Title: IDEA Act
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Inventor Diversity for Economic Advancement Act of 2019 or the IDEA Act
This bill directs the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to collect demographic information about each inventor listed on a patent application. Inventors shall not be required to provide the requested information, which shall include gender, ethnicity, national origin, sexual identity, veterans status, disability, and education and income levels. Such information shall be (1) kept confidential and separate from each patent application, and (2) periodically made public as aggregated data without personally identifying information.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2281 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2281

  To amend chapter 11 of title 35, United States Code, to require the 
      voluntary collection of demographic information for patent 
                 applications, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 25, 2019

Ms. Hirono (for herself and Mr. Tillis) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend chapter 11 of title 35, United States Code, to require the 
      voluntary collection of demographic information for patent 
                 applications, 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 Diversity for Economic 
Advancement Act of 2019'' or the ``IDEA Act''.

SEC. 2. COLLECTION OF DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION FOR PATENT APPLICATIONS.

    (a) Amendment.--Chapter 11 of title 35, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 124. Collection of demographic information for patent 
              applications
    ``(a) Voluntary Collection.--The Director shall provide for the 
collection of demographic information, including gender, race, 
ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, age, military or 
veterans status, disability (as defined in section 3 of the Americans 
with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102)), education level 
attained, and income level, related to each inventor listed with an 
application for patent, that may be submitted voluntarily by that 
inventor.
    ``(b) Access to Information.--Any information submitted under 
subsection (a) shall be kept confidential and separate from the 
application for patent. The Director shall establish appropriate 
procedures to ensure the confidentiality of any information submitted 
under subsection (a) and to ensure that demographic information is not 
included when the application for patent is examined.
    ``(c) Publication of Demographic Information.--
            ``(1) Report required.--Not later than January 31 of each 
        year, the Director shall publish a report that includes, except 
        as provided in paragraph (2), the following:
                    ``(A) The total number of patent applications filed 
                during the previous year disaggregated by demographic 
                information described in subsection (a) and by class 
                number and title.
                    ``(B) The total number of patents issued during the 
                previous year disaggregated by demographic information 
                described in subsection (a) and by class number and 
                title.
            ``(2) Privacy.--Personally identifying information may not 
        be included in the report described in paragraph (1).
            ``(3) Format.--The report described in paragraph (1) shall 
        be made available in a format that allows the demographic 
        information to be cross-tabulated to review subgroups.
            ``(4) Data availability.--The Director shall make the data 
        underlying the report described in paragraph (1) publicly 
        available online in a format that is sortable by demographic 
        information described in subsection (a), class number, and 
        title.
    ``(d) Biannual Report.--The Director shall submit to Congress a 
biannual report that evaluates the data collection process under this 
section, ease of access to the information by the public, and 
recommendations on how to improve data collection.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections at 
the beginning of chapter 11 of title 35, United States Code, is amended 
by adding at the end the following new item:

        ``124. Collection of demographic information for patent 
                            applications.''.
    (c) Deadline for Biannual Report.--Not later than 2 years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the 
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of 
the United States Patent and Trademark Office shall submit to Congress 
the biannual report required pursuant to section 124(d) of title 35, 
United States Code, as added by subsection (a).
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