Pride in Patent Ownership Act

To amend title 35, United States Code, to address patent ownership, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Pride in Patent Ownership Act 2. Patents (a) Amendments to title 35 (1) In general Title 35, United States Code, is amended— (A) in chapter 11, by adding at the end the following: 124. Government funding of patent applications and maintenance fees (a) Government funding of patent applications For any application for patent, if any governmental entity, including a foreign governmental entity, provides funding specifically for the purpose of paying fees to the Office under section 41, or specifically for the purpose of paying an attorney or patent agent for prosecution of the application, the application shall include, or be amended to include, a statement describing the amount and source of the funding provided by the entity. (b) Government funding of maintenance fees For any patent, if any governmental entity, including a foreign governmental entity, provides funding specifically for the purpose of paying maintenance fees to the Office under section 41, or specifically for the purpose of paying an attorney or patent agent for submitting those maintenance fees, the patentee shall file a separate statement describing the amount and source of the funding provided by the entity. ; and (B) in section 261— (i) by striking the first undesignated paragraph and inserting the following: (a) In general (1) Attributes of personal property Subject to the provisions of this title, patents shall have the attributes of personal property. (2) Register of interests (A) In general The Patent and Trademark Office shall maintain a register of interests in patents and applications for patents and shall record any document related thereto upon request, and may require a fee therefor. (B) Public availability The Office shall make the information described in subparagraph (A) publicly accessible, to the extent permitted by law. (3) Requirement to record certain assignments and other interests (A) In general Whenever a patent issues, or certain rights or interests in a patent (as defined by the Director) are assigned, granted, or conveyed to any person, including a governmental or legal entity, including a parent corporation— (i) the patentee shall, not later than 90 days after the effective date of the issuance, assignment, grant, or conveyance, as applicable, submit, or cause to be submitted, a request described in paragraph (2), unless such a request was submitted before the issuance of the patent; and (ii) the Office shall, not later than 60 days after the date on which the Office receives a request submitted under clause (i)— (I) notify the patentee regarding any error in the request; or (II) record the interest in the register described in paragraph (2). (B) Effect of failure to comply If a patentee fails to comply with subparagraph (A)(i), no party may recover, for infringement of the applicable patent in any action, increased monetary damages under section 284 during the period beginning on the date that is 91 days after the effective date of the issuance, assignment, grant, or conveyance with respect to the patent, as applicable, and ending on the date on which that issuance, assignment, grant, or conveyance is properly requested to be recorded under paragraph (2). ; (ii) in the first undesignated paragraph following subsection (a), as so designated by clause (i) of this subparagraph, by striking Applications (b) Applications and patents assignable Applications ; (iii) in the first undesignated paragraph following subsection (b), as so designated by clause (ii) of this subparagraph, by striking A certificate (c) Certificate of acknowledgment A certificate ; and (iv) in the undesignated paragraph following subsection (c), as so designated by clause (iii) of this subparagraph, by striking An interest (d) Effect of assignment An interest . (2) Technical and conforming amendment The table of sections for chapter 11 124. Government funding of patent applications and maintenance fees. . (3) Effective dates; applicability (A) In general Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the amendments made by this subsection shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. (B) Amendments regarding ownership and assignment (i) In general Except as provided in clause (ii), the amendments made by paragraph (1)(B) shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act. (ii) Requirement to record assignments and certain other interests Paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of section 261 of title 35, United States Code, as so designated by paragraph (1)(B)(i) of this subsection, shall— (I) take effect on the effective date described in subparagraph (A); and (II) apply with respect to any patent issuance, assignment, grant, or conveyance that occurs on or after the effective date described in subclause (I). (b) Rules Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (referred to in this section as the Director (1) (A) Define the term certain rights or interests in a patent (B) For the purposes of subparagraph (A), the Director may review rules defining the term beneficial owner (2) Establish procedures for the proper recording of interests in patents that— (A) provide for— (i) notice of any error in a request submitted under subsection (a)(2) of section 261 of title 35, United States Code, as so designated by subsection (a)(1) of this section; and (ii) an opportunity to correct an error described in clause (i) not later than 60 days after the date on which the Director notifies the submitting party regarding the error; and (B) describe— (i) which types of errors described in subparagraph (A)(i) are eligible for correction without having to change the date of submission of the original request; and (ii) which types of errors described in subparagraph (A)(i) must result in a new request with a new submission date. (3) Implement section 124 of title 35, United States Code, as added by subsection (a)(1) of this section, including by imposing a penalty for a failure to disclose funding provided by a governmental entity, as required under such section 124. (4) Otherwise implement the amendments made by subsection (a)(1). (c) Register Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall, with respect to the register described in subsection (a)(2) of section 261 of title 35, United States Code, as so designated by subsection (a)(1) of this section, create a publicly accessible database that is digitally searchable with fields based on patent number, assignee, assignor, assignment date, and other criteria determined by the Director.

Summary: Pride in Patent Ownership Act This bill requires disclosure of certain patent-related information, including information about ownership and funding. Under the bill, if a foreign or domestic governmental entity provides funding for fees related to a patent application or for paying an attorney (or patent agent) to prosecute the patent application, the application must disclose the amount and source of such funding. Similarly, if any governmental entity provides funding for paying a patent's maintenance fees or for paying an attorney (or patent agent) to submit such maintenance fees, the patent owner must submit a statement disclosing the amount and source of such funding. The bill also requires patent owners to record information about the ownership of a patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Patent owners must also update this information when certain rights or interests in the patent have been conveyed to another individual or entity. A patent owner may not receive increased monetary damages for infringement of that patent that occurred while the owner was out of compliance with this ownership information recordation requirement. The USPTO must make this ownership information publicly available.