103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4307
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—
(C) by striking ‘‘Register of Copyrights’’
and inserting ‘‘Librarian of Congress’’;
(D) by inserting after the first sentence
the following: ‘‘Such demand shall specify a
date for compliance with the demand.’’;
(E) by inserting ‘‘in a civil action’’ after
‘‘are liable’’;
(F) in subparagraph (B) (as redesignated
by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph) by
striking ‘‘cost of’’ and inserting ‘‘cost to’’;
(G) in subparagraph (C) (as redesignated
by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph) by
striking ‘‘clauses (1) and (2)’’ and inserting
‘‘subparagraphs (A) and (B)’’; and
(H) by adding after subparagraph (C) (as
so redesignated) the following:
‘‘In addition to the penalties set forth in subparagraphs
(A), (B), and (C), the person against whom an action is
brought under this paragraph shall be liable in such action
for all costs of the United States in pursuing the demand,
including an amount equivalent to a reasonable attorney’s
fee.’’.
(5) Subsection (e) is amended—
(A) by inserting ‘‘TRANSMISSION
PRO-
GRAMS.—’’ after ‘‘(e)’’;
(B) by striking ‘‘Register of Copyrights
shall, after consulting with the Librarian of
Congress and other interested organizations
and officials,’’ and inserting ‘‘Librarian of Con-
gress shall, after consulting with interested or-
ganizations and officials,’’; and
(C) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘Register
of Copyrights’’ and inserting ‘‘Librarian of
Congress’’.
(6) Section 407 of title 17, United States Code,
is further amended by adding at the end the follow-
ing:
‘‘(f) OBLIGATION
TO
MAKE
DEPOSITS.—Imme-
diately upon the publication in the United States of any
work in which copyright subsists under this title, it shall
be the obligation of the persons identified in subsection
(a) with respect to that work, subject to the requirements
and exceptions specified in this section, to deposit, for the
use or disposition of the Library of Congress, the copies
or phonorecords specified in such subsection. The obliga-
tion to make such deposit arises without any prior notifi-
cation or demand for compliance with subsection (a).
‘‘(g) RECORDS
OF DEPOSITS.—The Librarian of
Congress shall establish and maintain public records of
the receipt of copies and phonorecords deposited under
this section.
‘‘(h) DATABASE OF DEPOSIT RECORDS.—The Li-
brarian of Congress shall establish and maintain an elec-
tronic database containing its records of all deposits made
under this section on and after October 1, 1995, and shall
make such database available to the public through one
or more international information networks.
‘‘(i) DELEGATION AUTHORITY.—The Librarian of
Congress may delegate to the Register of Copyrights or
other officer or employee of the Library of Congress any
of the Librarian’s responsibilities under this section.’’.
SEC. 203. COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION IN GENERAL.
Section 408 of title 17, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) in subsection (c)—
(A) in paragraph (1) by adding at the end
the following: ‘‘The Register is also authorized
to specify by regulation classes of material in
which registration may be made without deposit
of any copy or phonorecord, in cases in which
the Register determines that the purposes of
examination, registration, and deposit can be
adequately served by deposit of descriptive ma-
terial only, or by a written obligation to deposit
copies or phonorecords at a later date.’’; and
(B) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘periodi-
cals, including newspapers’’ and all that follows
through the end of subparagraph (B) and in-
serting ‘‘collective works, including periodicals,
published within a 5-year period, on the basis
of a single deposit and application and upon
payment of any special registration fee imposed
under section 708(a)(10), if the application
identifies each work separately, including the
collective work containing it and its date of first
publication.’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(f) COPYRIGHT OFFICE HEARINGS.—Not later than
1 year after the effective date of this subsection, and at
1-year intervals thereafter, the Register of Copyrights
shall hold public hearings to consider proposals to amend
the regulations and practices of the Copyright Office with
respect to deposit of works in order to eliminate deposits
that are unnecessary for copyright examination or the col-
lections of the Library of Congress, and in order to sim-
plify the registration procedures.’’.
SEC. 204. APPLICATION FOR COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION.
(a) APPLICATIONS.—Section 409 of title 17, United
States Code, is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘The application’’ and inserting
‘‘(a) CONTENTS
OF APPLICATION.—The applica-
tion’’;
(2) in paragraph (5) by inserting before the
semicolon the following: ‘‘, and if the document by
which ownership was obtained has been recorded in
the Copyright Office, the volume and page number
of such recordation’’;
(3) by striking paragraphs (9) and (10) and in-
serting the following:
‘‘(9) in the case of a compilation or derivative
work, an identification of any preexisting work or
works that it is substantially based on or substan-
tially incorporates, and a brief, general statement of
the additional material covered by the copyright
claim being registered;
‘‘(10) at the option of the applicant, names, ad-
dresses, and telephone numbers of persons or orga-
nizations that potential users of the work should
contact concerning permissions or licenses to use the
work, and any information with respect to the terms
of such permissions or licenses; and’’; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(b) SHORT-FORM APPLICATION.—
‘‘(1) USE OF SHORT-FORM.—The Register of
Copyrights shall prescribe a short-form application
which may be used whenever—
‘‘(A) the work is by a living author;
‘‘(B) the claimant is the author;
‘‘(C) the work is not anonymous, pseudon-
ymous, or made for hire; and
‘‘(D) the work as a whole, or substantial
portions of it, have not been previously pub-
lished or registered.
‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF SHORT-FORM.—The short-
form application shall include—
‘‘(A) the name and address of the author;
‘‘(B) the title of the work;
‘‘(C) the nationality or domicile of the au-
thor;
‘‘(D) the year in which creation of the
work was completed;
‘‘(E) if the work has been published, the
date and nation of its first publication;
‘‘(F) any other information regarded by
the Register of Copyrights as bearing upon the
preparation or identification of the work or the
existence, ownership, or duration of the copy-
right; and
‘‘(G) at the option of the applicant, names,
addresses, and telephone numbers of persons or
organizations that potential users of the work
should contact concerning permissions or li-
censes to use the work, and any information
with respect to the terms of such permissions or
licenses.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section take effect 6 months after the date of the en-
actment of this Act.
SEC. 205. REGISTRATION OF CLAIM AND ISSUANCE OF CER-
TIFICATE.
(a) DETERMINATION
OF REGISTRATION.—Section
410 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by strik-
ing subsections (a) and (b) and inserting the following:
‘‘(a) DETERMINATION OF REGISTER.—If, after ex-
amination, the Register of Copyrights determines, in ac-
cordance with the provisions of this title, that there is no
reasonable possibility that a court would hold the work
for which a deposit is made pursuant to section 408(c)
to be copyrightable subject matter, or the Register deter-
mines that the claim is invalid for any other reason, the
Register shall refuse registration and notify the applicant
in writing of the reasons for such refusal. In all other
cases, the Register shall register the claim and issue to
the applicant a certificate of registration under the seal
of the Copyright Office. A certificate of registration issued
under this section extends only to those component parts
of the work that both are the subject matter of copyright
and the copyright owner has the right to claim. The cer-
tificate shall contain the information set forth in the appli-
cation, together with the number and effective date of the
registration.
‘‘(b) APPEALS PROCEDURE.—The Register of Copy-
rights shall establish, and publish in the Federal Register,
a formal procedure by which appeals may be taken from
refusals under subsection (a) to register claims to copy-
right. Such procedure shall include a final appeal to the
Register.’’.
(b) JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS.—Subsection (c) of sec-
tion 410 of title 17, United States Code, is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘EVIDENTIARY WEIGHT
OF
CERTIFICATE.—’’ after ‘‘(c)’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Any
error or omission made in good faith or upon rea-
sonable reliance on counsel shall not affect the valid-
ity of the registration. In no case shall an incorrect
statement made in an application for copyright reg-
istration invalidate the copyright.’’.
(c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Subsection (d) of sec-
tion 410 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by
inserting ‘‘EFFECTIVE DATE OF REGISTRATION.—’’ after
‘‘(d)’’.
SEC. 206. COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION PROVISIONS.
(a) REGISTRATION AND INFRINGEMENT ACTIONS.—
(1) Section 411 of title 17, United States Code, is amend-
ed—
(A) by amending the section caption to read as
follows:
‘‘§ 411. Registration and infringement actions for cer-
tain works’’;
(B) by striking subsection (a); and
(C) in subsection (b)—
(i) by striking ‘‘(b)’’; and
(ii) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and
inserting the following:
‘‘(1) serves notice upon the infringer, not less
than 10 or more than 30 days before such fixation,
identifying the work and the specific time and source
of its first transmission; and
‘‘(2) submits an application for registration of
the copyright claim in the work, in accordance with
this title, within 3 months after the first trans-
mission of the work.’’.
(2) The item relating to section 411 in the table of
sections at the beginning of chapter 4 of title 17, United
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
‘‘411. Registration and infringement actions for certain works.’’.
(b) REGISTRATION AS PREREQUISITE TO CERTAIN
REMEDIES FOR INFRINGEMENT.—Section 412 of title 17,
United States Code, and the item relating to section 412
in the table of sections at the beginning of chapter 4 of
title 17, United States Code, are repealed.
SEC. 207. REMEDIES FOR INFRINGEMENT.
Section 504(c)(2) of title 17, United States Code, is
amended in the second sentence—
(1) by striking ‘‘court it’’ and inserting ‘‘court
in’’;
(2) by inserting ‘‘or eliminate’’ after ‘‘reduce’’;
and
(3) by striking ‘‘to a sum of not less than
$200’’.
SEC. 208. NOTIFICATION OF FILING AND DETERMINATION
OF ACTIONS.
Section 508 of title 17, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) in the first sentence by inserting ‘‘and
the party filing the action’’ after ‘‘United
States’’; and
(B) in the second sentence by inserting
‘‘and the party filing the action’’ after ‘‘clerk’’;
and
(2) in subsection (b) by inserting ‘‘and the
party filing the action’’ after ‘‘clerk of the court’’.
SEC. 209. STUDY ON MANDATORY DEPOSIT.
(a) SUBJECT MATTER OF STUDY.—Upon the enact-
ment of this Act, the Librarian of Congress shall conduct
a study of the mandatory deposit provisions of section 407
of title 17, United States Code. Such study shall place
particular emphasis on the implementation of section
407(e) of such title with respect to the deposit of trans-
mission programs, as well as possible alternative methods
of obtaining deposits if the mandatory deposit require-
ments of such section 407 are expanded to authorize the
collection, archival preservation, and use by the Library
of Congress of other publicly transmitted works, including
unpublished works such as computer programs and online
databases.
(b) CONDUCT OF STUDY.—The study under sub-
section (a) shall be conducted by the Register of Copy-
right, in consultation with any affected interests, and may
include the voluntary establishment, in collaboration with
representatives of such interests, of practical tests and
pilot projects.
(c) REPORT
TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18
months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Librarian shall submit to the Congress a report on the
results of the study conducted under this section, together
with recommendations the Librarian has on—
(1) safeguarding the interests of copyright own-
ers whose works are subject to the mandatory de-
posit provisions referred to in subsection (a);
(2) fulfilling the present and future needs of
the Library of Congress with respect to archival and
other collections development; and
(3) any legislation that may be necessary.
SEC. 210. STUDIES OF EFFECTS OF REGISTRATION AND DE-
POSIT PROVISIONS.
Upon the enactment of this Act, the Librarian of
Congress, after consultation with the Register of Copy-
rights and any affected interests, shall commence a study
of the extent to which changes in the registration and de-
posit provisions of title 17, United States Code, that are
made by this Act have affected the acquisitions of the Li-
brary of Congress and the operations of the copyright reg-
istration system, and any recommendations the Librarian
may have with respect to such effects. Not later than 3
years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Li-
brarian shall submit to the Congress a report on such
study. The Librarian may conduct further studies de-
scribed in the first sentence, and report to the Congress
on such studies.
SEC. 211. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 101 of title 17, United
States Code, is amended by striking the definition of the
‘‘country of origin’’ of a Berne Convention work.
(b) INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT.—Section 501(b)
of title 17, United States Code, is amended in the first
sentence by striking ‘‘, subject to the requirements of sec-
tion 411,’’.
(c) REMEDIES FOR INFRINGEMENT.—Section 504(a)
of title 17, United States Code, is amended by striking
‘‘Except as otherwise provided by this title, an’’ and in-
serting ‘‘An’’.
SEC. 212. ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.
(a) AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 17, UNITED STATES
CODE.—Title 17, United States Code, is amended as fol-
lows:
(1) The definition of ‘‘publicly’’ contained in
section 101 is amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘clause’’ and inserting
‘‘paragraph’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘processs’’ and inserting
‘‘process’’.
(2) The definition of ‘‘registration’’ contained in
section 101 is amended by striking ‘‘412,’’.
(3) Section 108(e) is amended in the matter
preceding paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘pair’’ and in-
serting ‘‘fair’’.
(4) Section 109(b)(2)(B) is amended by strik-
ing ‘‘Copyright’’ and inserting ‘‘Copyrights’’.
(5) Section 304(c) is amended in the matter
preceding paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘the subsection
(a)(1)(C) and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)(C)’’.
(6) Section 405(b) is amended by striking ‘‘con-
dition or’’ and inserting ‘‘condition for’’.
(7) The item relating to section 504 in the table
of sections at the beginning of chapter 5 is amended
by striking ‘‘Damage’’ and inserting ‘‘Damages’’.
(8) Section 501(a) is amended by striking ‘‘sec-
tions 106 through 118’’ and inserting ‘‘section 106’’.
(9) Section 509(b) is amended by striking
‘‘merchandise; and baggage’’ and inserting ‘‘mer-
chandise, and baggage’’.
(10) Section 601 of title 17, United States
Code, is amended—
(A) 
in 
subsection 
(a) 
by 
striking
‘‘nondramtic’’ and inserting ‘‘nondramatic’’;
and
(B) in subsection (b)(1) by striking
‘‘subsustantial’’ and inserting ‘‘substantial’’.
(11) Section 801(b)(4) of title 17, United
States Code, is amended by adding a period after
‘‘chapter 10’’.
(12) The item relating to section 903 in the
table of sections at the beginning of chapter 9 is
amended to read as follows:
‘‘903. Ownership, transfer, licensing, and recordation.’’.
(13) Section 909(b)(1) is amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘force’’ and inserting
‘‘work’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘sumbol’’ and inserting
‘‘symbol’’.
(14) Section 910(a) is amended in the second
sentence by striking ‘‘as used’’ and inserting ‘‘As
used’’.
(15) Section 1006(b)(1) is amended by striking
‘‘Federation Television’’ and inserting ‘‘Federation
of Television’’.
(16) Section 1007 is amended—
(A) in subsection (a)(1) by striking ‘‘the
calendar year in which this chapter takes ef-
fect’’ and inserting ‘‘calendar year 1992’’; and
(B) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘the year
in which this section takes effect’’ and inserting
‘‘1992’’.
(17) The table of chapters at the beginning of
title 17, United States Code, is amended—
(A) by amending the item relating to chap-
ter 6 to read as follows:
‘‘6. Manufacturing Requirements and Importation .............
601’’;
(B) by amending the item relating to chap-
ter 9 to read as follows:
‘‘9. Protection of Semiconductor Chip Products ...................
901’’;
and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘10. Digital Audio Recording Devices and Media ................. 1001’’.
(b) OTHER
PROVISIONS
OF
LAW.—(1) Section
2319(b)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended
by striking ‘‘at last’’ and inserting ‘‘at least’’.
(2) Section 1(a)(1) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to
amend chapter 9 of title 17, United States Code, regard-
ing protection extended to semiconductor chip products of
foreign entities’’, approved November 9, 1987 (17 U.S.C.
914 note), is amended by striking ‘‘orginating’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘originating’’.