I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1723 
To amend chapter 11 of title 35, United States Code, to require the voluntary 
collection of demographic information for patent inventors, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 9, 2021 
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself and Mr. STIVERS) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend chapter 11 of title 35, United States Code, to 
require the voluntary collection of demographic informa-
tion for patent inventors, 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 ‘‘Inventor Diversity for 
Economic Advancement Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘IDEA Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. COLLECTION OF DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION FOR 
PATENT INVENTORS. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 11 of title 35, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘§ 124. Collection of demographic information for 
patent inventors 
‘‘(a) VOLUNTARY COLLECTION.—The Director shall 
provide for the collection of demographic information, in-
cluding gender, race, military or veteran status, and any 
other demographic category that the Director determines 
appropriate, related to each inventor listed with an appli-
cation for patent, that may be submitted voluntarily by 
that inventor. 
‘‘(b) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—The Director 
shall— 
‘‘(1) keep any information submitted under sub-
section (a) confidential and separate from the appli-
cation for patent; and 
‘‘(2) establish appropriate procedures to en-
sure— 
‘‘(A) the confidentiality of any information 
submitted under subsection (a); and 
‘‘(B) that demographic information is not 
made available to examiners or considered in 
the examination of any application for patent. 
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‘‘(c) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.— 
‘‘(1) FREEDOM
OF
INFORMATION
ACT.—Any 
demographic information submitted under subsection 
(a) shall be exempt from disclosure under section 
552(b)(3) of title 5. 
‘‘(2) FEDERAL
INFORMATION
POLICY
LAW.— 
Subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44 shall not 
apply to the collection of demographic information 
under subsection (a). 
‘‘(d) PUBLICATION
OF
DEMOGRAPHIC
INFORMA-
TION.— 
‘‘(1) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than Jan-
uary 31 of each year, the Director shall make pub-
licly available a report that, except as provided in 
paragraph (3)— 
‘‘(A) includes the total number of patent 
applications filed during the previous year 
disaggregated— 
‘‘(i) by demographic information de-
scribed in subsection (a); and 
‘‘(ii) by technology class number, 
technology class title, country of residence 
of the inventor, and State of residence of 
the inventor in the United States; 
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‘‘(B) includes the total number of patents 
issued during the previous year disaggregated— 
‘‘(i) by demographic information de-
scribed in subsection (a); and 
‘‘(ii) by technology class number, 
technology class title, country of residence 
of the inventor, and State of residence of 
the inventor in the United States; and 
‘‘(C) includes a discussion of the data col-
lection methodology and summaries of the ag-
gregate responses. 
‘‘(2) DATA AVAILABILITY.—In conjunction with 
issuance of the report under paragraph (1), the Di-
rector shall make publicly available data based on 
the demographic information collected under sub-
section (a) that, except as provided in paragraph 
(3), allows the information to be cross-tabulated to 
review subgroups. 
‘‘(3) PRIVACY.—The Director— 
‘‘(A) may not include personally identifying 
information in— 
‘‘(i) the report made publicly available 
under paragraph (1); or 
‘‘(ii) the data made publicly available 
under paragraph (2); and 
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‘‘(B) in making publicly available the re-
port under paragraph (1) and the data under 
paragraph (2), shall anonymize any personally 
identifying information related to the demo-
graphic information collected under subsection 
(a). 
‘‘(e) BIENNIAL REPORT.—The Director shall submit 
to Congress a biennial report that evaluates the data col-
lection process under this section, ease of access to the 
information by the public, and recommendations on how 
to improve data collection.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 
The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 11 of 
title 35, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘124. Collection of demographic information for patent inventors’’. 
(c) DEADLINE FOR BIENNIAL REPORT.—Not later 
than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and 
every 2 years thereafter, the Under Secretary of Com-
merce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United 
States Patent and Trademark Office shall submit to Con-
gress the biennial report required under section 124(e) of 
title 35, United States Code, as added by subsection (a). 
Æ 
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