zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Manufacturing Innovation in America 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: 2012-09-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Taxation
Equal Access to Tax Planning Act - Deems any strategy for reducing, avoiding, or deferring tax liability insufficient to differentiate a claimed invention from the prior art when evaluating specified conditions of patentability under federal patent law.

Date: 2011-01-25
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Instructs the Secretary of the Interior to modify a land grant patent issued to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, Chippewa County, Michigan. Makes the modification made to the patent effective upon being recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds of Chippewa County.

Date: 2011-02-17
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Affirms and validates a specified patent and the 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 related habitat. Ratifies: (1) the process used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the BLM in reconfiguring the land as shown in a specified environmental impact statement, and (2) the reconfiguration provided for in a specified Army Corps of Engineers permit.

Date: 2011-04-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
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: 2012-03-29
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Taxation
Patents for Humanity Program Improvement Act of 2012 - Allows the holder or successor of an acceleration certificate issued pursuant to the Patents for Humanity Program (a pilot awards program established by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office [USPTO] entitling awardees to accelerate certain USPTO proceedings for patented technologies addressing humanitarian needs among an impoverished population or for further research on humanitarian technologies) to transfer, including by sale, the entitlement to such certificate to another person.

Date: 2012-12-04
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Act - 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: 2013-02-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Law
Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes Act of 2013 - Amends federal patent law, with respect to the remedies available in actions involving validity or infringement of a patent, to allow a party asserting invalidity or noninfringement to move for a judgment that the adverse party is not: (1) the inventor, a joint inventor, or in the case of a patent filed by, and awarded to, an assignee of the original inventor or joint inventor, the original assignee of the patent; (2) able to provide documentation of substantial investment made in the exploitation of the patent through production or sale of an item covered by the patent; or (3) an institution of higher education or a technology transfer organization.

Directs courts making such a judgment to award the recovery of full costs to any prevailing party asserting invalidity or noninfringement, including reasonable attorney's fees, other than the United States, unless exceptional circumstances make an award unjust.

Date: 2013-02-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Promoting Automotive Repair, Trade, and Sales Act of 2013 or 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.

Defines "component part" as a component part of the exterior of a motor vehicle only (such as a hood, fender, tail light, side mirror, or quarter panel), excluding an inflatable restraint system or other component part located in the interior of a motor vehicle.

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: 2013-04-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Unlocking Technology Act of 2013 - Amends the prohibition under federal copyright law on the circumvention of a technological measure that controls access to a copyright-protected work to require that such prohibition apply only to circumventions carried out in order to infringe or facilitate infringement of a protected work.

Declares that it shall not be a violation to: (1) circumvent a technological measure if the purpose is to engage in a use that is not an infringement of federal copyright law; or (2) use, manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device, component, or part primarily designed or produced to facilitate noninfringing uses of protected works by circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to such work, unless the intent is to infringe or facilitate infringement of a copyright.

Declares that it is not an infringement to copy or adapt the software or firmware of a user-purchased mobile communications device for the sole purpose of enabling the device to connect to a wireless communications network if: (1) the copying or adapting is initiated by, or with the consent of, the owner of that device or the owner's agent; (2) the owner or agent is in legal possession of the device; and (3) the owner has the consent of, or an agreement with, the authorized operator of such wireless communications network to make use of its network. (Thus allowing the "unlocking" of mobile devices without requiring an owner to obtain the consent of the initial carrier network before switching to a new carrier.)

Directs the President to ensure that applicable bilateral and multilateral trade agreements are modified to be consistent with this Act.

Date: 2013-05-08
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
End Anonymous Patents Act - Requires entities issued a patent to file with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) a disclosure of the identity of the patent owner and any real parties in interest. Directs patent owners to also make such disclosures to the USPTO upon the payment of maintenance fees.

Requires an entity to which a patent, patent application, or interest is sold, granted, or conveyed to file with the USPTO a disclosure of the sale, grant, or conveyance, and any real party in interest in the patent, application, or interest.

Specifies that "real parties in interest" include: (1) any entity that has the legal right to enforce the patent through an infringement action, (2) any ultimate parent entity (not controlled by any other entity) of such an entity, and (3) any entity that has a controlling interest in the enforcement of the patent.

Limits the damages available in a patent infringement action by an entity that fails to comply with the requirements of this Act to only those damages occurring from the date on which the requirements are met.

Date: 2013-05-16
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Promoting Startup Innovation Act - Amends federal patent law to modify the definition of "micro entity" (certain small entities eligible for reduced patent fees) to require applicants to certify that they: (1) have not been named as an inventor on more than seven (currently, four) previously filed patent applications, subject to applicable exceptions for applications filed in another country, provisional applications, or international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty; and (2) did not have gross income exceeding five times (currently, three times) the median household income in the preceding calendar year and have not transferred ownership interest in the application to an entity with gross income exceeding such limit.

Requires the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to approve or deny such applications within 45 days after the application is submitted.

Applies such amended requirements to applications submitted on or after the enactment of this Act.

Date: 2013-06-04
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Private Right of Action Against Theft of Trade Secrets Act of 2013 - Amends the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 to authorize any person who suffers injury by reason of a violation of prohibitions against the theft of trade secrets to maintain a civil action against the violator for appropriate compensatory damages and injunctive or other equitable relief.

Prohibits such an action unless it is begun within two years of the date of the act complained of or the date of the discovery of the damage.

 Declares that the phrase "without authorization" in such Act's prohibitions shall not mean independent derivation or working backwards from a lawfully obtained known product or service to divine the process which aided its development or manufacture.

Date: 2013-06-20
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Manufacturing Innovation in America Act of 2013 - 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: 2013-06-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Taxation
Patent Litigation and Innovation Act of 2013 - Directs a party alleging infringement in a civil action arising under any Act of Congress relating to patents to include in the court pleadings:

 an identification of each patent and claim allegedly infringed as well as the accused apparatus, product, feature, device, method, system, process, function, act, service, or other instrumentality (referred to as an "accused instrumentality") alleged to infringe any such claim; an identification of the name or model number of accused instrumentalities that allegedly result in the practice of a claimed invention; for each accused instrumentality, an explanation of where each element of each asserted claim identified is found within the accused instrumentality, whether each such element is infringed literally or under the doctrine of equivalents, and how the terms in each asserted claim correspond to the functionality of the accused instrumentality; for each claim alleged to have been infringed indirectly, a description of the direct infringement, any person alleged to be a direct infringer known to the party alleging infringement, and the acts of the alleged indirect infringer that contribute to or are inducing the direct infringement; a description of the right of the party alleging infringement to assert each identified patent and claim; the principal business of the party alleging infringement; and the identity of any person other than the party alleging infringement, known to the party alleging infringement, who: (1) owns or co-owns an identified patent or is the assignee of, or an exclusive licensee to, such patent; or (2) has a legal or financial right to enforce an identified patent. Sets forth procedures with respect to the joinder of parties, stays of action against secondary parties (parties accused of infringing a patent in dispute based on the use, distribution, resale, or consumption of a product or process by a primary party), and stays of discovery until the court has ruled on any motions to dismiss or transfer venue. Permits the court to expand discovery in extraordinary circumstances.

Directs the court, upon final adjudication, to include in the record specific findings on the compliance by each party and attorney with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure addressing proper representations to the court, including findings that motions and pleading were not presented to harass, delay, or increase litigation costs and that claims were nonfrivolous and based on evidentiary support.

Authorizes sanctions for: (1) a willful failure to preserve evidence during a stay of discovery, and (2) a violation of the representation to the court rules.

Date: 2013-07-10
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: 2013-07-18
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Taxation
Stopping the Offensive Use of Patents Act or the STOP Act - Amends the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to remove the eight-year sunset provision with respect to the transitional post-grant review program available to review the validity of covered business method patents, thereby making the program permanent.

Expands the term "covered business method patent" to include a patent that claims a method or corresponding apparatus for performing data processing or other operations used in the practice, administration, or management of any enterprise, product, or service, except technological inventions. (Current law limits the program to financial products or services.)

Requires the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) (the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property) to work with and support intellectual property law associations throughout the United States, within established pro bono programs, to assist financially under-resourced resellers, users, implementers, distributors, or customers of an allegedly infringing product or process.

Date: 2013-07-22
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Free Market Royalty Act - Amends federal copyright law to provide a public performance right for all audio transmissions of sound recordings, thereby extending such right to require terrestrial AM/FM broadcast radio stations to pay royalties for non-digital audio transmissions. (Currently, a performance right for sound recordings is provided only with respect to digital transmissions by cable, satellite, and Internet radio stations.)

Eliminates statutory licensing royalty rates set by Copyright Royalty Judges (CRJs) for the public performance of sound recordings by noninteractive digital audio services.

Allows any noninteractive services performing sound recordings publicly by means of an audio transmission (including cable, satellite, Internet, and AM/FM broadcasters) to collectively negotiate royalty rates for such performances.

Designates SoundExchange, Inc. (an independent, nonprofit organization that collects and distributes royalties), or any successor entity, as the sole common agent to negotiate, agree to, pay, and receive royalty payments.

Authorizes copyright owners of sound recordings, if a license is agreed to by the common agent, to subsequently negotiate and agree to royalty rates and license terms and conditions with any noninteractive services for the performance of such sound recordings (thus allows copyright owners to opt-out of rates or conditions negotiated by the common agent and to instead negotiate direct licenses for their recordings).

Sets forth the royalty payment distributions to be made by the common agent to copyright owners, featured recording artists, and non-featured musicians and vocalists.

Establishes procedures for CRJs to set rates and terms for nonsubscription broadcasts consisting solely of noncommercial educational and cultural radio programs when such rates and terms are not negotiated and agreed upon collectively between the common agent and the noncommercial educational broadcast station.

Modifies ephemeral recording requirements (licenses to reproduce phonorecords to facilitate transmissions) to account for the removal of statutory licensing procedures.

Date: 2013-09-30
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Innovation Protection Act - Establishes in the Treasury the United States Patent and Trademark Office Public Enterprise Fund (Public Enterprise Fund) to be used as a revolving fund by the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) without fiscal year limitation.

Requires to be credited to or deposited in the Public Enterprise Fund: (1) appropriations for defraying the costs of USPTO activities; (2) fees collected under federal patent and trademark laws; and (3) any unobligated balances remaining in the Patent and Trademark Office Appropriation Account and in the Patent and Trademark Fee Reserve Fund. (Thus, replaces the Patent and Trademark Office Appropriation Account, eliminates the Patent and Trademark Fee Reserve Fund, and provides a source of permanent funding for the USPTO.)

Requires fees collected by the Director to remain available to the Director until expended.

Makes the Public Enterprise Fund available to cover: (1) ordinary and reasonable administrative, operating, and other expenses incurred by the Director for the continued operation of USPTO services, programs, activities, and duties relating to patents and trademarks; and (2) expenses incurred pursuant to obligations, representations, or other commitments of the USPTO.

Requires the Director, on an annual basis, to: (1) report to Congress with operation and spending plans, including financial details and staff levels broken down by each major activity; (2) provide for an independent audit of USPTO financial statements; and (3) submit a budget to the President.

Date: 2013-10-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Protect Advanced Communications for Emergency Services Act of 2013 or the PACES Act - Requires any patent infringement action against certain wireless carriers (excluding mobile satellite service operators) or IP-enabled voice service providers based on their use of technologies complying with requirements of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to provide 9-1-1, enhanced 9-1-1, or other emergency communication services (such as the delivery of 9-1-1 calls with next generation text, picture, and video technologies capable of automatically identifying number and location information to emergency service personnel) to be filed in accordance with federal judicial code procedures under which a patent or copyright owner's remedy is by an action against the United States in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. (Thus, specifies that such 9-1-1 services are provided by or for the United States with authorization or consent of the United States.)

Date: 2013-12-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Songwriter Equity Act of 2014 - Amends federal copyright law regarding the exclusive rights of sound recording copyright owners to remove a provision that prohibits license fees payable for the public performance of sound recordings, by means of a digital audio transmission, from being taken into account in any administrative, judicial, or other governmental proceeding to set or adjust the royalties payable to copyright owners of musical works for the public performance of their works.

Requires Copyright Royalty Judges (CRJs), when setting royalty rates under the compulsory license available for the reproduction and distribution of musical works (commonly referred to as a "mechanical license"), to establish rates and terms that most clearly represent the rates and terms that would have been negotiated in the marketplace between a willing buyer and seller.

Requires CRJs, in establishing such rates and terms, to base their decision on marketplace, economic, and use information presented by the participants. Allows consideration of comparable uses and circumstances under voluntary license agreements.

Date: 2014-02-25
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
American Royalties Too Act of 2014 - Expands copyright owners' exclusive rights, in the case of a work of visual art, to include the right to collect or authorize the collection of a royalty if the work is sold by a person other than the author for at least $5,000 in an auction.

Defines "auction" as a public sale of visual art to the highest bidder run by an entity that sold at least $1 million of works of visual art during the previous year.

Revises the term "work of visual art" to make requirements for photographs consistent with requirements for paintings, drawings, and prints. (Currently, a photograph must be a still photographic image produced for exhibition purposes only.)

Limits the amount of such a royalty to the lesser of: (1) 5% of the purchase price; or (2) $35,000, subject to cost-of-living adjustments.

Directs entities conducting such auctions to collect and pay the royalties to a visual artists' copyright collecting society. Requires the collecting society, at least four times each year, to distribute the appropriate royalties (minus administrative expenses) to authors or successor copyright owners.

Requires an author of a work of visual art, in order to be eligible to receive such a royalty, to: (1) be a citizen of, or domiciled in, the United States or a country that provides resale royalty rights; or (2) have first created the work in the United States or a country that provides such royalty rights.

Establishes a copyright infringement offense for the failure to pay such a royalty. Subjects infringers to: (1) statutory damages, and (2) liability for the full royalty.

Prohibits the sale, assignment, or waiver of the right to collect such a royalty, subject to exceptions for works made for hire and transfers of copyright ownership.

Directs the Register of Copyrights to issue regulations governing visual artists' copyright collecting societies.

Date: 2014-02-26
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Respecting Senior Performers as Essential Cultural Treasures Act or the RESPECT Act - Requires digital music services (certain services providing digital transmissions of music by Internet radio, cable, or satellite) that transmit sound recordings under the statutory license provided under federal copyright law to pay royalties for sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, in the same manner as they pay royalties for sound recordings protected by federal copyright that are fixed after such date. (Currently, sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, are governed by state laws and are not subject to federal copyright laws that require music services to pay a performance royalty for transmitting such recordings.)

Provides a remedy under which performance royalties for the transmission of such recordings may be recovered in a civil action in federal court if a digital music service fails to make such payments.

Prohibits an infringement action against a transmitting entity from being brought under a state law if the appropriate royalty is paid under this Act.

Declares that this Act does not confer federal copyright protection upon such recordings fixed before February 15, 1972 (sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, remain under applicable state laws notwithstanding the payment of royalties under federal statutory licensing requirements).

Terminates this Act on February 15, 2067.

Date: 2014-05-29
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Law
(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on September 15, 2014. The summary of the House passed version is repeated here.)

Establishes the Law School Clinic Certification Program of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to allow students enrolled in a participating law school's clinic to practice patent and trademark law before the USPTO on a pro-bono basis for clients that qualify for assistance from the law school's clinic.

Requires the USPTO Director to establish regulations and procedures for application to and participation in such program. Makes all law schools accredited by the American Bar Association eligible to participate in the program after being examined for acceptance using identical criteria.

Provides for the program to be in effect for the 10-year period after enactment of this Act.

Requires the Director, within two years after enactment of this Act, to report to Congress regarding the work done through the program and the number of participating law schools and students.

Date: 2014-07-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Law
You Own Devices Act - Amends federal copyright law to allow the owner of a machine or other product operated in any part by a computer program to transfer an authorized copy of the computer program, or the right to obtain such copy, when the owner sells, leases, or otherwise transfers the machine or product to another person. Prohibits such right to transfer the computer program from being waived by any agreement.

Requires any right to receive modifications to such a computer program relating to security or error correction that applied to the owner of the machine or product to apply to the person to whom the machine or product and the copy of the computer program are transferred.

Prohibits this Act from being construed to permit the owner to retain an unauthorized copy of the computer program after such a transfer.

Date: 2014-09-18
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Act - 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: 2013-03-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Law
Promoting Automotive Repair, Trade, and Sales Act of 2013 or the PARTS Act - Declares that it is 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, 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 as originally manufactured; or (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.

Defines "component part" as a component part of the exterior of a motor vehicle only (such as a hood, fender, tail light, side mirror, or quarter panel), excluding an inflatable restraint system or other component part located in the interior of a motor vehicle.

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: 2013-04-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Patent Quality Improvement Act of 2013 - Amends the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to remove the eight-year sunset provision with respect to the transitional post-grant review program available to review the validity of covered business method patents, thereby making the program permanent.

Expands the term "covered business method patent" to include a patent that claims a method or corresponding apparatus for performing data processing or other operations used in the practice, administration, or management of any enterprise, product, or service, except technological inventions. (Current law limits the program to financial products or services.)

Date: 2013-05-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Protect Advanced Communications for Emergency Services Act of 2013 or the PACES Act - Requires any patent infringement action against certain wireless carriers (excluding mobile satellite service operators) or IP-enabled voice service providers based on their use of technologies complying with requirements of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to provide 9-1-1, enhanced 9-1-1, or other emergency communications services (such as the delivery of 9-1-1 calls with next generation text, picture, and video technologies capable of automatically identifying number and location information to emergency service personnel) to be filed in accordance with federal judicial code procedures under which a patent or copyright owner's remedy is by an action against the United States in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. (Thus, specifies that such 9-1-1 services are provided by or for the United States with authorization or consent of the United States.)

Date: 2013-08-01
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Patent Litigation Integrity Act of 2013 - Requires courts to award a prevailing party reasonable fees and other expenses, including attorney fees, incurred in connection with a civil action in which any party asserts a claim for relief arising under any Act of Congress relating to patents, unless the court finds that the position and conduct of the nonprevailing party were substantially justified or that special circumstances make an award unjust. (Currently, in exceptional cases, the court is permitted but not required to award reasonable attorney fees.)

Authorizes courts, in response to a motion, to order the party alleging infringement to post a bond sufficient to ensure payment of such fees and expenses of the accused infringer.

Directs a court, in determining whether such a bond would be unreasonable or unnecessary, to consider whether:

 the bond will burden the ability of the party alleging infringement to pursue activities unrelated to the assertion, acquisition, litigation, or licensing of any patent; the party alleging infringement is an institution of higher education or a non-profit technology transfer organization; a licensee, who has an exclusive right under a patent held by such an institution of higher education or non-profit organization, conducts further research or development to make the subject matter more licensable; the party alleging infringement: (1) is a named inventor of or an original assignee to an asserted patent, (2) makes or sells a product related to the subject matter described in an asserted patent, or (3) can demonstrate that it has and will have the ability to pay the accused infringer's fees and other expenses if so ordered; and any party will agree to pay the accused infringer's shifted fees and other expenses, provided that the party can demonstrate an ability to pay.

Date: 2013-10-30
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Transparency in Assertion of Patents Act - Directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to promulgate rules prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts and practices in the sending of written communications (commonly referred to as "demand letters") stating that the intended recipient, or any person affiliated with the intended recipient: (1) is infringing, or may be infringing, the patent of another; and (2) bears liability or owes compensation.

Requires such rules to establish disclosures that such written communications must contain, including:

 each claim of each patent allegedly infringed; each product, device, business method, service, or technology that allegedly infringes each claim; a notice that the intended recipient may have the right to have the product manufacturer defend against the infringement; contact information necessary to determine the identity of a person with the right to enforce the patent or with a direct financial interest in the patent, including each owner, co-owner, assignee, exclusive licensee, and entity with the authority to enforce the patent, as well as the ultimate parent entity with such authority; any licensing commitment or obligation (such as reasonable and non-discriminatory terms) that applies to the patent or claim; the method used to calculate any proposed compensation; and each current instance of reexamination or other post-grant review of the patent at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), any litigation involving the patent, and the status of such review and any determinations as to the invalidity of the patent or any of its claims. Directs the FTC to: (1) prohibit unfair or deceptive assertions in such written communications, and (2) provide education and awareness to the public regarding deceptive communications.

Sets forth the enforcement authority of the FTC and authorizes civil actions by states. Establishes civil penalties applicable to state actions.

Date: 2014-02-26
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Patent Fee Integrity Act - Establishes in the Treasury the United States Patent and Trademark Office Innovation Promotion Fund (Innovation Promotion Fund) to be used as a revolving fund by the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) without fiscal year limitation.

Requires to be credited to or deposited in the Innovation Promotion Fund: (1) appropriations for defraying the costs of USPTO activities; (2) fees collected under federal patent and trademark laws; and (3) any available unobligated balances remaining in the Patent and Trademark Office Appropriation Account and in the Patent and Trademark Fee Reserve Fund. (Replaces the Patent and Trademark Office Appropriation Account, eliminates the Patent and Trademark Fee Reserve Fund, and provides a source of permanent funding for the USPTO.)

Requires fees collected by the Director to remain available to the Director until expended.

Makes the Public Enterprise Fund available to cover: (1) ordinary and reasonable administrative, operating, and other expenses incurred by the Director for the continued operation of USPTO services, programs, activities, and duties relating to patents and trademarks; and (2) expenses incurred pursuant to obligations, representations, or other commitments of the USPTO.

Requires the Director, on an annual basis, to: (1) report to Congress with operation and spending plans for the current and next fiscal year, including financial details and staff levels broken down by each major activity; (2) provide for an independent audit of USPTO financial statements; and (3) submit a budget to the President.

Date: 2014-03-13
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Songwriter Equity Act of 2014 - Amends federal copyright law regarding the exclusive rights of sound recording copyright owners to remove a provision that prohibits license fees payable for the public performance of sound recordings, by means of a digital audio transmission, from being taken into account in any administrative, judicial, or other governmental proceeding to set or adjust the royalties payable to copyright owners of musical works for the public performance of their works.

Requires Copyright Royalty Judges (CRJs), when setting royalty rates under the compulsory license available for the reproduction and distribution of musical works (commonly referred to as a "mechanical license"), to establish rates and terms that most clearly represent the rates and terms that would have been negotiated in the marketplace between a willing buyer and seller.

Requires CRJs, in establishing such rates and terms, to base their decision on marketplace, economic, and use information presented by the participants. Allows consideration of comparable uses and circumstances under voluntary license agreements.

Date: 2014-05-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
You Own Devices Act

Amends federal copyright law to allow the owner of a machine or other product operated in any part by a computer program to transfer an authorized copy of the computer program, or the right to obtain such copy, when the owner sells, leases, or otherwise transfers the machine or product to another person. Prohibits such right to transfer the computer program from being waived by any agreement.

Requires any right to receive modifications to such a computer program relating to security or error correction that applied to the owner of the machine or product to apply to the person to whom the machine or product and the copy of the computer program are transferred.

Prohibits this Act from being construed to permit the owner to retain an unauthorized copy of the computer program after such a transfer.

Date: 2015-02-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Promoting Automotive Repair, Trade, and Sales Act of 2015 or the PARTS Act 

Declares that it is 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, 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 as originally manufactured; or (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.

Defines: (1) "component part" as a component part of the exterior of a motor vehicle only (such as a hood, fender, tail light, side mirror, or quarter panel), excluding an inflatable restraint system or other component part located in the interior of a motor vehicle; and (2) "offer to sell" to include marketing or pre-sale distribution.

Applies this Act to any patent issued, or application filed, before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.

Date: 2015-02-25
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Songwriter Equity Act of 2015

Amends federal copyright law regarding the exclusive rights of sound recording copyright owners to remove a provision that prohibits license fees payable for the public performance of sound recordings, by means of a digital audio transmission, from being taken into account in any administrative, judicial, or other governmental proceeding to set or adjust the royalties payable to copyright owners of musical works for the public performance of their works.

Requires Copyright Royalty Judges (CRJs), when setting royalty rates under the compulsory license available for the reproduction and distribution of musical works (commonly referred to as a "mechanical license"), to establish rates and terms that most clearly represent the rates and terms that would have been negotiated in the marketplace between a willing buyer and seller.

Requires CRJs, in establishing such rates and terms, to base their decision on marketplace, economic, and use information presented by the participants. Allows consideration of comparable uses and circumstances under voluntary license agreements.

Date: 2015-03-04
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Allocation for Music Producers Act or the AMP Act

Amends federal copyright law to require a collective designated by the Copyright Royalty Judges to implement a policy providing for the acceptance of instructions (referred to as a "letter of direction") from a person who owns the exclusive right to publicly perform a sound recording by means of a digital audio transmission, or from a recording artist of a such a sound recording, to distribute a portion of royalty payments to a producer, mixer, or sound engineer who was part of the creative process behind the sound recording.

Requires the collective to adopt special procedures for a producer, mixer, or sound engineer to receive a portion of royalties for recordings fixed before November 1, 1995, by certifying that a reasonable effort has been made to obtain a letter of direction from an artist who owns the right to receipts payable with respect to the sound recording.

Date: 2015-03-19
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
Unlocking Technology Act of 2015

Amends the prohibition under federal copyright law on the circumvention of a technological measure that controls access to a copyright-protected work to require that such prohibition apply only to circumventions carried out in order to infringe or facilitate infringement of a protected work.

Declares that it shall not be a violation to: (1) circumvent a technological measure if the purpose is to engage in a use that is not an infringement of federal copyright law; or (2) use, manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device, component, or part primarily designed or produced to facilitate noninfringing uses of protected works by circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to such work, unless the intent is to infringe or facilitate infringement of a copyright.

Declares that it is not an infringement to copy or adapt the software or firmware of a user-purchased mobile communications device for the sole purpose of enabling the device to connect to a wireless communications network if: (1) the copying or adapting is initiated by, or with the consent of, the owner of that device or the owner's agent; (2) the owner or agent is in legal possession of the device; and (3) the owner has the consent of, or an agreement with, the authorized operator of such wireless communications network to make use of its network. (Thus, allows the "unlocking" of mobile devices without requiring an owner to obtain the consent of the initial carrier network before switching to a new carrier.)

Directs the President to ensure that applicable bilateral and multilateral trade agreements are modified to be consistent with this Act.

Date: 2015-03-24
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Commerce
No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Act

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: 2015-03-25
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Copyrights and Patents)
Subject: Law