I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3539 
To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and 
Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to establish 
and carry out a pilot program to expedite the examination of applications 
for certain patents, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 21, 2025 
Mr. GOODEN (for himself and Ms. ROSS) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual 
Property and Director of the United States Patent and 
Trademark Office to establish and carry out a pilot 
program to expedite the examination of applications for 
certain patents, 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 ‘‘Leadership in Critical 
and Emerging Technologies Act’’ or the ‘‘Leadership in 
CET Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM FOR EXPEDITING EXAMINATION 
OF CERTAIN CRITICAL AND EMERGING TECH-
NOLOGY PATENT APPLICATIONS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) COVERED APPLICATION.—The term ‘‘cov-
ered application’’ means an application for patent 
that contains at least 1 claimed invention directed to 
an eligible critical or emerging technology. 
(2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 
the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual 
Property and Director of the Office. 
(3) ELIGIBLE CRITICAL OR EMERGING TECH-
NOLOGY.—The term ‘‘eligible critical or emerging 
technology’’ means— 
(A) an artificial intelligence capability re-
lating to— 
(i) machine learning; 
(ii) deep learning; 
(iii) reinforcement learning; 
(iv) sensory perception or recognition; 
(v) an artificial intelligence assurance 
or assessment technique; 
(vi) a foundation model; 
(vii) a generative artificial intelligence 
system or multimodal or large language 
model; 
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(viii) a synthetic data approach for 
training, tuning, or testing; 
(ix) planning, reasoning, or decision 
making; or 
(x) the improvement of artificial intel-
ligence safety, trust, security, or respon-
sible use; 
(B) semiconductor design or an electronic 
design automation tool; or 
(C) a quantum information science capa-
bility relating to— 
(i) quantum computing; 
(ii) materials, isotopes, or fabrication 
techniques for quantum devices; 
(iii) quantum sensing; or 
(iv) quantum communications or net-
working. 
(4) EXPEDITE.—The term ‘‘expedite’’ means, 
with respect to a covered application, to advance 
that covered application out of turn through the use 
of a petition to make special. 
(5) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the 
United States Patent and Trademark Office. 
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(6) PILOT
PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot pro-
gram’’ means the pilot program established under 
subsection (b). 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall estab-
lish a pilot program to expedite the examination, under 
section 131 of title 35, United States Code, of covered ap-
plications. 
(c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the pilot program 
shall be to encourage innovation by, and the leadership 
of, the United States with respect to critical or emerging 
technologies by ensuring that covered applications receive 
prompt consideration. 
(d) IMPLEMENTATION.—In carrying out the pilot 
program, the Director may— 
(1) by regulation, and in addition to the re-
quirements under subsection (e), prescribe the condi-
tions under which a covered application shall be ac-
cepted and examined under the pilot program, in-
cluding— 
(A) the requirements to participate in the 
pilot program; 
(B) internal processing by the Office of 
covered applications under the pilot program; 
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(C) requirements for restriction or unity of 
inventions identified in covered applications; 
(D) the period during which the applicant 
submitting the covered application may reply 
with respect to an action taken by the Office 
with respect to the covered application; 
(E) standards relating to a reply described 
in subparagraph (D); 
(F) standards or procedures governing— 
(i) any amendment, affidavit, or other 
evidence filed after a final action taken by 
the Office with respect to the covered ap-
plication; and 
(ii) any process for appeal with re-
spect to a final action described in clause 
(i); and 
(G) the withdrawal, by an applicant, of a 
covered application submitted under the pilot 
program; 
(2) waive— 
(A) the petition fee described in section 
1.102(d) of title 37, Code of Federal Regula-
tions, or any successor regulation; or 
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(B) any other requirement of the Office re-
lating to the accelerated examination program 
or the prioritized examination program; and 
(3) consult with the Attorney General, the Sec-
retary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Sec-
retary of the Treasury, the Director of National In-
telligence, or the head of any other Federal agency, 
as may be appropriate to carry out the pilot pro-
gram. 
(e) QUALIFYING APPLICATIONS.—To best achieve the 
purpose of the pilot program, the Director shall ensure 
that a covered application satisfies the following require-
ments to qualify for the pilot program: 
(1) The applicant submitting the covered appli-
cation— 
(A) is not a foreign entity of concern, as 
defined in section 9901 of the William M. 
(Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authoriza-
tion Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (15 U.S.C. 
4651); and 
(B) certifies in the covered application that 
the inventor or any joint inventor with respect 
to any claimed invention in the covered applica-
tion has not been named as the inventor or 
joint inventor with respect to more than 4 other 
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covered applications submitted under the pilot 
program. 
(2) The covered application is a noncontinuing, 
nonprovisional application for an original utility pat-
ent filed under section 111(a) of title 35, United 
States Code, that does not claim any domestic ben-
efit under section 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) of 
that title. 
(f) TERMINATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The pilot program shall ter-
minate on the earlier of the following: 
(A) The date that is 5 years after the date 
on which the Director first accepts a covered 
application for participation in the pilot pro-
gram. 
(B) The date on which the Director has 
accepted 15,000 covered applications for par-
ticipation in the pilot program, without regard 
to whether those covered applications have been 
expedited under the pilot program. 
(2) RENEWAL.—If the pilot program terminates 
under paragraph (1)(B), the Director may renew the 
pilot program for the shorter of the following: 
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(A) An additional 5-year period, beginning 
on the date on which the pilot program termi-
nates under paragraph (1)(B). 
(B) An additional period— 
(i) beginning on the date on which the 
pilot program terminates under paragraph 
(1)(B); and 
(ii) ending on the date on which the 
Director has accepted an additional 15,000 
covered applications for participation in 
the pilot program, without regard to 
whether those covered applications have 
been expedited under the pilot program. 
(3) NOTICE OF RENEWAL.—The Director shall 
notify the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate 
and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
Representatives of the intent of the Director to 
renew the pilot program under paragraph (2) not 
later than the date that is the earlier of the fol-
lowing: 
(A) The date that is 60 days before the 
date described in paragraph (1)(A). 
(B) The date that is 30 days after the date 
on which the Director has accepted 12,000 cov-
ered applications for participation in the pilot 
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program, without regard to whether those cov-
ered applications have been expedited under the 
pilot program. 
(g) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—The 
Director shall make publicly available in an easily acces-
sible location on the website of the Office information 
about the pilot program, including— 
(1) the number of covered applications sub-
mitted under the pilot program; 
(2) the number of covered applications de-
scribed in paragraph (1) that the Director has ac-
cepted for participation in the pilot program; and 
(3) the number of patents that have been issued 
for inventions claimed in covered applications expe-
dited under the pilot program. 
(h) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date on which the pilot program terminates 
(including any renewal of the pilot program under 
subsection (f)(2)), the Director shall submit to the 
Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 
Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep-
resentatives a report that assesses the impact and 
effectiveness of the pilot program based on all avail-
able data. 
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