I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2955 
To amend title 28, United States Code, to clarify that the Court of Appeals 
for the Federal Circuit has exclusive jurisdiction of appeals relating 
to patents, plant variety protection, or copyrights, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 16, 2005 
Mr. SMITH of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend title 28, United States Code, to clarify that the 
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has exclusive 
jurisdiction of appeals relating to patents, plant variety 
protection, or copyrights, 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 ‘‘Intellectual Property 
Jurisdiction Clarification Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. STATE COURT JURISDICTION. 
Section 1338(a) of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by striking the second sentence and inserting the
following: ‘‘No State court shall have jurisdiction over any 
claim for relief arising under any Act of Congress relating 
to patents, plant variety protection, or copyrights.’’. 
SEC. 3. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT. 
Section 1295(a)(1) of title 28, United States Code, 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) of an appeal from a final decision of a dis-
trict court of the United States, the District Court 
of Guam, the District Court of the Virgin Islands, 
or the District Court of the Northern Mariana Is-
lands, in any civil action in which a party has as-
serted a claim for relief arising under any Act of 
Congress relating to patents or plant variety protec-
tion;’’. 
SEC. 4. REMOVAL. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 89 of title 28, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘§ 1454. Patent, plant variety protection, and copy-
right cases 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A civil action in which any party 
asserts a claim for relief arising under any Act of Con-
gress relating to patents, plant variety protection, or copy-
rights may be removed to the district court of the United
States for the district and division embracing the place 
where such action is pending. 
‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULES.—The removal of an action 
under this section shall be made in accordance with sec-
tion 1446 of this chapter, except that if the removal is 
based solely on this section— 
‘‘(1) the action may be removed by any party; 
and 
‘‘(2) the time limitations contained in section 
1446(b) may be extended at any time for cause 
shown. 
‘‘(c) REMAND.—If a civil action is removed solely 
under this section, the district court— 
‘‘(1) shall remand all claims that are not within 
the original or supplemental jurisdiction of the dis-
trict court under any Act of Congress; and 
‘‘(2) may, under the circumstances specified in 
section 1367(c), remand any claims within the sup-
plemental jurisdiction of the district court under sec-
tion 1367.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions for chapter 89 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new item: 
‘‘1454. Patent, plant variety protection, and copyright cases.’’.
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any 
civil action commenced on or after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. 
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