II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3486 

To implement the provisions of the Hague Agreement and the Patent Law 

Treaty. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2012 

Mr. LEAHY (for himself and Mr. GRASSLEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To implement the provisions of the Hague Agreement and 

the Patent Law Treaty. 

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 ‘‘Patent Law Treaties 

5 Implementation Act of 2012’’. 


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1 TITLE I—HAGUE AGREEMENT 

2 CONCERNING INTER3 NATIONAL REGISTRATION OF 

4 INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS 

5 SEC. 101. THE HAGUE AGREEMENT CONCERNING INTER6 NATIONAL REGISTRATION OF INDUSTRIAL 

7 DESIGNS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 35, United States Code, is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘PART V—THE HAGUE AGREEMENT CONCERNING 

11 INTERNATIONAL REGISTRATION OF INDUS12 TRIAL DESIGNS 

‘‘CHAPTER Sec. 

‘‘38. International design applications ...................................................... 381. 

13 ‘‘CHAPTER 38—INTERNATIONAL DESIGN 

14 APPLICATIONS 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘381. Definitions. 

‘‘382. Filing international design applications. 

‘‘383. International design application. 

‘‘384. Filing date. 

‘‘385. Effect of international design application. 

‘‘386. Right of priority. 

‘‘387. Relief from prescribed time limits. 

‘‘388. Withdrawn or abandoned international design application. 

‘‘389. Examination of international design application. 

‘‘390. Publication of international design application. 

15 ‘‘§ 381. Definitions 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—When used in this part, unless 

17 the context otherwise indicates— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘treaty’ means the Geneva Act of 

2 the Hague Agreement Concerning the International 

3 Registration of Industrial Designs adopted at Gene4 va on July 2, 1999; 

5 ‘‘(2) the term ‘regulations’— 

6 ‘‘(A) when capitalized, means the Common 

7 Regulations under the treaty; and 

8 ‘‘(B) when not capitalized, means the regu9 lations established by the Director under this 

10 title; 

11 ‘‘(3) the term ‘designation’ means a request 

12 that an international registration have effect in a 

13 Contracting Party to the treaty; 

14 ‘‘(4) the term ‘International Bureau’ means the 

15 international intergovernmental organization that is 

16 recognized as the coordinating body under the treaty 

17 and the Regulations; 

18 ‘‘(5) the term ‘effective registration date’ means 

19 the date of international registration indicated by 

20 the International Bureau under the treaty; 

21 ‘‘(6) the term ‘international design application’ 

22 means an application for international registration; 

23 and 


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1 ‘‘(7) the term ‘international registration’ means 

2 the international registration of an industrial design 

3 filed under the treaty. 

4 ‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Terms and expres5 sions not defined in this part are to be taken in the sense 

6 indicated by the treaty and the Regulations. 

7 ‘‘§ 382. Filing international design applications 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any person who is a national of 

9 the United States, or has a domicile, a habitual residence, 

10 or a real and effective industrial or commercial establish11 ment in the United States, may file an international de12 sign application by submitting to the Patent and Trade13 mark Office an application in such form, together with 

14 such fees, as may be prescribed by the Director. 

15 ‘‘(b) REQUIRED ACTION.—The Patent and Trade16 mark Office shall perform all acts connected with the dis17 charge of its duties under the treaty, including the collec18 tion of international fees and transmittal thereof to the 

19 International Bureau. Subject to chapter 17 of this title, 

20 international design applications shall be forwarded by the 

21 Patent and Trademark Office to the International Bu22 reau, upon payment of a transmittal fee. 

23 ‘‘(c) APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER 16.—Except as 

24 otherwise provided in this chapter, the provisions of chap25 ter 16 of this title shall apply. 


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1 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION FILED IN ANOTHER COUNTRY.— 

2 An international design application on an industrial design 

3 made in this country shall be considered to constitute the 

4 filing of an application in a foreign country within the 

5 meaning of chapter 17 of this title if the international de6 sign application is filed— 

7 ‘‘(1) in a country other than the United States; 

8 ‘‘(2) at the International Bureau; or 

9 ‘‘(3) with an intergovernmental organization. 

10 ‘‘§ 383. International design application 

11 ‘‘In addition to any requirements pursuant to chapter 

12 16 of this title, the international design application shall 

13 contain— 

14 ‘‘(1) a request for international registration 

15 under the treaty; 

16 ‘‘(2) an indication of the designated Con17 tracting Parties; 

18 ‘‘(3) data concerning the applicant as pre19 scribed in the treaty and the Regulations; 

20 ‘‘(4) copies of a reproduction or, at the choice 

21 of the applicant, of several different reproductions of 

22 the industrial design that is the subject of the inter23 national application, presented in the number and 

24 manner prescribed in the treaty and the Regula25 tions; 


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1 ‘‘(5) an indication of the product or products 

2 which constitute the industrial design or in relation 

3 to which the industrial design is to be used, as pre4 scribed in the treaty and the Regulations; 

5 ‘‘(6) the fees prescribed in the treaty and the 

6 Regulations; and 

7 ‘‘(7) any other particulars prescribed in the 

8 Regulations. 

9 ‘‘§ 384. Filing date 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the fil11 ing date of an international design application in the 

12 United States shall be the effective registration date. Not13 withstanding the provisions of this part, any international 

14 design application designating the United States that oth15 erwise meets the requirements of chapter 16 of this title 

16 may be treated as a design application under chapter 16 

17 of this title. 

18 ‘‘(b) REVIEW.—An applicant may request review by 

19 the Director of the filing date of the international design 

20 application in the United States. The Director may deter21 mine that the filing date of the international design appli22 cation in the United States is a date other than the effec23 tive registration date. The Director may establish proce24 dures, including the payment of a surcharge, to review the 

25 filing date under this section. Such review may result in 


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1 a determination that the application has a filing date in 

2 the United States other than the effective registration 

3 date. 

4 ‘‘§ 385. Effect of international design application 

5 ‘‘An international design application designating the 

6 United States shall have the effect, for all purposes, from 

7 its filing date determined in accordance with section 384 

8 of this part, of an application for patent filed in the Patent 

9 and Trademark Office pursuant to chapter 16 of this title. 

10 ‘‘§ 386. Right of priority 

11 ‘‘(a) NATIONAL APPLICATION.—In accordance with 

12 the conditions and requirements of subsections (a) 

13 through (d) of section 119 of this title and section 172 

14 of this title, a national application shall be entitled to the 

15 right of priority based on a prior international design ap16 plication which designated at least one country other than 

17 the United States. 

18 ‘‘(b) PRIOR FOREIGN APPLICATION.—In accordance 

19 with the conditions and requirements of subsections (a) 

20 through (d) of section 119 of this title and section 172 

21 of this title and the treaty and the Regulations, an inter22 national design application designating the United States 

23 shall be entitled to the right of priority based on a prior 

24 foreign application, a prior international application as de25 fined in section 351(c) of this title designating at least 


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1 one country other than the United States, or a prior inter2 national design application designating at least one coun3 try other than the United States. 

4 ‘‘(c) PRIOR NATIONAL APPLICATION.—In accordance 

5 with the conditions and requirements of section 120 of this 

6 title, an international design application designating the 

7 United States shall be entitled to the benefit of the filing 

8 date of a prior national application, a prior international 

9 application as defined in section 351(c) of this title desig10 nating the United States, or a prior international design 

11 application designating the United States, and a national 

12 application shall be entitled to the benefit of the filing date 

13 of a prior international design application designating the 

14 United States. If any claim for the benefit of an earlier 

15 filing date is based on a prior international application as 

16 defined in section 351(c) of this title which designated but 

17 did not originate in the United States or a prior inter18 national design application which designated but did not 

19 originate in the United States, the Director may require 

20 the filing in the Patent and Trademark Office of a cer21 tified copy of such application together with a translation 

22 thereof into the English language, if it was filed in another 

23 language. 


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1 ‘‘§ 387. Relief from prescribed time limits 

2 ‘‘An applicant’s failure to act within prescribed time 

3 limits in connection with requirements pertaining to an 

4 international design application may be excused as to the 

5 United States upon a showing satisfactory to the Director 

6 of unintentional delay and under such conditions, includ7 ing a requirement for payment of the fee specified in sec8 tion 41(a)(7) of this title, as may be prescribed by the 

9 Director. 

10 ‘‘§ 388. Withdrawn or abandoned international design 

11 application 

12 ‘‘Subject to sections 384 and 387 of this part, if an 

13 international design application designating the United 

14 States is withdrawn, renounced or canceled or considered 

15 withdrawn or abandoned, either generally or as to the 

16 United States, under the conditions of the treaty and the 

17 Regulations, the designation of the United States shall 

18 have no effect after the date of withdrawal, renunciation, 

19 cancellation, or abandonment and shall be considered as 

20 not having been made, unless a claim for benefit of a prior 

21 filing date under section 386(c) of this part was made in 

22 a national application, or an international design applica23 tion designating the United States, or a claim for benefit 

24 under section 365(c) was made in an international appli25 cation designating the United States, filed before the date 

26 of such withdrawal, renunciation, cancellation, or abanVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:44 Aug 08, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3486.IS S3486

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1 donment. However, such withdrawn, renounced, canceled, 

2 or abandoned international design application may serve 

3 as the basis for a claim of priority under subsections (a) 

4 and (b) of section 386, or under subsection (a) or (b) of 

5 section 365, if it designated a country other than the 

6 United States. 

7 ‘‘§ 389. Examination of international design applica8 tion 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall cause an ex10 amination pursuant to this title of an international design 

11 application designating the United States. 

12 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER 16.—All questions 

13 of substance, and, unless otherwise required by the treaty 

14 and Regulations, procedures regarding an international 

15 design application designating the United States shall be 

16 determined as in the case of applications filed under chap17 ter 16 of this title. 

18 ‘‘(c) FEES.—The Director may prescribe fees for fil19 ing international design applications, for designating the 

20 United States, and for any other processing, services, or 

21 materials relating to international design applications, and 

22 may provide for later payment of such fees, including sur23 charges for later submission of fees. 

24 ‘‘(d) ISSUANCE OF PATENT.—The Director may issue 

25 a patent based on an international design application desVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:44 Aug 08, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3486.IS S3486

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1 ignating the United States, in accordance with the provi2 sions of this title. Such patent shall have the force and 

3 effect of a patent issued on an application filed under 

4 chapter 16 of this title. 

5 ‘‘§ 390. Publication of international design applica6 tion 

7 ‘‘The publication under the treaty defined in section 

8 381(a)(1) of an international design application desig9 nating the United States shall be deemed a publication 

10 under section 122(b).’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of parts 

12 at the beginning of title 35, United States Code, is amend13 ed by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘V. The Hague Agreement concerning international registration of industrial designs ............................................................. 401’’. 

14 SEC. 102. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

15 Title 35, United States Code, is amended— 

16 (1) in section 100(i)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘right 

17 of priority under section 119, 365(a), or 365(b) or 

18 to the benefit of an earlier filing date under section 

19 120, 121, or 365(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘right of priority 

20 under section 119, 365(a), 365(b), 386(a), or 386(b) 

21 or to the benefit of an earlier filing date under sec22 tion 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c)’’; 

23 (2) in section 102(d)(2), by striking ‘‘to claim 

24 a right of priority under section 119, 365(a), or 


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1 365(b), or to claim the benefit of an earlier filing 

2 date under section 120, 121, or 365(c)’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘to claim a right of priority under section 119, 

4 365(a), 365(b), 386(a), or 386(b), or to claim the 

5 benefit of an earlier filing date under section 120, 

6 121, 365(c), or 386(c)’’; 

7 (3) in section 111(b)(7)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘section 119 or 365(a)’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘section 119, 365(a), or 386(a)’’; 

10 and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘section 120, 121, or 

12 365(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 120, 121, 

13 365(c), or 386(c)’’; 

14 (4) in section 115(g)(1), by striking ‘‘section 

15 120, 121, or 365(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 120, 

16 121, 365(c), or 386(c)’’; 

17 (5) in section 120, in the first sentence, by 

18 striking ‘‘section 363’’ and inserting ‘‘section 363 or 

19 385’’; 

20 (6) in section 154— 

21 (A) in subsection (a)— 

22 (i) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘sec23 tion 120, 121, or 365(c)’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘section 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c)’’; and 


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1 (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘sec2 tion 119, 365(a), or 365(b)’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘section 119, 365(a), 365(b), 386(a), or 

4 386(b)’’; and 

5 (B) in subsection (d)(1), by inserting ‘‘or 

6 an international design application filed under 

7 the treaty defined in section 381(a)(1) desig8 nating the United States under Article 5 of 

9 such treaty’’ after ‘‘Article 21(2)(a) of such 

10 treaty’’; 

11 (7) in section 173, by striking ‘‘fourteen years’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘15 years’’; 

13 (8) in section 365(c)— 

14 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘or a 

15 prior international application designating the 

16 United States’’ and inserting ‘‘, a prior inter17 national application designating the United 

18 States, or a prior international design applica19 tion as defined in section 381(a)(6) of this title 

20 designating the United States’’; and 

21 (B) in the second sentence, by inserting 

22 ‘‘or a prior international design application as 

23 defined in section 381(a)(6) of this title which 

24 designated but did not originate in the United 


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1 States’’ after ‘‘did not originate in the United 

2 States’’; and 

3 (9) in section 366— 

4 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘un5 less a claim’’ and all that follows through 

6 ‘‘withdrawl.’’ and inserting ‘‘unless a claim for 

7 benefit of a prior filing date under section 

8 365(c) of this section was made in a national 

9 application, or an international application des10 ignating the United States, or a claim for ben11 efit under section 386(c) was made in an inter12 national design application designating the 

13 United States, filed before the date of such 

14 withdrawal.’’; and 

15 (B) by striking the second sentence and in16 serting the following: ‘‘However, such with17 drawn international application may serve as 

18 the basis for a claim of priority under section 

19 365 (a) and (b) of this part, or under section 

20 386 (a) or (b), if it designated a country other 

21 than the United States.’’. 

22 SEC. 103. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by this 

24 title shall be effective on the later of— 


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1 (1) the date that is 1 year after the date of en2 actment of this Act, or 

3 (2) the date of entry into force of the treaty, as 

4 defined in section 381 of title 35, as amended by 

5 this Act, with respect to the United States. 

6 (b) APPLICABILITY OF AMENDMENTS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

8 the amendments made by this title shall apply only 

9 to international design applications, international 

10 applications as defined in section 351(c) of title 35, 

11 United States Code, and national applications filed 

12 on and after the effective date set forth in sub13 section (a), and patents issuing thereon. 

14 (2) EXCEPTION.—Sections 100(i) and 102(d) of 

15 title 35, United States Code, as amended by this 

16 title, shall not apply to an application, or any patent 

17 issuing thereon, unless it is described in section 

18 3(n)(1) of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (35 

19 U.S.C. 100 note). 

20 TITLE II—PATENT LAW TREATY 

21 IMPLEMENTATION 

22 SEC. 201. PROVISIONS TO IMPLEMENT THE PATENT LAW 

23 TREATY. 

24 (a) APPLICATION FILING DATE.—Section 111 of title 

25 35, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraphs 

2 (3) and (4) and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(3) FEE, OATH OR DECLARATION, AND

4 CLAIMS.—The application shall be accompanied by 

5 the fee required by law. The fee, oath or declaration, 

6 and 1 or more claims may be submitted after the fil7 ing date of the application, within such period and 

8 under such conditions, including the payment of a 

9 surcharge, as may be prescribed by the Director. 

10 Upon failure to submit the fee, oath or declaration, 

11 and 1 or more claims within such prescribed period, 

12 the application shall be regarded as abandoned. 

13 ‘‘(4) FILING DATE.—The filing date of an ap14 plication shall be the date on which a specification, 

15 with or without claims, is received in the United 

16 States Patent and Trademark Office.’’; 

17 (2) in subsection (b), by striking paragraphs 

18 (3) and (4) and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(3) FEE.—The application shall be accom20 panied by the fee required by law. The fee may be 

21 submitted after the filing date of the application, 

22 within such period and under such conditions, in23 cluding the payment of a surcharge, as may be pre24 scribed by the Director. Upon failure to submit the 


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1 fee within such prescribed period, the application 

2 shall be regarded as abandoned. 

3 ‘‘(4) FILING DATE.—The filing date of a provi4 sional application shall be the date on which a speci5 fication, with or without claims, is received in the 

6 United States Patent and Trademark Office.’’; and 

7 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(c) PRIOR FILED APPLICATION.—The Director may 

9 prescribe the conditions, including the payment of a sur10 charge, under which a reference made upon the filing of 

11 an application under subsection (a) to a previously filed 

12 application, specifying the previously filed application by 

13 application number and the intellectual property authority 

14 or country in which the application was filed, shall con15 stitute the specification and any drawings of the subse16 quent application for purposes of a filing date. A copy of 

17 the specification and any drawings of the previously filed 

18 application shall be submitted within such period and 

19 under such conditions as may be prescribed by the Direc20 tor. A failure to submit the copy of the specification and 

21 any drawings of the previously filed application within the 

22 prescribed period shall result in application being regarded 

23 as abandoned and treated as having never been filed.’’. 

24 (b) RELIEF IN RESPECT OF TIME LIMITS AND REIN25 STATEMENT OF RIGHTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of title 35, United 

2 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

3 following: 

4 ‘‘§ 27. Revival of applications; reinstatement of reex5 amination proceedings 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director may establish pro7 cedures, including the requirement for payment of the fee 

8 specified in section 41(a)(7), to revive an unintentionally 

9 abandoned application for patent, accept an unintention10 ally delayed payment of the fee for issuing each patent, 

11 or accept an unintentionally delayed response by the pat12 ent owner in a reexamination proceeding, upon petition 

13 by the applicant for patent or patent owner.’’. 

14 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND15 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 2 of title 

16 35, United States Code, is amended by adding at 

17 the end the following: 

‘‘27. Revival of applications; reinstatement of reexamination proceedings.’’. 

18 (c) RESTORATION OF PRIORITY RIGHT.—Title 35, 

19 United States Code, is amended— 

20 (1) in section 119— 

21 (A) in subsection (a), by adding at the end 

22 the following: ‘‘The Director may prescribe reg23 ulations, including the requirement for payment 

24 of the fee specified in section 41(a)(7), pursu25 ant to which the 12-month period set forth in 


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1 this subsection may be extended by an addi2 tional 2 months if the delay in filing the appli3 cation in this country within the 12-month pe4 riod was unintentional.’’; and 

5 (B) in subsection (e)— 

6 (i) in paragraph (1)— 

7 (I) by inserting after the first 

8 sentence the following: ‘‘The Director 

9 may prescribe regulations, including 

10 the requirement for payment of the 

11 fee specified in section 41(a)(7), pur12 suant to which the 12-month period 

13 set forth in this subsection may be ex14 tended by an additional 2 months if 

15 the delay in filing the application 

16 under section 111(a) or section 363 

17 within the 12-month period was unin18 tentional.’’; and 

19 (II) in the last sentence— 

20 (aa) by striking ‘‘including 

21 the payment of a surcharge’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘including the payment 

23 of the fee specified in section 

24 41(a)(7)’’; and 


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1 (bb) by striking ‘‘during the 

2 pendency of the application’’; and 

3 (ii) in paragraph (3), by adding at the 

4 end the following: ‘‘For an application for 

5 patent filed under section 363 in a foreign 

6 Receiving Office, the 12-month and addi7 tional 2 month period set forth in this sub8 section shall be extended as provided under 

9 the treaty and Regulations as defined in 

10 section 351.’’; and 

11 (2) in section 365(b), by adding at the end the 

12 following: ‘‘The Director may establish procedures, 

13 including the requirement for payment of the fee 

14 specified in section 41(a)(7), to accept an uninten15 tionally delayed claim for priority under the treaty 

16 and the Regulations, and to accept a priority claim 

17 where such priority claim pertains to an application 

18 that was not filed within the priority period specified 

19 in the treaty and Regulations, but was filed within 

20 the additional 2-month period specified under sec21 tion 119(a) or the treaty and Regulations.’’. 

22 (d) RECORDATION OF OWNERSHIP INTERESTS.— 

23 Section 261 of title 35, United States Code, is amended— 

24 (1) in the first undesignated paragraph by add25 ing at the end the following: ‘‘The Patent and 


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1 Trademark Office shall maintain a register of inter2 ests in applications for patents and patents and shall 

3 record any document related thereto upon request, 

4 and may require a fee therefor.’’; and 

5 (2) in the fourth undesignated paragraph by 

6 striking ‘‘An assignment’’ and inserting ‘‘An interest 

7 that constitutes an assignment’’. 

8 SEC. 202. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 171 of title 35, United 

10 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘The filing date of an application for patent for de13 sign shall be the date on which the specification as pre14 scribed by section 112 and any required drawings are 

15 filed.’’. 

16 (b) RELIEF IN RESPECT OF TIME LIMITS AND REIN17 STATEMENT OF RIGHT.—Title 35, United States Code, is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) in section 41— 

20 (A) in subsection (a), by striking sub21 section (7) and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(7) REVIVAL FEES.—On filing each petition 

23 for the revival of an abandoned application for a 

24 patent, for the delayed payment of the fee for 

25 issuing each patent, for the delayed response by the 


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1 patent owner in any reexamination proceeding, for 

2 the delayed payment of the fee for maintaining a 

3 patent in force, for the delayed submission of a pri4 ority or benefit claim, or for the extension of the 12- 

5 month period for filing a subsequent application, 

6 $1,700.00. The Director may refund any part of the 

7 fee specified in this paragraph, in exceptional cir8 cumstances as determined by the Director’’; and 

9 (B) in subsection (c), by striking para10 graph (1) and inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(1) ACCEPTANCE.—The Director may accept 

12 the payment of any maintenance fee required by 

13 subsection (b) after the 6-month grace period if the 

14 delay is shown to the satisfaction of the Director to 

15 have been unintentional. The Director may require 

16 the payment of the fee specified in paragraph (a)(7) 

17 as a condition of accepting payment of any mainte18 nance fee after the 6-month grace period. If the Di19 rector accepts payment of a maintenance fee after 

20 the 6-month grace period, the patent shall be consid21 ered as not having expired at the end of the grace 

22 period.’’; 

23 (2) in section 119(b)(2), in the second sentence, 

24 by striking ‘‘including the payment of a surcharge’’ 


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1 and inserting ‘‘including the requirement for pay2 ment of the fee specified in section 41(a)(7)’’; 

3 (3) in section 120, in the fourth sentence, by 

4 striking ‘‘including the payment of a surcharge’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘including the requirement for payment of 

6 the fee specified in section 41(a)(7)’’; 

7 (4) in section 122(b)(2)(B)(iii), in the second 

8 sentence, by striking ‘‘, unless it is shown’’ and all 

9 that follows through ‘‘unintentional’’; 

10 (5) in section 133, by striking ‘‘, unless it be 

11 shown’’ and all that follows through ‘‘unavoidable’’; 

12 (6) by striking section 151 and inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘§ 151. Issue of patent 

15 ‘‘If it appears that applicant is entitled to a patent 

16 under the law, a written notice of allowance of the applica17 tion shall be given or mailed to the applicant. The notice 

18 shall specify a sum, constituting the issue fee and any re19 quired publication fee, which shall be paid within 3 months 

20 thereafter. 

21 ‘‘Upon payment of this sum the patent may issue, 

22 but if payment is not timely made, the application shall 

23 be regarded as abandoned.’’; 

24 (7) in section 361, by striking subsection (c) 

25 and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(c) International applications filed in the Patent and 

2 Trademark Office shall be filed in the English language, 

3 or an English translation shall be filed within such later 

4 time as may be fixed by the Director.’’; 

5 (8) in section 364, by striking subsection (b) 

6 and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(b) An applicant’s failure to act within prescribed 

8 time limits in connection with requirements pertaining to 

9 an international application may be excused as provided 

10 in the treaty and the Regulations.’’; and 

11 (9) in section 371(d), in the third sentence, by 

12 striking ‘‘, unless it be shown to the satisfaction of 

13 the Director that such failure to comply was un14 avoidable’’. 

15 SEC. 203. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

17 (b), the amendments made by this title shall be effective 

18 on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment 

19 of this Act and shall apply to all patents and to all applica20 tions for patent pending on or filed after the date that 

21 is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. 

22 (b) EXCEPTIONS.— 

23 (1) SECTION 201(a).—The amendments made 

24 by section 201(a) shall apply only to applications 


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25 

•S 3486 IS

1 filed on or after the date that is 1 year after the 

2 date of enactment of this Act. 

3 (2) PATENT THAT IS SUBJECT OF LITIGA4 TION.—The amendments made by this title shall 

5 have no effect with respect to any patent that is the 

6 subject of litigation in an action commenced before 

7 the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act. 

Æ 


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