II
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4307
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
SEPTEMBER 21 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 12), 1994
Received
AN ACT
To amend title 35, United States Code, with respect to
applications for process patents, and for certain other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
TITLE I—PROCESS PATENT
APPLICATIONS
SECTION 101. EXAMINATION OF PROCESS PATENT APPLI-
CATIONS FOR OBVIOUSNESS.
Section 103 of title 35, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by designating the first paragraph as sub-
section (a);
(2) by designating the second paragraph as
subsection (c); and
(3) by inserting after the first paragraph the
following:
‘‘(b)(1) Notwithstanding subsection (a), and upon
timely election by the applicant for patent to proceed
under this subsection, a process using or resulting in a
composition of matter that is novel under section 102 and
nonobvious under subsection (a) of this section shall be
considered nonobvious if—
‘‘(A) claims to the process and the composition
of matter are contained in either the same applica-
tion for patent or in separate applications having the
same effective filing date; and
‘‘(B) the composition of matter, and the process
at the time it was invented, were owned by the same
person or subject to an obligation of assignment to
the same person.
‘‘(2) A patent issued on a process under paragraph
(1)—
‘‘(A) shall also contain the claims to the com-
position of matter used in or made by that process,
or
‘‘(B) shall, if such composition of matter is
claimed in another patent, be set to expire on the
same date as such other patent, notwithstanding
section 154.’’.
SEC. 102. PRESUMPTION OF VALIDITY; DEFENSES.
Section 282 of title 35, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after the second sentence of the first
paragraph the following: ‘‘Notwithstanding the preceding
sentence, if a claim to a composition of matter is held in-
valid and that claim was the basis of a determination of
nonobviousness under section 103(b)(1), the process shall
no longer be considered nonobvious solely on the basis of
section 103(b)(1).’’.
SEC. 103. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by section 101 shall apply to
any application for patent filed on or after the date of
the enactment of this Act and to any application for pat-
ent pending on such date of enactment, including (in ei-
ther case) an application for the reissue of a patent.
TITLE II—COPYRIGHT REFORM
SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Copyright Reform Act
of 1993’’.
SEC. 202. DEPOSIT OF COPIES OR PHONORECORDS FOR
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
Section 407 of title 17, United States Code, is
amended as follows:
(1) Subsection (a) is amended by striking ‘‘(a)’’
and all that follows through ‘‘publication—’’ and in-
serting the following:
‘‘(a) REQUIRED DEPOSITS.—Except as provided in
subsection (c), the owner of copyright in a work or of the
exclusive right of publication of a work in the United
States shall deposit, after the earliest date of such publica-
tion—’’.
(2) Subsection (b) is amended—
(A) by inserting ‘‘DEPOSIT IN COPYRIGHT
OFFICE.—’’ after ‘‘(b)’’; and
(B) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘A
deposit made under this section may be used to
satisfy the deposit requirements of section
408.’’.
(3) Subsection (c) is amended—
(A) by inserting ‘‘REGULATIONS.—’’ after
‘‘(c)’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘Register of Copyrights’’
and inserting ‘‘Librarian of Congress’’.
(4) Subsection (d) is amended—
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2),
and (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), re-
spectively;
(B) by striking ‘‘(d) At any time after pub-
lication of a work as provided by subsection
(a)’’ and inserting the following:
‘‘(d) PROCEDURES.—(1) During November of each
year, the Librarian of Congress shall publish in the Fed-
eral Register a statement of the categories of works of
which the Library of Congress wishes to acquire copies
or phonorecords under this section during the next cal-
endar year. The Librarian shall review such statement an-
nually in light of the changes in the Library’s policies and
procedures, changes in technology, and changes in pat-
terns of publication. The statement shall also describe—
‘‘(A) the types of works of which only one copy
or phonorecord need be deposited;
‘‘(B) the types of works for which the deposit
requirements may be fulfilled by placing the Library
of Congress on a subscription list; and
‘‘(C) the categories of works which are exempt
under subsection (c) from the deposit requirements.
‘‘(2) At any time after publication in the United
States of a work or body of works’’;