQUIRED CON15 SIDERATIONS.—Section 23 of the Leahy-Smith America 

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

17 (1) in subsection (b)— 

18 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

19 (i) by striking ‘‘increase outreach ac20 tivities to’’; and 

21 (ii) by inserting after ‘‘Office’’ the fol22 lowing: ‘‘, including by increasing outreach 

23 activities, including to individual 

24 innovators, small businesses, veterans, and 

25 any other demographic group or category 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 2773 IS

1 of innovators that the Director may deter2 mine, after notice in the Federal Register, 

3 to be underrepresented in patent filings’’; 

4 and 

5 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert6 ing the following: 

7 ‘‘(2) enhance patent examiner and administra8 tive patent judge retention, including patent exam9 iners and administrative patent judges from eco10 nomically, geographically, and demographically di11 verse backgrounds;’’; and 

12 (2) in subsection (c)(1)— 

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

14 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

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

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

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

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

19 after January 1, 2021, shall consider the prox20 imity of the office to anchor institutions (such 

21 as hospitals primarily serving veterans and in22 stitutions of higher education) and populations 

23 that the Director may determine to be under24 represented in patent filings, including rural 

25 populations.’’. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 2773 IS

1 (b) SOUTHEAST REGIONAL OFFICE.— 

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

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

4 establish a satellite office of the Office in the south5 east region of the United States. 

6 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—When establishing the 

7 office required under paragraph (1), the Director 

8 shall consider the following: 

9 (A) The number of patent-intensive indus10 tries located near the selection site. 

11 (B) How many research-intensive institu12 tions, including institutions of higher education, 

13 are located near the selection site. 

14 (C) The State and local government legal 

15 and business frameworks that support intellec16 tual property-intensive industries located near 

17 the selection site. 

18 (c) STUDY ON ADDITIONAL SATELLITE OFFICES.— 

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

20 Act, the Director shall complete a study to determine 

21 whether additional satellite offices of the Office are nec22 essary to— 

23 (1) achieve the purposes described in section 

24 23(b) of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (35 

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


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 2773 IS

1 (2) increase participation in the patent system 

2 by women, people of color, veterans, individual in3 ventors, or members of any other demographic, geo4 graphic, or economic group that the Director may 

5 determine to be underrepresented in patent filings. 

6 SEC. 4. COMMUNITY OUTREACH OFFICES. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

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

9 and (3), not later than 5 years after the date of en10 actment of this Act, the Director shall establish not 

11 fewer than 2 community outreach offices in each re12 gion of the United States that, as of that date of en13 actment, is served by— 

14 (A) a satellite office of the Office; or 

15 (B) the principal office of the Office. 

16 (2) RESTRICTION.—No community outreach of17 fice established under paragraph (1) may be located 

18 in the same State as— 

19 (A) the principal office of the Office; or 

20 (B) any satellite office of the Office. 

21 (3) REQUIREMENT FOR NORTHERN NEW ENG22 LAND REGION.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall es24 tablish not less than 1 community outreach of25 fice under this subsection in the northern New 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 2773 IS

1 England region, which shall serve the States of 

2 Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. 

3 (B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining 

4 the location for the office required to be estab5 lished under subparagraph (A), the Director 

6 shall give preference to a location in which— 

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

8 Act— 

9 (I) there is located not less than 

10 1 public institution of higher edu11 cation and not less than 1 private in12 stitution of higher education; and 

13 (II) there are located not more 

14 than 15 registered patent attorneys, 

15 according to data from the Office of 

16 Enrollment and Discipline of the Of17 fice; and 

18 (ii) according to data from the 2012 

19 Survey of Business Owners conducted by 

20 the Bureau of the Census, less than 45 

21 percent of the firms are owned by women, 

22 minorities, or veterans. 

23 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the community out24 reach offices established under subsection (a) are to— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 2773 IS

1 (1) further achieve the purposes described in 

2 section 23(b)(1) of the Leahy-Smith America In3 vents Act (35 U.S.C. 1 note), as amended by this 

4 Act; 

5 (2) partner with local community organizations, 

6 institutions of higher education, research institu7 tions, and businesses to create community-based 

8 programs that— 

9 (A) provide education regarding the patent 

10 system; and 

11 (B) promote the career benefits of innova12 tion and entrepreneurship; and 

13 (3) educate prospective inventors, including vet14 erans, individual inventors, and individuals from de15 mographic, geographic, or economic groups that the 

16 Director may determine to be underrepresented in 

17 patent filings, about all public and private resources 

18 available to potential patent applicants, including the 

19 patent pro bono programs. 

20 (c) SUBORDINATE TO SATELLITE OFFICES.—The 

21 community outreach offices established under this section 

22 shall be subordinate, and report directly, to the principal 

23 office of the Office or the satellite office of the Office that 

24 corresponds to the region in which that community out25 reach office is located, as applicable. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 2773 IS

1 SEC. 5. UPDATES TO THE PATENT PRO BONO PROGRAM. 

2 (a) STUDY AND UPDATES.— 

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

4 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 

5 shall— 

6 (A) complete a study of the patent pro 

7 bono programs; and 

8 (B) submit the results of the study re9 quired under subparagraph (A) to the Com10 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 

11 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

12 Representatives. 

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

14 under paragraph (1)(A) shall— 

15 (A) assess— 

16 (i) whether the patent pro bono pro17 grams, as in effect on the date on which 

18 the study is commenced, are sufficiently 

19 serving veterans, individual inventors, and 

20 members of demographic, geographic, and 

21 economic groups that the Director may de22 termine to be underrepresented in patent 

23 filings; 

24 (ii) whether the patent pro bono pro25 grams are sufficiently funded to serve pro26 spective participants; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 2773 IS

1 (iii) whether the participation require2 ments of the patent pro bono programs, in3 cluding the requirement to demonstrate 

4 knowledge of the patent system, serve as a 

5 deterrent for prospective participants; 

6 (iv) the degree to which prospective 

7 inventors are aware of the patent pro bono 

8 programs; 

9 (v) the degree to which the length of 

10 prosecution time for pro bono applicants 

11 serves as a deterrent for attorneys to par12 ticipate in the patent pro bono programs; 

13 and 

14 (vi) any other issue the Director de15 termines appropriate; and 

16 (B) make recommendations for such ad17 ministrative and legislative action as may be ap18 propriate. 

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

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

21 with the Patent Pro Bono Advisory Council, existing re22 gional programs, and intellectual property law associations 

23 across the United States to update the patent pro bono 

24 programs in response to the findings of the study. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 2773 IS

1 (c) EXPANSION OF INCOME ELIGIBILITY.—The Di2 rector shall work with and support existing (as of the date 

3 of enactment of this Act) regional programs and intellec4 tual property law associations across the United States to 

5 expand eligibility for the patent pro bono programs to an 

6 individual living in a household, the gross household in7 come of which is not more than 400 percent of the Federal 

8 poverty line. 

9 SEC. 6. PRE-PROSECUTION PATENTABILITY ASSESSMENT 

10 PILOT PROGRAM. 

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

12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall estab13 lish a pilot program to assist first-time prospective patent 

14 applicants in assessing the viability of a potential patent 

15 application submitted by such a prospective applicant. 

16 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the pilot pro17 gram required under subsection (a), the Director shall es18 tablish— 

19 (1) a notification process to notify a prospective 

20 patent applicant seeking an assessment described in 

21 that subsection that any assessment so provided may 

22 not be considered an official ruling of patentability 

23 from the Office; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 2773 IS

1 (2) conditions to determine eligibility for the 

2 pilot program, taking into consideration available re3 sources; 

4 (3) reasonable limitations on the amount of 

5 time to be spent providing assistance to each indi6 vidual first-time prospective patent applicant; and 

7 (4) procedures for referring prospective patent 

8 applicants to legal counsel, including through the 

9 patent pro bono programs. 

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

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

12 States Code, is amended— 

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

14 and inserting ‘‘75 percent or more, at the discretion 

15 of the Director,’’; and 

16 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘75 percent’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘90 percent or more, at the discretion 

18 of the Director,’’. 

19 (b) LEAHY-SMITH AMERICA INVENTS ACT.—Section 

20 10(b) of the Leahy Smith America Invents Act (35 U.S.C. 

21 41 note) is amended by striking ‘‘75 percent’’ and insert22 ing ‘‘90 percent or more, at the discretion of the Direc23 tor,’’. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS