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United States · Bill · HR

H.R. 2235 (104th)

Prior Domestic Commercial Use Act of 1995

openUnited States· United States Congress· EN

Introduced

4 August 1995

Last action

15 May 1996 · Committee

Status

For Further Action See H.R.3460.

Sponsors

Rep. Moorhead, Carlos J. [R-CA-22], Rep. Schroeder, Patricia [D-CO-1]

Subjects

Defence

Source updated

21 August 2025

Defence

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Summary

Prior Domestic Commercial Use Act of 1995 - Amends the Federal judicial code to create a defense to patent infringement with respect to any subject matter the manufacture, use, sale, offer for sale, or importation of which in the United States would otherwise infringe one or more claims in the patent being asserted, if a person had, acting in good faith, commercially used the subject matter before the effective filing date of such patent. Specifies that the sale or other disposition of the subject matter of a patent by a person entitled to assert the defense shall exhaust the patent owner's rights to the extent they would have been exhausted had such disposition been made by the patent owner. Subjects the defense to specified limitations and qualifications regarding: (1) the scope of the defense (the defense is not a general license under all claims of the patent at issue but extends only to the subject matter claimed in the patent that the person asserting the defense had commercially used before the effective filing date of the patent, with exceptions); (2) effective and serious preparation; (3) burden of proof (on the person asserting the defense); (4) abandonment of use; (5) who may assert the defense (it is a personal defense); (6) a one-year limitation (the subject matter on which the defense is based must have been commercially used or reduced to practice more than one year prior to the effective filing date of the patent); (7) unsuccessful assertion of the defense (directs the court to find the case exceptional for purposes of awarding attorney's fees); and (8) invalidity of a patent (a patent shall not be deemed invalid solely because a defense is raised or established under this Act).

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

  1. 4 August 1995

    Introduced

    Referred to the House Committee on Judiciary.

    Source: IntroReferral

  2. 4 August 1995

    Introduced

    Introduced in House

    Source: IntroReferral

  3. 4 August 1995

    Introduced

    Introduced in House

    Source: IntroReferral

  4. 5 August 1995

    Introduced

    Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E1680)

    Source: IntroReferral

  5. 2 October 1995

    Referred

    Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property.

    Source: Committee

  6. 26 October 1995

    Committee

    Subcommittee Hearings Held.

    Source: Committee

  7. 15 May 1996

    Committee

    For Further Action See H.R.3460.

    Source: Committee

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

Documents

3 official files

Introduced in House (text)

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  • Introduced in House (text)

    Introduced in House · EN · 4 August 1995

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  • Introduced in House (PDF)

    Introduced in House · EN · 4 August 1995

    ViewDownloadOpen at official source

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  • Introduced in House

    summary · EN · 4 August 1995

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Sponsors

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Sources

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