I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6245 
To amend chapter 29 of title 35, United States Code, to provide for the 
recovery of computer hardware and software patent litigation costs in 
cases where the court finds the claimant did not have a reasonable 
likelihood of succeeding, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 1, 2012 
Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself and Mr. CHAFFETZ) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend chapter 29 of title 35, United States Code, to 
provide for the recovery of computer hardware and soft-
ware patent litigation costs in cases where the court 
finds the claimant did not have a reasonable likelihood 
of succeeding, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Saving High-Tech 
Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes Act of 2012’’. 
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SEC. 2. RECOVERY OF LITIGATION COSTS FOR COMPUTER 
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE PATENT. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 29 of title 35, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 285 the 
following new section: 
‘‘§ 285A. Recovery of litigation costs for computer 
hardware and software patent 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 285, in 
an action disputing the validity or alleging the infringe-
ment of a computer hardware or software patent, upon 
making a determination that the party alleging the in-
fringement of the patent did not have a reasonable likeli-
hood of succeeding, the court may award the recovery of 
full costs to the prevailing party, including reasonable at-
torney’s fees, other than the United States. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) COMPUTER.—The term ‘computer’ means 
an electronic, magnetic, optical, electrochemical, or 
other high-speed data processing device performing 
logical, arithmetic, or storage functions, and in-
cludes— 
‘‘(A) any data storage facility or commu-
nications facility directly related to or operating 
in conjunction with such device; and 
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‘‘(B) any processor or peripheral, such as 
a monitor or input device, directly related to or 
operating in conjunction with such device. 
‘‘(2) COMPUTER
HARDWARE
PATENT.—The 
term ‘computer hardware patent’ means a patent 
that covers computer hardware, including a device or 
component of such device. 
‘‘(3) SOFTWARE PATENT.—The term ‘software 
patent’ means a patent that covers— 
‘‘(A) any process that could be imple-
mented in a computer regardless of whether a 
computer is specifically mentioned in the pat-
ent; or 
‘‘(B) any computer system that is pro-
grammed to perform a process described in sub-
paragraph (A).’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 
The table of sections for chapter 29 of title 35, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat-
ing to section 285 the following new item: 
‘‘285A. Recovery of litigation costs for computer hardware and software 
patent.’’. 
(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion, or the amendments made by this section, shall be 
construed as amending or interpreting categories of pat-
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