lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2009-02-03 00:00:00

Fair Copyright in Research Works Act - Prohibits any federal agency from imposing any condition, in connection with a funding agreement, that requires the transfer or license to or for a federal agency, or requires the absence or abandonment, of specified exclusive rights of a copyright owner in an extrinsic work. Prohibits any federal agency from: (1) imposing, as a condition of a funding agreement, the waiver of, or assent to, any such prohibition; or (2) asserting any rights in material developed under any funding agreement that restrain or limit the acquisition or exercise of copyright rights in an extrinsic work. Defines "funding agreement" as any contract, grant, or other agreement entered into between a federal agency and any person under which funds are provided by a federal agency for the performance of experimental, developmental, or research activities. Defines "extrinsic work" as any work, other than a work of the U.S. government, that is related to a funding agreement and is also funded in substantial part by, or results from a meaningful added value contributed by, one or more nonfederal entities that are not a party to the funding agreement.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Law
Date: 2009-02-13 00:00:00

Amends the Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 to prohibit U.S. courts from recognizing, enforcing, or otherwise validating any assertion of rights by an individual (under current law, by a designated Cuban national) of a mark, trade name, or commercial name that was used in connection with a business or assets that were confiscated by the Cuban government unless the original owner of such mark or name, or such owner's bona fide successor, has expressly consented. Applies such prohibition only if the individual asserting the rights knew or had reason to know at the time of acquiring the rights asserted that the mark or name was the same or substantially similar to the mark or name used in connection with the business or assets that were confiscated.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2009-03-03 00:00:00

Patent Reform Act of 2009 - Amends federal patent law to rewrite provisions concerning the conditions for patentability. Defines "effective filing date of a claimed invention" as the filing date of the patent or the application for patent containing the claim to the invention (thus establishing a first-to-file system). Revises various other rights and requirements related to patents, including regarding: (1) damages; (2) post-grant procedures; (3) citation of prior art; and (4) inter partes reexaminations; (5) preissuance submissions by third parties; (6) venue and jurisdiction; and (7) the regulatory authority of the Patent and Trademark Office. Replaces the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Revises provisions concerning the residency of federal circuit judges.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2009-04-21 00:00:00

Enacts title 53 of the United States Code into positive law to be entitled "Small Business." Makes conforming changes to existing law and repeals specified laws.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2009-04-30 00:00:00

Design Piracy Prohibition Act - Extends copyright protection to fashion designs. Includes as protected items clothing, handbags, duffel bags, tote bags, and eyeglass frames. Excludes from such protection designs embodied in a useful article made public by the designer more than six months before the registration of copyright application. Prohibits considering certain factors in determining the originality of a fashion design. Sets the term of protection at three years. Declares that it is not infringement to make, have made, import, sell, or distribute any article which was created without reasonable grounds to know that design protection is claimed. Prohibits deeming a fashion design to have been copied from a protected design if it: (1) is original and not closely and substantially similar in overall visual appearance to a protected design; (2) merely reflects a trend; or (3) is the result of independent creation. Prohibits deeming a vessel hull design to have been copied from a protected design if it is original and not substantially similar in appearance to a protected design. Applies the doctrines of secondary infringement or secondary liability to actions related to original designs. Requires that applications for design registration be made within two years after the design is made public for vessel hulls and within six months after the design is made public for fashion designs. (Current law sets such a time limit at two years for designs in general.) Increases allowable damage awards for infringement of original designs and for false representation. Requires the Register of Copyrights to establish and maintain an electronically searchable fashion design database available to the public without charge.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2009-05-12 00:00:00

Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009 - Prohibits the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia from taking this Act into account in its review of the determination by the Copyright Royalty Judges of May 1, 2007, of rates and terms for the digital performance of sound recordings and ephemeral recordings, pursuant to specified provisions. Defines "webcaster," for provisions relating to licenses for the reproduction and performance of sound recordings via webcasting, as a person or entity that has obtained a compulsory license under specified provisions. (Current law defines such term as a person or entity that has obtained a compulsory license under specified provisions to make eligible nonsubscription transmissions and ephemeral recordings.) Terminates, 30 days after enactment of this Act, the authority to make commercial or noncommercial webcasting settlements under existing provisions.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Private legislation
Date: 2009-05-19 00:00:00

Requires the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to extend the patent numbered 5,180,715 (relating to irrigation of internal bladder surfaces in mammals with sodium pentosanpolysulfate) for two additional years.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2009-05-21 00:00:00

Amends federal patent law to deny a patent for a tax planning method. Defines "tax planning method" as any method for reducing, minimizing, or deferring tax liability (not including tax preparation software).
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2009-07-07 00:00:00

Authorizes the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to use funds made available for FY2009 under the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 to support the processing of patents and other activities, services, and materials relating to patents, notwithstanding provisions restricting the use of such fees to activities relating trademark registrations, provided the Director certifies to Congress that the use of such funds is reasonably necessary to avoid USPTO furloughs or a reduction-in-force, or both, and does not create a substantial risk of a furlough or reduction-in-force of personnel working in the Trademark Operation of the USPTO. Requires the Director, on the exercise of that authority and notwithstanding any other law, to establish a surcharge on patent fees to repay any funds drawn down. Terminates such authority on June 30, 2010. Requires: (1) the surcharge to begin no later than September 30, 2011; and (2) the funds so used to be repaid to trademark operations not later than September 30, 2014.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2009-07-31 00:00:00

Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to tax-exempt private activity bond financing to exempt from the definition of "private business use" rights to intellectual property created by scientific research conducted by a governmental unit or tax-exempt organization.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2009-07-31 00:00:00

Trademark Protection Act - Amends the Trademark Act of 1946 to allow civil suits against persons who use trademarks that are misleadingly misdirective as to origin. Defines "misleadingly misdirective as to origin" as referring to the use of a trademark, which has as an exclusive element the name of a state or municipality within a state, on or in connection with goods that are not or are no longer produced in whole or in part in such state or municipality or that do not contain a component produced in such state or municipality.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2010-01-26 00:00:00

Trademark Technical and Conforming Amendment Act of 2010 - Amends the Act commonly known as the Lanham Act to replace references to "registrant" with references to "owner" in provisions: (1) making a certificate of registration prima facie evidence of the validity, registration, ownership, and exclusive rights to use a mark; and (2) relating to a registrant's surrender, cancellation, or amendment of registration. Requires, in the event of a surrender, cancellation, or amendment, that an appropriate entry be made on the records of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and on the certificate of registration. (Current law allows, when the certificate is lost or destroyed, such an entry to be made on a certified copy of the certificate.) Requires, when the USPTO makes a material mistake in a registration, that a certificate stating the fact and nature of the mistake be attached to each printed copy of the registration. (Current law requires that the certificate stating the mistake be attached to each printed copy of the registration certificate.) Replaces references to "registrant" with references to "owner" in provisions relating to the incontestability of the right to use a mark under certain conditions. Allows the holder of an international registration to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit if the holder is dissatisfied with the decision of the Director or Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Modifies requirements regarding the duration of registrations and related affidavits and fees. Requires a study and report to Congress on: (1) the extent to which small businesses may be harmed by litigation tactics by corporations attempting to enforce trademark rights beyond a reasonable interpretation of the scope of the rights granted to the trademark owner; and (2) the best use of federal government services to protect trademarks and prevent counterfeiting.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Law
Date: 2010-03-25 00:00:00

Amends federal patent law to revise the authorization of civil suits to collect one-half of the $500 penalty for false marking. Limits the right to file a civil action in a U.S. district court to persons who have suffered a competitive injury as a result of a violation of the prohibition against false marking. (Thus repeals the right of any person to sue for the penalty.) Allows a person who has suffered a competitive injury to file a civil action to recover damages adequate to compensate for the injury. (Current law allows any person to collect up to one-half of $500 for every such offense.)
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2010-05-18 00:00:00

Patent and Trademark Office Funding Stabilization Act of 2010 - Authorizes the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Director) to set or adjust patent and trademark fees in order to recover costs, including administrative costs, for patent and trademark processing, activities, services, and materials. Reduces such fees for micro and small entities. Terminates the Director's authority to establish and adjust fees upon the expiration of the 10-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act. Makes, as of October 1, 2011, funds for the United States Patent and Trademark Office available until expended. Establishes in the Treasury the United States Patent and Trademark Office Public Enterprise Fund. Revises patent service fees. Establishes a 15% patent fee surcharge through September 30, 2011.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Law
Date: 2010-09-29 00:00:00

Patent Lawsuit Reform Act of 2010 - Amends federal patent law to revise provisions concerning the fine for falsely marked articles (articles falsely labeled or advertised to deceive the public into believing such articles are patented) to specify that such fine is limited to $500, in the aggregate, for all offenses in connection with the same articles. Requires a person bringing a civil action against a violator to have suffered a competitive injury and limits such person's damages to $500.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2009-03-17 00:00:00

Patent Reform Act of 2009 - Amends federal patent law to rewrite provisions concerning the conditions for patentability. Defines "effective filing date of a claimed invention" as the filing date of the patent or the application for patent containing the claim to the invention (thus establishing a first-to-file system). Revises various other rights and requirements related to patents, including regarding: (1) damages; (2) post-grant procedures; (3) citation of prior art; (4) inter partes reexaminations; (5) submissions by third parties; (6) venue; (7) the regulatory authority of the Patent and Trademark Office; and (8) inequitable conduct. Replaces the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Shields a financial institution that infringes by using a check collection system from the infringement remedies of civil actions, injunctions, damages, and attorney's fees, but does not (in specified circumstances) limit the enforcement rights of the patent's original owner. Applies the amendment made by this paragraph to any civil action for infringement pending or filed on or after the date of enactment of this Act. Establishes a revolving fund to be known as the United States Patent and Trademark Office Public Enterprise Fund. Deposits into the Fund fees received under specified provisions and makes Fund amounts available for all expenses of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2009-06-25 00:00:00

Authorizes the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to use funds made available under provisions of the Act commonly known as the Trademark Act of 1946 (relating to fees) to support the processing of patents and other activities, services, and materials relating to patents, notwithstanding provisions restricting the use of such fees to activities relating trademark registrations, if: (1) the Director certifies to Congress that the use of such funds is reasonably necessary to avoid USPTO furloughs or a reduction-in-force, or both; and (2) funds so used are repaid to trademark operations not later than September 30, 2011. Terminates such authority on June 30, 2010.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2009-06-25 00:00:00

Access to Repair Parts Act - Makes it not an act of infringement of any design patent to make, use, offer to sell, sell, or import into the United States any article that is a component part of another article, if the sole purpose of the component part is for the repair of the article of which it is a part so as to restore its original appearance.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2010-01-28 00:00:00

Trademark Technical and Conforming Amendment Act of 2010 - Amends the Act commonly known as the Lanham Act to replace references to "registrant" with references to "owner" in provisions: (1) making a certificate of registration prima facie evidence of the validity, registration, ownership, and exclusive rights to use a mark; and (2) relating to a registrant's surrender, cancellation, or amendment of registration. Requires, in the event of a surrender, cancellation, or amendment, that an appropriate entry be made on the records of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and on the certificate of registration. (Current law allows, when the certificate is lost or destroyed, such an entry to be made on a certified copy of the certificate.) Requires, when the USPTO makes a material mistake in a registration, that a certificate stating the fact and nature of the mistake be attached to each printed copy of the registration. (Current law requires that the certificate stating the mistake be attached to each printed copy of the registration certificate.) Replaces references to "registrant" with references to "owner" in provisions relating to the incontestability of the right to use a mark under certain conditions. Allows the holder of an international registration to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit if the holder is dissatisfied with the decision of the Director or Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Modifies requirements regarding the duration of registrations and related affidavits and fees. Requires a study and report to Congress on: (1) the extent to which small businesses may be harmed by litigation tactics by corporations attempting to enforce trademark rights beyond a reasonable interpretation of the scope of the rights granted to the trademark owner; and (2) the best use of federal government services to protect trademarks and prevent counterfeiting.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2010-03-09 00:00:00

Directs the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to study, and report to the congressional small business and judiciary committees on, the effects on the ability of small businesses to obtain patents that would result from changing from a first-to-invent to a first-to-file invention priority system under federal patent law.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2010-08-02 00:00:00

Copyright Cleanup, Clarification, and Corrections Act of 2010 - Eliminates the requirement that the Register of Copyrights maintain a directory of agents available to the public for inspection in both electronic and hard copy formats. (Maintains only the requirement that the directory be available through the Internet.) Authorizes a sworn or official certification to be electronically submitted to the Copyright Office. Repeals provisions providing that, prior to July 1, 1986, the importation into or public distribution in the United States of copies of a protected work consisting preponderantly of nondramatic literary material that is in the English language is prohibited unless the portions consisting of such material have been manufactured in the United States or Canada, subject to specified conditions and exceptions. Provides that the distribution of a phonorecord prior to 1978 shall not constitute a publication of the musical, dramatic, or literary work embodied therein. (Current law refers only to musical works.) Subjects all regulations issued by the Copyright Royalty Judges to Librarian of Congress approval and judicial review. (Under current law all regulations issued by the Copyright Royalty Judges are subject to the approval of the Librarian of Congress, but not to judicial review.)
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2010-08-05 00:00:00

Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prevention Act - (Sec. 2) Extends copyright protection to fashion designs. Revises the definition of "useful article" to include an article of apparel. Defines "apparel" as articles including clothing, handbags, purses, wallets, tote bags, belts, and eyeglass frames. Excludes from protection designs embodied in a useful article that was made public by the designer or owner: (1) more than two years before the date of the application for registration in the case of a vessel hull design; and (2) more than three years before the date upon which protection of the design is asserted in the case of a fashion design. Prohibits considering the presence or absence of a particular color or of a pictorial or graphic work imprinted on fabric when determining the protection of a fashion design. Sets the term of protection at 3 years for a fashion design and 10 years for a design of a vessel hull. Revises provisions concerning acting without knowledge to state that it is not infringement to make, have made, import, sell, offer for sale, advertise, or distribute any article embodying a design which was created without knowledge, either actual or reasonably inferred from the totality of the circumstances, that a design was protected and was copied from such protected design. Prohibits deeming a vessel hull design to have been copied from a protected design if it is original and not substantially similar in appearance to a protected design. Prohibits deeming a fashion design to have been copied from a protected design if it: (1) is not substantially identical in overall visual appearance to and as to the original elements of a protected design; or (2) is the result of independent creation. Declares that it is not an infringement for a person to produce a single copy of a protected design for personal use or for the use of an immediate family member, if that copy is not offered for sale or use in trade during the protection period. Rewrites provisions concerning the remedy for infringement to state, in general, that: (1) in the case of a vessel hull, the owner of a design is entitled, after issuance of a certificate of registration of the design, to institute an action for any infringement of the design; and (2) in the case of a fashion design, the owner of a design is entitled to institute an action for any infringement of the design after the design is made public. Sets forth pleading requirements for a claimant in an action for fashion design infringement. Increases the penalty for false representation. Excludes protected fashion designs from: (1) importation enforcement regulations issued by the Secretary of the Treasury and the U.S. Postal Service; and (2) seizure and forfeiture provisions. Limits the applicability of such regulations and provisions to specified vessel hulls.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Agriculture and food
Date: 2011-01-18 00:00:00

Seed Availability and Competition Act of 2011 - Permits a person who plants patented seed or seed derived from patented seed to retain harvested seed for replanting by such person if that person: (1) notifies the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) of the type and quantity of seed to be retained; and (2) pays the appropriate fee established by the Secretary. Establishes the Patented Seed Fund in the Treasury into which such fees shall be deposited and from which the Secretary shall pay appropriate fees to patent holders. Imposes an additional duty on the imported product of exported genetically modified seed on which royalties or other fees are charged by the patent owner to purchasers of the seed in the United States and on which no fees or lesser fees are charged to purchasers of the exported seed in a foreign country. Requires that such duties be deposited in the Fund for distribution to the appropriate patent holders.