zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Judicial Powers Restoration Act of 2007 - Amends the Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 to repeal the prohibition against U.S. courts recognizing, enforcing, or otherwise validating any assertion of rights 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.Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to issue regulations as necessary to repeal such provisions, including removing or revoking any applicable prohibition on transactions or payments.

Date: 2007-07-17
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Law
Equal Remedies Act of 2007 - Removes the limits on the dollar amount of damages awardable, in cases of intentional employment discrimination, for pecuniary and nonpecuniary losses and punitive damages.

Date: 2007-08-01
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Civil rights and liberties, minority issues
Design Piracy Prohibition Act - Extends copyright protection to fashion designs. Excludes from such protection fashion designs that are embodied in a useful article that was made public by the designer or owner more than three months before the registration of copyright application. Gives fashion designs copyright protection for three years.Declares that is not infringement to make, have made, import, sell, or distribute any article embodying a design which was created without knowledge or reasonable grounds to know that protection for the design is claimed and was copied from such protected design. Extends the definition of infringing article to include any article the design of which has been copied from an image of a protected design without the consent of the owner. Provides that a fashion design shall not be deemed to have been copied from a protected design if it is original and not closely and substantially similar in overall visual appearance to a protected design. Applies the doctrines of secondary infringement and secondary liability to actions related to original designs. Makes any person who is liable under either such doctrine subject to all the remedies, including those attributable to any underlying or resulting infringement.Requires the Register of Copyrights to determine whether or not the application relates to a design which on its face appears to be within the subject matter protected as original designs and, if so, register the design.Increases allowable damage awards for infringement of original designs.

Date: 2007-08-02
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Intellectual Property Enforcement Act of 2007 - Authorizes the Attorney General to bring a civil action for copyright infringement in lieu of criminal proceedings. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) create an operational unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to assist in the investigation and coordination of intellectual property crimes; (2) implement a program to train FBI agents in the investigation and prosecution of such crimes; (3) assign federal prosecutors to Department of Justice (DOJ) offices in Hong Kong and Budapest to coordinate international enforcement of intellectual property laws; and (4) create a task force to implement a plan to investigate and prosecute international organized crime syndicates involved in theft of intellectual property.Authorizes additional funding through FY2011 to investigate and prosecute criminal activity involving computers.Amends federal copyright law to: (1) provide that copyright registration requirements apply to civil (not criminal) infringement actions; (2) require courts to issue protective orders to prevent disclosure of seized records relating to copyright infringement; (3) modify forfeiture provisions relating to criminal copyright infringement; and (4) prohibit importing and exporting of infringing copies of copyrighted works.Amends the federal criminal code to enhance penalties for: (1) trafficking in counterfeit labels or packaging; (2) criminal infringement of copyrights; (3) unauthorized recording of motion pictures; and (4) trafficking in counterfeit goods or services.Provides for civil forfeiture of property used to facilitate copyright infringement and for restitution for victims of such infringement.

Date: 2007-11-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Provides that tax planning inventions are not patentable. Defines a "tax planning invention" as a plan, strategy, technique, scheme, process, or system to reduce, minimize, avoid, or defer tax liability or to facilitate compliance with tax laws, excluding tax preparation software and other tools or systems used solely to prepare tax or information returns.

Date: 2007-11-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Performance Rights Act - Amends federal copyright law to: (1) grant performers of sound recordings equal rights to compensation from terrestrial broadcasters; (2) establish a flat annual fee in lieu of payment of royalties for individual terrestrial broadcast stations with gross revenues of less than $1.25 million and for non-commercial, public broadcast stations; (3) grant an exemption from royalty payments for broadcasts of religious services and for incidental uses of musical sound recordings; and (4) grant terrestrial broadcast stations that make limited feature uses of sound recordings a per program license option.Provides that nothing in this Act shall adversely affect the public performance rights or royalties payable to songwriters or copyright owners of musical works.

Date: 2007-12-18
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Declares that it is not a copyright infringement for churches and qualified church-controlled organizations to communicate a transmission of a professional football contest so long as no direct charge is made to see or hear the transmission, no money is accepted or received by the organization during the communication, and the transmission is not further retransmitted.

Date: 2008-02-04
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008 - Limits the remedies in a civil action brought for infringement of copyright in an orphan work, notwithstanding specified provisions and subject to exceptions, if the infringer meets certain requirements, including proving that: (1) the infringer performed and documented a reasonably diligent search in good faith to locate and identify the copyright owner before using the work, but was unable to locate and identify the owner; and (2) the infringing use of the work provided attribution to the owner of the copyright, if known. Requires a search to include methods that are reasonable and appropriate given the circumstances, including in some circumstances: (1) Copyright Office records that are not available through the Internet; and (2) resources for which a charge or subscription is imposed. Limits monetary compensation to reasonable compensation for the use of the infringed work. Prohibits such compensation if the infringer is a nonprofit educational institution, museum, library, or archive, or a public broadcasting entity and if the infringer proves that: (1) the infringement is performed without any purpose of commercial advantage and is primarily educational, religious, or charitable in nature;and (2) the infringer ceases the infringement expeditiously after receiving notice of the claim for infringement. Allows injunctive relief to prevent or restrain infringement, subject to exception and limitation. Directs the Register of Copyrights to: (1) undertake a process to certify that databases are available that facilitate searching for pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works protected by copyright; (2) report to the House and Senate judiciary committees on the implementation and effects of certain amendments made by this Act, including any recommendations for legislative changes; and (3) report to those committees on remedies for copyright infringement claims by an individual copyright owner or a related group of copyright owners seeking small amounts of monetary relief. Directs the Comptroller General to report to such committees on the function of the deposit requirement in the copyright registration system.

Date: 2008-04-24
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Transfers from the director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to the Secretary of Commerce the authority to appoint administrative patent judges and administrative trademark judges. Requires the Secretary to consult with the director on such appointments. Names the PTO's deputy director as an additional member of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Authorizes the Secretary, in his or her discretion, to deem the appointment of an administrative patent judge or an administrative trademark judge who, before enactment, held office pursuant to an appointment by the director to take effect on the date on which the director initially appointed the administrative patent judge. Makes it a defense to a challenge to the appointment of an administrative patent judge or an administrative trademark judge on the basis of the judge's having been originally appointed by the director that the administrative patent judge so appointed was acting as a de facto officer.

Date: 2008-07-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Accuracy in Fuel Economy Standards Act - Requires the Secretary of Transportation to calculate maximum feasible fuel economy standards for passenger automobiles and non-passenger automobiles based on the most recent high gasoline price projection issued by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).Defines the "applicable high gasoline price projection" as the greatest of a range of estimated gasoline prices that the EIA issues as part of its annual energy outlook, short-term energy outlook, or similar analyses for: (1) the year (or years) corresponding to the model year (or model years) for which the Secretary is prescribing an average fuel economy standard; and (2) the range of years considered by the Secretary in determining the costs and benefits associated with such standard.

Date: 2008-07-31
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Transportation and public works
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.

Date: 2009-02-03
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
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.

Date: 2009-02-13
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Law
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.

Date: 2009-03-03
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
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.

Date: 2009-04-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
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.

Date: 2009-04-30
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
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.

Date: 2009-05-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
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.

Date: 2009-05-19
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Private legislation
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).

Date: 2009-05-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
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.

Date: 2009-07-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
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.

Date: 2009-07-31
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Taxation
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.

Date: 2009-07-31
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
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.

Date: 2010-01-26
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
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.)

Date: 2010-03-25
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Law
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.

Date: 2010-05-18
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
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.

Date: 2010-09-29
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Law
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).

Date: 2009-03-17
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
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.

Date: 2009-06-25
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
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.

Date: 2009-06-25
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
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.

Date: 2010-01-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
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.

Date: 2010-03-09
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
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.)

Date: 2010-08-02
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
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.

Date: 2010-08-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
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.

Date: 2011-01-18
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Patent Continuing Disclosure Act - Amends federal patent law to prohibit fining for false marking (counterfeiting or imitating patent marks to deceive the public into believing articles are patented) any person who makes, uses, offers for sale, or sells within or imports into the United States, an expired patent item affixed with the word "patent" (along with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office [USPTO] patent number granted to that person) if, after the expiration of the patent: (1) there is no change in the manufacturing or production process, or (2) the word "expired" is placed before the word "patent" (or the patent number) when a change in the manufacturing or production process occurs. Defines the term "change in the manufacturing or production process" as an intentional expansion, enhancement, improvement, or repair, that suspends, for a period of at least 24 hours, the normal operating procedures through which the item is assembled, made, crafted, manufactured, built, or fabricated from individual components or raw materials, or both.

Date: 2011-03-14
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Affirms and validates a specified patent and its associated land reconfiguration issued by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as having been issued in compliance with the Nevada-Florida Land Exchange Authorization Act of 1988, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and the Federal Land Policy Management Act of 1976 for the benefit and recovery of the desert tortoise and other species and their habitat. Ratifies: (1) the process used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the BLM for the reconfiguration of those lands as shown in a specified environmental impact statement; and (2) the reconfiguration provided for in a specified Army Corps of Engineers permit.

Date: 2011-04-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Directs the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to: (1) study ways to provide independent, confirming genetic diagnostic test activity where gene patents and exclusive licensing for primary genetic diagnostic tests exist; and (2) report the findings to Congress within nine months along with recommendations for establishing the availability of such independent confirming genetic diagnostic test activity. Defines confirming genetic diagnostic test activity as the performance of a genetic diagnostic test, by a genetic diagnostic test provider, on an individual solely for the purpose of providing the individual with an independent confirmation of results obtained from another test providers prior performance of the test on the individual.

Date: 2011-06-22
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prevention Act - Extends copyright protection to fashion designs. Revises the definition of "useful article" to include an article of apparel (clothing, handbags, purses, wallets, tote bags, belts, and eyeglass frames). Excludes from protection designs embodied in a useful article 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. Rewrites 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. 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.

Date: 2011-07-13
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Sound Recording Simplification Act - Amends federal copyright law to remove a provision that, with respect to sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, prohibits: (1) any rights or remedies under the common law or statutes of any state from being annulled or limited by federal copyright law until February 15, 2067; and (2) subjecting such sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, to federal copyright before, on, or after February 15, 2067.

Date: 2011-09-14
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Songwriters Tax Simplification Reauthorization Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax deduction for depreciation, to make permanent the taxpayer election to amortize over a five-year period expenses incurred in creating or acquiring a musical composition or any copyright with respect to such composition.

Date: 2011-11-03
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Taxation
Equity for Visual Artists Act of 2011 - Requires, whenever a work of visual art is sold for at least $10,000 at an auction by someone other than the authoring artist, that the entity collecting the money or other consideration pay a royalty equal to 7% of the price to a visual artists' collecting society. Defines an "auction" as public sale run by an entity that: (1) sells to the highest bidder works of visual art in which the cumulative amount of such works sold during the previous year is over $25 million, and (2) does not solely conduct the sale of such visual art on the Internet. Requires the collecting society to: (1) distribute half of the net royalty to the artist or their successor as copyright owner, and (2) deposit the other half into an escrow account to fund purchases by U.S. nonprofit art museums of works of visual art authored by living artists domiciled in the United States. Establishes a copyright infringement offense for the failure of the entity collecting the money or other consideration to pay such a royalty. Subjects an infringer to the payment of statutory damages. Excludes works of visual art from copyright notice procedures. Directs the Register of Copyrights to issue regulations governing the designation and oversight of visual artists' collecting societies. Requires that specified fees be paid to the Register out of the total royalty payments received by collecting societies.

Date: 2011-12-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Promoting Automotive Repair, Trade, and Sales Act or the PARTS Act - Makes it not an act of infringement, with respect to a design patent that claims a component part of a motor vehicle as originally manufactured, to: (1) make, test, or offer to sell within the United States, or import into the United States, any article of manufacture that is similar or the same in appearance to the component part claimed in such design patent if the purpose of such article is for the repair of a motor vehicle to restore its appearance to as originally manufactured; and (2) use or sell within the United States any such same or similar articles for such restorations more than 30 months after the claimed component part is first offered for public sale as part of a motor vehicle in any country. Specifies that an offer to sell includes any marketing of an article of manufacture to prospective purchasers or users and any pre-sale distribution. Applies this Act to any patent issued, or application filed, before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.

Date: 2012-02-02
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Amends the federal criminal code to exempt the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) from disclosure of confidential information violations when the Secretary shares certain information and materials with intellectual property rights owners for purposes of determining whether semiconductor chip products are being imported into the United States in violation of Lanham Act provisions that prohibit infringing trademarks on imported articles or in violation of any of the exclusive rights of the owner of a mask work under the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984. Authorizes the Secretary, upon presentation of such products, to: (1) share with the holder of the registered mark or the owner of the mask work information on the semiconductor chip products and their packaging and labels, including unredacted photographs or digital images of such products, packaging, and labels; and (2) supply unredacted samples of such products to such holder of the registered mark or owner of the mask work at any time, subject to bonding requirements. Requires the Secretary, upon detention of such products, to share such product information and unredacted photographs or images with the registered mark holder or mask work owner. Sets forth exceptions for cases that would compromise ongoing law enforcement investigations or national security.

Date: 2012-06-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on September 11, 2012. The summary of that version is repeated here.) Amends the Trademark Act of 1946 to specify that ownership of a valid federal registration of a mark is a complete bar to an action with respect to the mark that: (1) is brought by another person under the common law or a statute of a state; and (2) seeks to prevent dilution (by blurring or by tarnishment) or asserts any claim of actual or likely damage or harm to the distinctiveness or reputation of a mark, label, or form of advertisement. (Removes any such federal-registration defense with respect to dilution claims under federal law and specifies that such a defense is only available in response to dilution claims under state law.)

Date: 2012-07-26
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes Act of 2012 - Amends federal patent law to allow a court, upon finding that a party does not have a reasonable likelihood of succeeding in an action disputing the validity or alleging infringement of a computer hardware or software patent, to award the recovery of full litigation costs to the prevailing party, including reasonable attorney's fees, other than the United States.

Date: 2012-08-01
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Manufacturing American Innovation Act of 2012 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer to elect a tax deduction for an amount equal to 71% of the lesser of: (1) the taxpayer's patent box profit, or (2 the taxpayer's taxable income for the taxable year. Defines "patent box profit" to include gross receipts derived from the sale, lease, license, or or other disposition of qualified patent property in the course of a U.S. trade or business over the sum of the taxpayer's cost of goods sold allocable to patent gross receipts, other expenses, losses, or deductions, including research and development expenditures, allocable to such receipts, plus routine profit. Defines "qualified patent" to include a patent issued or extended by, or for which an application is pending before, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Sets forth rules for the application of the patent box profit deduction to pass-thru entities, including partnerships and S corporations, trusts and estates, and agricultural and horticultural cooperatives.

Date: 2012-08-02
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Taxation
Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012 - Amends federal patent law to implement the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs and the Patent Law Treaty. (Both treaties were ratified by the Senate on December 7, 2007.) Allows any person who is a U.S. national, or has a domicile, habitual residence, or real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in the United States, to file an international design application for international registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) (thereby enabling U.S. applicants to file a single application with USPTO instead of separate applications in multiple countries). Directs the USPTO to transmit international fees and forward international design applications to the international intergovernmental coordinating body. Requires an international design application on an industrial design made in the United States to constitute the filing of an application in a foreign country if such application is filed: (1) in a country other than the United States, (2) at the international intergovernmental coordinating body recognized under the Hague Agreement, or (3) with an intergovernmental organization. Sets forth the priorities of national and prior foreign and national applications. Standardizes application procedures to be consistent with other member countries. Extends the term for design patents from 14 to 15 years from the date of grant.

Date: 2012-09-19
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce