I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1896 
To amend chapter 26 of title 35, United States Code, to require the disclosure 
of information related to patent ownership, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 20, 2015 
Mr. POLIS (for himself, Mr. MARINO, and Mr. DEUTCH) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend chapter 26 of title 35, United States Code, to 
require the disclosure of information related to patent 
ownership, 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 ‘‘Demand Letter Trans-
parency Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. DEMAND LETTER DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 26 of title 35, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new section: 
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‘‘§ 263. Disclosure of Information Related to Patent 
Ownership 
‘‘(a) DEMAND LETTER DISCLOSURE.—Any entity 
that sends 20 or more demand letters during any 365- 
day period shall, not later than the disclosure deadline, 
submit to the Patent and Trademark Office with respect 
to each patent that was the subject in each such letter 
the following: 
‘‘(1) Identification of the patent and confirma-
tion that the entity that sent the letter is the owner 
of the patent (or a representative of such person) 
and is the last recorded entity in the records of the 
Patent and Trademark Office for purposes of as-
signment, grant, or conveyance under this chapter. 
‘‘(2) Identification of the entity that has the 
right to license the patent or, in the case of a patent 
already exclusively licensed, the name of the exclu-
sive licensee. 
‘‘(3) Identification of each entity asserting a 
claim with regard to a patent in such letter in ac-
cordance with subsection (b). 
‘‘(4) Identification of each obligation to license 
the patent on reasonable and nondiscriminatory 
terms, including a copy of each letter of assurance 
to each standard-setting organization with respect to 
such obligation, and the financial terms, including 
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the rate, at which such patent has been licensed pur-
suant to such obligation. 
‘‘(5) Identification of the ultimate parent entity 
of such entity. 
‘‘(6) Identification of the number of entities 
that received a demand letter from the entity that 
sent the letter. 
‘‘(7) Identification of any case that has been 
filed by such entity relating to each such patent, in-
cluding the docket number and the court in which 
the case was filed. 
‘‘(8) Identification of any ex parte review under 
chapter 30 or inter partes review under chapter 31 
of such patent. 
‘‘(9) Any required registration fee established 
with regard to this section. 
‘‘(b) INFORMATION NOT READILY ACCESSIBLE.—An 
entity required to disclose the information described under 
subsection (a) shall include with such disclosure a descrip-
tion of any information described under subsection (a) 
that is not disclosed, why such undisclosed information 
was not readily accessible, and the efforts made by such 
entity to access such undisclosed information. 
‘‘(c) IDENTIFICATION.— 
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‘‘(1) PUBLICLY TRADED.—For purposes of sub-
section (a)(3), if the entity to be identified is owned 
or controlled by a corporation traded on a public 
stock exchange, an identification of the publicly 
traded corporation and the public stock exchange 
shall be sufficient. 
‘‘(2) NOT PUBLICLY TRADED.—For purposes of 
subsection (a)(3), if the entity to be identified is not 
owned or controlled by a publicly traded corporation, 
the information shall identify— 
‘‘(A) in the case of a partnership, the 
name and address of each partner or other enti-
ty, holding more than a 5 percent share of that 
partnership; 
‘‘(B) in the case of a corporation, the loca-
tion of incorporation and the name of each offi-
cer of the corporation; 
‘‘(C) in the case of an entity that is di-
rectly or indirectly controlled by another entity, 
the name and address of the entity and each 
other entity, and the name, address, location of 
incorporation, and each officer or partner of the 
entity and each other entity; and 
‘‘(D) for each individual, the name and ad-
dress of that individual. 
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‘‘(3) NUMBER OF DEMAND LETTERS.—The re-
quirement under subsection (a)(6) shall be updated 
regularly by the Director. 
‘‘(d) FAILURE TO COMPLY.— 
‘‘(1) MONETARY SANCTIONS.—Any entity that 
does not meet the requirements of this section with 
regard to a patent or the disclosure requirements 
with respect to a demand letter under section 264 
may be subject to monetary sanctions by a court in 
an action brought by such entity with regard to in-
fringement or validity of such patent, for an amount 
to be awarded to the adverse party that covers any 
cost incurred by the adverse party resulting from the 
failure of such entity to meet the requirements of 
this section, including any reasonable cost incurred 
by such adverse party to discover the correct and 
complete information described under subsection (a) 
with regard to such patent, unless such sanctions 
would be unjust. 
‘‘(2) AWARD OF DAMAGES OR FEES.—A court 
in a case involving monetary sanctions described in 
paragraph (1)— 
‘‘(A) may not award treble damages under 
the second undesignated paragraph of section 
284 or attorney’s fees under section 285 to the 
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