Changes

=SummaryActs with pages==The following acts have their own pages:*114, Ways & Means Committee, [[Innovation Promotion Act]]. See also https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/2605*114, H.R.9 [[Innovation Act]]. See also [[H.R. 9: Innovation Act]]*114, S.1137 [[Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship (PATENT) Act]]*114, H.R.2045 [[Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters (TROL) Act]]*114, S.632 [[Support Technology and Research for Our Nation’s Growth (STRONG) Patents Act]]*114, H.R.1896 [[Demand Letter Transparency Act]]*114, H.R.1832 [[Innovation Protection Act]]*112, H.R.1249 [[America Invents Act]]*112, S. 1138 [[United States Patent Prize Fund for HIV/AIDS Act]]*113, S. 627 and Trademark Office115, S. 295 [[Medical Innovation Prize Fund Act]]=*113, H.R.845 [[The United States Shield Act]]*113, S. 2146 [[Patent Fee Integrity Act]]*114, S.1137 [[PATENT Act]]*114, S.632 [[STRONG Patents Act]]*114, [[S. 1890: Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016]]  {| {{table}}| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Bill'''| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Congress'''| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Sponsor'''| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Committee'''| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Reports'''| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Last Action'''|-| [[Innovation Promotion Act|H.R.2605 - Manufacturing Innovation in America Act of 2013]]||113th Congress (2013-2014)||Rep. Schwartz, Allyson Y. [D-PA-13] (Introduced 06/28/2013)||House - Ways and Trademark Office is Means||||06/28/2013 Referred to the organization within the United States government that examines House Committee on Ways and grants patents and trademarksMeans.|-| [[H.R. 9: Innovation Act|H.R.9 - Innovation Act]]||114th Congress (2015-2016)||Rep. Established under the Department of Commerce on July 19Goodlatte, 1952Bob [https:R-VA-6] (Introduced 02/05/www2015)||House - Judiciary||H.federalregisterRept.gov114-235||02/agencies25/patent2016 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Hearings held.|-| [[Protecting American Talent andEntrepreneurship (PATENT) Act|S.1137 - PATENT Act]]||114th Congress (2015-trademark2016)||Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-officeIA] by 35 U(Introduced 04/29/2015)||Senate - Judiciary||||02/25/2016 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.SHearings held.|-| [[Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters (TROL) Act|H.R.2045 - Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters Act of 2015]]||114th Congress (2015-2016)||Rep.Burgess, Michael C. §1[http:R-TX-26] (Introduced 04/28/www2015)||House - Energy and Commerce||H.gpoRept.gov114-877||12/16/fdsys2016 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 688.|-| [[Support Technology and Research for Our Nation’s Growth (STRONG) Patents Act|S.632 - STRONG Patents Act of 2015]]||114th Congress (2015-2016)||Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE] (Introduced 03/pkg03/USCODE-20132015)||Senate -title35Judiciary||||02/html25/USCODE2016 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Hearings held.|-2013| [[Demand Letter Transparency Act|H.R.1896 -title35Demand Letter Transparency Act of 2015]]||114th Congress (2015-partI2016)||Rep. Polis, Jared [D-chap1CO-sec1.htm2], the USPTO is intended (Introduced 04/20/2015)||House - Judiciary||||05/15/2015 Referred to fulfill the mandate in Article ISubcommittee on Courts, Section 8Intellectual Property, Clause 8 of and the United States Constitution "Internet.|-| [[Innovation Protection Act|H.R.1832 - Innovation Protection Act]]||114th Congress (2015-2016)||Rep. Conyers, John, Jr. [D-MI-13] (Introduced 04/16/2015)||House - Judiciary||||05/15/2015 Referred to promote the Progress of Science and useful ArtsSubcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and DiscoveriesInternet.|-| [[America Invents Act|H.R.1249 - Leahy-Smith America Invents Act]]||112th Congress (2011-2012)||Rep."Smith, Lamar [httpsR-TX-21] (Introduced 03/30/2011)||House - Judiciary; Budget||H. Rept. 112-98||09/16/2011 Became Public Law No:112-29. (TXT | PDF)|-| [[Prize Fund for HIV/AIDS Act|S.1138 - Prize Fund for HIV/wwwAIDS Act]]||112th Congress (2011-2012)||Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] (Introduced 05/26/2011)||Senate - Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions||||05/15/2012 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 112-570.|-| [[Medical Innovation Prize Fund Act|S.constituteproject495 - Medical Innovation Prize Fund Act]]||115th Congress (2017-2018) | Get alerts||Sen.orgSanders, Bernard [I-VT] (Introduced 03/02/2017)||Senate - Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions||||03/constitution02/United_States_of_America_19922017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.|-| [[The Shield Act|H.R.845 - Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes Act of 2013]]||113th Congress (2013-2014)||Rep. Since 1790DeFazio, the USPTO has issued more than 6Peter A.5 million patents[http:D-OR-4] (Introduced 02/27/2013)||House - Judiciary||||04/08/www2013 Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, And The Internet.|-| [[Patent Fee Integrity Act|S.uspto2146 - Patent Fee Integrity Act]]||113th Congress (2013-2014)||Sen.govFeinstein, Dianne [D-CA] (Introduced 03/13/about2014)||Senate -usJudiciary||||03/news13/2014 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.|-| [[PATENT Act|S.1137 - PATENT Act]]||114th Congress (2015-2016)||Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-updatesIA] (Introduced 04/uspto29/2015)||Senate -webJudiciary||||02/25/2016 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Hearings held.|-database| [[STRONG Patents Act|S.632 -nowSTRONG Patents Act of 2015]]||114th Congress (2015-includes2016)||Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-allDE] (Introduced 03/03/2015)||Senate -patentsJudiciary||||02/25/2016 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Hearings held.|-dating| [[S. 1890: Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016|S.1890 -1790Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016]]||114th Congress (2015-2016)||Sen. The agency's main offices reside in AlexandriaHatch, Virginia, with several satellite offices around the countryOrrin G. [R-UT] (Introduced 07/29/2015)||Senate - Judiciary | House - Judiciary||S. Rept. 114-220; H. Rept. 114-529||05/11/2016 Became Public Law No: 114-153.(TXT | PDF)|-| |} =United States Patent and Trademark Office= {{#section:United_States_Patent_and_Trademark_Office|USPTO}}{{#section:United_States_Patent_and_Trademark_Office|USPTO2}}

Patent pools are agreements between "two or more patent owners to share, or cross-license one or more of , their own patents to with one another or to third parties." [http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/ip-competition/en/studies/patent_pools_report.pdf (WIPO)] Generally, patent pools cover mature and complex technologies that require complementary patents to develop compatible products and services. [http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/ip-competition/en/studies/patent_pools_report.pdf (WIPO)] Patent pools . Complementary patents are patents that are useful when must be used together for the development of a specific new products are based on multiple existing product, and therefore, necessitate shared licensing [http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/ip-competition/en/studies/patent_pools_report.pdf (WIPO)]. Opponents criticize patent pools for the potential of anti-competitive behavior and collusion, primarily with regards to substitute patents . Substitute or on one invention with non-essential patents on many cover competing technologies that can be developed in parallel without risk of its componentsinfringement [http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/ip-competition/en/studies/patent_pools_report.pdf]. Certain patent pools have been found to share competitively sensitive information such as marketing and pricing strategies and R&D findings. [http://www.theglobalipcenterwipo.comint/export/sites/www/ip-competition/en/studies/patent_pools_report.pdf] The Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission stated that patent pools may create barriers to entry for new firms since the required patents will be inaccessible [http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/reportsatr/legacy/2007/07/documents11/Prizes__Patent_Pools222655.pdf (GIPCDOJ)] In order to address the concerns raised against patent pools, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has taken steps to standardize patent pools in order to prevent violations of antitrust laws. The DOJ requires the following characteristics for a patent pool:

===Benefits===# Essential patents included only. Ideally, companies are able to reduce costs during product development by using patent pools to share intellectual property assets# Complementary patents included only. Patent pools would # Sensitive information may not be able to increase efficiency and positively affect competition and innovationshared amongst parties. [http://www# Substitute products may still be developed by parties included in the licensing agreement.wipo# Patent pool has an established expiration date.int/export/sites/www/ip-competition/en/studies/patent_pools_report.pdf (WIPO)] In a situation # Pricing in which two companies own different IP assets that are not enough to create specific products, these companies would downstream production cannot be blocking each other's patents and preventing the introduction affected by or discussed by members of an innovative product or service to the market. Patent pools deals with these inefficiencies by organizing complementary IP assets under one contractpatent pool. [http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/ip-competition/en/studies/patent_pools_report.pdf (WIPO)].

These restrictions allow for patentees and standard setting organizations to maximize the benefits of creating patent pools. The creation of patent pools mainly benefits the owners of complementary and essential patents. Essential patents are patents required for a product or process to meet a given sector's technical standards. Cross-licensing between companies in a patent pool facilitates building upon previous technologies and increases the efficiency of innovation by organizing complementary intellectual property assets under one contract [http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/ip-competition/en/studies/patent_pools_report.pdf (WIPO)]. Mutually blocking patents often slow technological developments as neither party can make use of its technology without infringing on the other party's patent. By forming a patent pool, both parties can develop substitute technologies without risk of infringement. Companies can also reduce the amount spent on litigation by settling disputes with the creation of patent pools. This would benefit small- and medium-sized businesses that usually cannot afford the costs of expensive litigation. [http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/ip-competition/en/studies/patent_pools_report.pdf (WIPO)]Transaction costs as well as royalties can also be lowered in a patent pool.

===Risks=Patent Trolls==

{{#section:The Truth Behind Patent pools have many flawsTrolls|trolls}}Currently, which may explain why they have been used so infrequently. [http://www.theglobalipcenter.com/sites/default/files/reports/documents/Prizes__Patent_Poolsthere is no systematic data that proves the existence of patent trolls and that quantifies their financial effects on companies.pdf (GIPC)]

'''Elimination of Competition''' Opponents criticize patent pools for the potential of anti-competitive behavior and collusion. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, "a patent pool may be regarded as a cartel." =[http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/ip-competition/en/studies/patent_pools_report.pdf (WIPO)[America Invents Act]] Patent pools potentially create a way for companies to share competitively sensitive information, such as pricing, marketing strategies, or R&D information among its members." [http={{#section://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/ip-competition/en/studies/patent_pools_report.pdf (WIPO)]Leahy_Smith_America_Invents_Act|aia}}

<section begin=Patent_Reform />'''[[Innovation Act]]''':{{#section:Innovation_Act| summary}}'''[[Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship (PATENT) Act]]''':{{#section:Protecting_American_Talent_and_Entrepreneurship_(PATENT)_Act| PatentAct}}<section end=Patent_Reform /> ===Bills Relevant to Innovation=Patent Trolls== Below is a table containing brief overviews of the bills pertaining to innovation that have been passed or introduced by the 114th Congress. {| class==Prize System "wikitable"|-! Bill! Prognosis! Sponsor!Full Title!Date Introduced!Status|-|[[S. 1890: Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016]] [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s1890]|Enacted|Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)|A bill to amend chapter 90 of title 18, United States Code, to provide Federal jurisdiction for the theft of trade secrets, and for other purposes.|JUL 29, 2015|Enacted — Signed by the President on May 11, 2016|-|[[H.R. 9: Innovation Act]] [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr9]|36% | Bob Goodlatte (R-Virginia)| To amend title 35, United States Code, and the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to make improvements and technical corrections, and for other purposes.|Feb 5, 2015|Reported by Committee on Jun 11, 2015|-|[[S. 1137: PATENT Act]] [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s1137]|36% | Charles “Chuck” Grassley (D-Iowa)|A bill to amend title 35, United States Code, and the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to make improvements and technical corrections, and for other purposes.|Apr 29, 2015|Reported by Committee on Jun 4, 2015|-|[[H.R. 2045: Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters Act of 2015]] [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr2045]|24% | Michael Burgess (R-Texas)|To provide that certain bad faith communications in connection with the assertion of a United States patent are unfair or deceptive acts or practices, and for other purposes.|Apr 28, 2015|Reported by Committee on Apr 29, 2015|-|[[H.R. 1832: InnovationProtection Act]] [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr1832]|5%| John Conyers Jr. (D-Michigan)|To provide for the permanent funding of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and for other purposes.|Apr 16, 2015|Referred to Committee on Apr 16, 2015|-|[[S. 632: STRONG Patents Act of 2015]] [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s632]|4%| Chris Coons (D-Delaware)|A bill to strengthen the position of the United States as the world's leading innovator by amending title 35, United States Code, to protect the property rights of the inventors that grow the country's economy.|Mar 3, 2015|Referred to Committee on Mar 3, 2015|-|[[S. 926: Grace Period Restoration Act of 2015]] [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s926]|4%| Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin)|A bill to amend the patent law to promote basic research, to stimulate publication of scientific documents, to encourage collaboration in scientific endeavors, to improve the transfer of technology to the private sector, and for other purposes.|Apr 14, 2015|Referred to Committee on Apr 14, 2015|-|[[H.R. 2370: End Anonymous Patents Act]] [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr2370]|0%| Theodore Deutch (D-Florida)|To amend title 35, United States Code, to require disclosure of ownership and transfers of ownership of patents, and for other purposes.|May 15, 2015|Referred to Committee on May 15, 2015|-|[[H.R. 1896: Demand Letter Transparency Act of 2015]] [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr1896]|0%| Jared Polis (D-Colorado)|To amend chapter 26 of title 35, United States Code, to require the disclosure of information related to patent ownership, and for other purposes.|Apr 20, 2015|Referred to Committee on Apr 20, 2015|} == Market of Ideas ==<section begin=History Market_of_Ideas />[[Market of Patent Reform?Ideas Research Notes]] =References=<references> <ref name="GovTrack"> [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr9#] 'H.R. 9: Innovation Act', govtrack.us. </ref><ref name="innovationactsummary"> [https://judiciary.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/782015_InnovationAct3.pdf] 'The Innovation Act', ''Judiciary Committee: Chairman Bob Goodlatte'', (Washington, D.C.). </ref><ref name="PAsummary"> [https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Patents,%2004-29-15,%20PATENT%20Act%20-%20One%20Pager.pdf] 'The Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship Act (PATENT) Act: Short Summary', "Senate Committee on the Judiciary" (Washington, D.C). </ref><ref name="patentactgovtrack"> [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s1137] 'S.1137: PATENT Act', 'govtrack.us'. </ref><ref name=Current "USPTO report"> [http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USPTOFY15PAR.pdf] 'United States Patent Reform=and Trademark Office Performance and Accountability Report: Fiscal Year 2015', "United States Patent and Trademark Office", (Alexandria, Virginia). </ref>[[Category: Internal]][[Category:Innovation Policy]]