Title: Inventor Protection Act
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Inventor Protection Act
This bill creates additional protections for patents wholly owned by their inventors, such as exempting such patents from administrative validity challenges and allowing inventors to sue for infringement in any district where the defendant is subject to that court's personal jurisdiction.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6557 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6557

  To amend title 35, United States Code, to restore patent rights to 
                   inventors, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 2018

 Mr. Rohrabacher introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                     the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 35, United States Code, to restore patent rights to 
                   inventors, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Inventor Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Inventors have historically contributed significantly 
        to innovation in the United States, and their continued 
        dedication to inventing and sharing solutions to modern 
        technical challenges is essential for the United States to 
        maintain leadership in the global economy.
            (2) Inventors, not employees or investors, are the source 
        of innovation intended by the Constitution (``securing to 
        inventors'') and the Patent Act (``Whoever invents or discovers 
        . . . may obtain a patent therefore . . . ).
            (3) Recent changes to patent laws and procedures and 
        Supreme Court decisions have adversely affected inventors such 
        that the promise of article I, section 8 of the Constitution of 
        ``securing for limited times to inventors the exclusive right 
        to their discoveries'' is no longer attainable.
            (4) Inventors are denied the fundamental right to ``exclude 
        others'' by the Supreme Court's 2006 decision in eBay Inc. v. 
        MercExchange, L.L.C.
            (5) Inventors were stripped of the right to file suit in 
        their own judicial district by the Supreme Court's 2017 
        decision in TC Heartland L.L.C. v. Kraft Foods Group Brands 
        L.L.C.
            (6) Issued patents fail to secure inventors their exclusive 
        rights because--
                    (A) the Patent Trial and Appeal Board declares 85 
                percent of granted patents invalid in postgrant 
                reviews;
                    (B) many patents are subjected to multiple 
                postgrant reviews; and
                    (C) most inventors cannot afford the costs of 
                defending a patent challenged in a single postgrant 
                review, as these costs can reach hundreds of thousands 
                of dollars.
            (7) Infringement trials can cost tens of millions of 
        dollars and can take up to ten years to reach a final judgment 
        after all appeals, making legal relief unattainable for 
        inventors.
            (8) These obstacles have given rise to an ``efficient 
        infringement'' business model whereby large corporations 
        infringe patent rights held by inventors without concern for 
        any legal consequences.
            (9) Patent protection has led to patient cures, positive 
        changes to the standard of living for all people in the United 
        States, and improvements to the agricultural, 
        telecommunications, software, biotech, pharmaceutical, and 
        electronics industries, among others.

SEC. 3. INVENTOR PROTECTIONS.

    (a) Inventor-Owned Patent.--Section 100 of title 35, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(k) The term `inventor-owned patent' means a patent held entirely 
by the inventor of the claimed invention.''.
    (b) Inventor-Owned Patent Protections.--Chapter 32 of title 35, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section:

``SEC. 330. INVENTOR PROTECTIONS.

    ``(a) Patent and Trademark Office Sole Jurisdiction.--No executive 
entity other than the Patent and Trademark Office may reexamine, 
review, or otherwise make a determination about the validity of an 
inventor-owned patent.
    ``(b) Protection From Administrative Proceedings.--The Patent and 
Trade Office may not reexamine, review, or otherwise make a 
determination about the validity of an inventor-owned patent unless 
voluntarily agreed to by the inventor.
    ``(c) Choice of Venue.--
            ``(1) In general.--An inventor may bring a civil action 
        involving an inventor-owned patent in any district where the 
        defendant is subject to the court's personal jurisdiction or 
        where the defendant has committed an act of infringement, 
        regardless of whether the defendant has a regular and 
        established place of business in such district.
            ``(2) Venue for declaratory judgment claim.--If an inventor 
        is a citizen or a lawful permanent resident of the United 
        States, any claim for declaratory judgement relating to any 
        inventor-owned patent the inventor owns may only be entered in 
        the district where such inventor is domiciled or a district for 
        which such inventor has consented to jurisdiction.
            ``(3) Transfer of action involving inventor.--If an 
        inventor is a party to a civil action involving an inventor-
        owned patent the inventor owns, the court may not transfer the 
        action to another district for convenience without consent of 
        the inventor.
    ``(d) Expedited Judicial Proceedings.--Unless voluntarily waived, 
an inventor asserting an inventor-owned patent in a civil action under 
section 281 shall be entitled to--
            ``(1) a trial within 12 months after service of a 
        complaint, with prioritization in the court's docket, if 
        necessary;
            ``(2) a trial no more than 7 days in duration;
            ``(3) a maximum of 10 discovery requests for each party;
            ``(4) pleadings limited to 100,000 words per party; and
            ``(5) such other provisions as the court determines 
        appropriate to ensure relief is accessible to the inventor.
    ``(e) Presumption of Irreparable Harm.--
            ``(1) Presumption.--Upon finding infringement of an 
        inventor-owned patent, the court shall presume that any 
        infringement of such patent causes the inventor irreparable 
        harm.
            ``(2) Overcoming the presumption.--The presumption 
        described in paragraph (1) may be overcome if the infringing 
        party shows clear and convincing evidence that the inventor 
        would not be irreparably harmed by further infringement of the 
        patent.
    ``(f) Simplified Damages.--
            ``(1) Alternative relief.--An inventor that asserts a claim 
        for infringement of an inventor-owned patent in a civil action 
        under section 281 may elect relief under this subsection in 
        lieu of relief under section 284.
            ``(2) Relief under this subsection.--If a request for 
        relief under this subsection is made, the following provisions 
        apply:
                    ``(A) In general.--Upon a finding of infringement, 
                the court shall award damages equal to the sum of--
                            ``(i) the greater of--
                                    ``(I) the total profits 
                                attributable to the infringing party's 
                                use of the patented invention; or
                                    ``(II) 25 percent of the sales 
                                attributable to the infringing party's 
                                use of the patented invention; and
                            ``(ii) any interest and costs as fixed by 
                        the court.
                    ``(B) Infringement found willful.--
                            ``(i) Treble damages available.--If the 
                        court finds the infringement to be willful, the 
                        court may award damages equal to no more than 
                        three times the amount of any damages found in 
                        subparagraph (A), but shall not include any 
                        royalty payments.
                            ``(ii) Presumption of willfulness.--
                        Infringement shall be presumed willful if the 
                        infringing party is an expert in the field of 
                        the invention.
                    ``(C) Attorneys fees.--If an inventor successfully 
                brings a claim for infringement of their inventor-owned 
                patent, the court shall award the inventor any amount 
                of their attorneys fees that exceeds 10 percent of the 
                amount of any damages the court awards to the 
                inventor.''.
    (c) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 32 of title 35, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

``330. Inventor protections.''.
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