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country other than a NAFTA country or a WTO
member country, except as provided in sections 119
and 365 of this title.
‘‘(2) RIGHTS.—If an invention was made by a
person, civil or military—
‘‘(A) while domiciled in the United States,
and serving in any other country in connection
with operations by or on behalf of the United
States,
‘‘(B) while domiciled in a NAFTA country
and serving in another country in connection
with operations by or on behalf of that NAFTA
country, or
‘‘(C) while domiciled in a WTO member
country and serving in another country in con-
nection with operations by or on behalf of that
WTO member country,
that person shall be entitled to the same rights of
priority in the United States with respect to such in-
vention as if such invention had been made in the
United States, that NAFTA country, or that WTO
member country, as the case may be.
‘‘(3) USE
OF
INFORMATION.—To the extent
that any information in a NAFTA country or a
WTO member country concerning knowledge, use, or
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other activity relevant to proving or disproving a
date of invention has not been made available for
use in a proceeding in the Patent and Trademark
Office, a court, or any other competent authority to
the same extent as such information could be made
available in the United States, the Commissioner,
court, or such other authority shall draw appropriate
inferences, or take other action permitted by statute,
rule, or regulation, in favor of the party that re-
quested the information in the proceeding.
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—
‘‘(1) the term ‘NAFTA country’ has the mean-
ing given that term in section 2(4) of the North
American Free Trade Agreement Implementation
Act; and
‘‘(2) the term ‘WTO member country’ has the
meaning given that term in section 2(10) of the
Uruguay Round Agreements Act.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the amendment made by this section shall
apply to all patent applications that are filed on or
after the date that is 12 months after the date of
entry into force of the WTO Agreement with respect
to the United States.
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(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF DATE.—An applicant
for a patent, or a patentee, may not establish a date
of invention for purposes of title 35, United States
Code, that is earlier than 12 months after the date
of entry into force of the WTO Agreement with re-
spect to the United States by reference to knowledge
or use, or other activity, in a WTO member country,
except as provided in sections 119 and 365 of such
title.
SEC. 532. PATENT TERM AND INTERNAL PRIORITY.
(a) PATENT RIGHTS.—
(1) CONTENTS AND TERM OF PATENT.—Section
154 of title 35, United States Code, is amended to
read as follows:
‘‘§ 154. Contents and term of patent
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—
‘‘(1) CONTENTS.—Every patent shall contain a
short title of the invention and a grant to the pat-
entee, his heirs or assigns, of the right to exclude
others from making, using, offering for sale, or sell-
ing the invention throughout the United States or
importing the invention into the United States, and,
if the invention is a process, of the right to exclude
others from using, offering for sale or selling
throughout the United States, or importing into the
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United States, products made by that process, refer-
ring to the specification for the particulars thereof.
‘‘(2) TERM.—Subject to the payment of fees
under this title, such grant shall be for a term be-
ginning on the date on which the patent issues and
ending 20 years from the date on which the applica-
tion for the patent was filed in the United States or,
if the application contains a specific reference to an
earlier filed application or applications under section
120, 121, or 365(c) of this title, from the date on
which the earliest such application was filed.
‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—Priority under section 119,
365(a), or 365(b) of this title shall not be taken into
account in determining the term of a patent.
‘‘(4) SPECIFICATION AND DRAWING.—A copy of
the specification and drawing shall be annexed to
the patent and be a part of such patent.
‘‘(b) TERM EXTENSION.—
‘‘(1) INTERFERENCE DELAY OR SECRECY OR-
DERS.—If the issue of an original patent is delayed
due to a proceeding under section 135(a) of this
title, or because the application for patent is placed
under an order pursuant to section 181 of this title,
the term of the patent shall be extended for the pe-
riod of delay, but in no case more than 5 years.
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‘‘(2) EXTENSION FOR APPELLATE REVIEW.—If
the issue of a patent is delayed due to appellate re-
view by the Board of Patent Appeals and Inter-
ferences or by a Federal court and the patent is is-
sued pursuant to a decision in the review reversing
an adverse determination of patentability, the term
of the patent shall be extended for a period of time
but in no case more than 5 years. A patent shall not
be eligible for extension under this paragraph if it
is subject to a terminal disclaimer due to the issue
of another patent claiming subject matter that is not
patentably distinct from that under appellate review.
‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS.—The period of extension re-
ferred to in paragraph (2)—
‘‘(A) shall include any period beginning on
the date on which an appeal is filed under sec-
tion 134 or 141 of this title, or on which an ac-
tion is commenced under section 145 of this
title, and ending on the date of a final decision
in favor of the applicant;
‘‘(B) shall be reduced by any time attrib-
utable to appellate review before the expiration
of 3 years from the filing date of the applica-
tion for patent; and
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‘‘(C) shall be reduced for the period of
time during which the applicant for patent did
not act with due diligence, as determined by the
Commissioner.
‘‘(4) LENGTH OF EXTENSION.—The total dura-
tion of all extensions of a patent under this sub-
section shall not exceed 5 years.
‘‘(c) CONTINUATION.—
‘‘(1) DETERMINATION.—The term of a patent
that is in force on or that results from an applica-
tion filed before the date that is 6 months after the
date of the enactment of the Uruguay Round Agree-
ments Act shall be the greater of the 20-year term
as provided in subsection (a), or 17 years from
grant, subject to any terminal disclaimers.
‘‘(2) REMEDIES.—The remedies of sections
283, 284, and 285 of this title shall not apply to
Acts which—
‘‘(A) were commenced or for which sub-
stantial investment was made before the date
that is 6 months after the date of the enact-
ment of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act;
and
‘‘(B) became infringing by reason of para-
graph (1).