United States · Bill · HR
H.R. 3991 (116th)
Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Through Improvements to Patent Litigation Act of 2019
Introduced
25 July 2019
Last action
21 November 2019 · Committee
Status
Ordered to be Reported (Amended).
Sponsors
Rep. Johnson, Henry C. "Hank" [D-GA-4], Rep. Roby, Martha [R-AL-2]
Subjects
Discovery layer
Source updated
7 April 2025
Summary
Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Through Improvements to Patent Litigation Act of 2019 This bill limits in certain instances the number of patents that the manufacturer of a biologic drug can assert in a lawsuit against a company seeking to sell a biosimilar version of that drug. (A biologic drug is produced through natural processes or isolated from natural sources. A biosimilar version is substantially similar to the original biologic, which is the reference product, and is often marketed as a less expensive alternative.) The bill's provisions apply to an existing framework that gives the biosimilar manufacturer an abbreviated path to Food and Drug Administration approval to sell the biosimilar. Specifically, if the biosimilar manufacturer completes certain actions under the framework, such as sharing certain information about its product with the reference product manufacturer, the bill limits the number of certain patents that the reference product manufacturer may assert in a lawsuit, such as patents that were filed more than four years after the reference product received market approval. The limit shall not apply to patents claiming certain methods for using the biologic drug. The court in which the infringement lawsuit is filed may increase the limit if justice so requires or if there is good cause for the increase.
This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.
Timeline
25 July 2019
Introduced
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Source: IntroReferral
25 July 2019
Introduced
Introduced in House
Source: IntroReferral
25 July 2019
Introduced
Introduced in House
Source: IntroReferral
28 August 2019
Referred
Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet.
Source: Committee
19 November 2019
Committee
Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet Discharged.
Source: Committee
21 November 2019
Reported
Ordered to be Reported (Amended).
Source: Committee
21 November 2019
Committee
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Source: Committee
Votes
No vote records are attached yet.
Versions
- Introduced in House · 25 July 2019 · Download file
Documents
3 official files
Introduced in House (text)
This file cannot be previewed here. Use View or Download.
Leesvertaling
Vertaal dit document naar jouw taal. PoliticalRepo bewaart geen aparte kopie per EU-taal.
Documentvertaling op verzoek met downloadbare PDF (logo + link naar de officiële bron). Het bronbestand blijft leidend.
Introduced in House (text)
Introduced in House · EN · 25 July 2019
Introduced in House (PDF)
Introduced in House · EN · 25 July 2019
ViewDownloadOpen at official source
Leesvertaling
Vertaal dit document naar jouw taal. PoliticalRepo bewaart geen aparte kopie per EU-taal.
Documentvertaling op verzoek met downloadbare PDF (logo + link naar de officiële bron). Het bronbestand blijft leidend.
Introduced in House
summary · EN · 25 July 2019
Leesvertaling
Vertaal dit document naar jouw taal. PoliticalRepo bewaart geen aparte kopie per EU-taal.
Documentvertaling op verzoek met downloadbare PDF (logo + link naar de officiële bron). Het bronbestand blijft leidend.
Sponsors
- Rep. Johnson, Henry C. "Hank" [D-GA-4] · D · Sponsor
- Rep. Roby, Martha [R-AL-2] · R · Sponsor
- · hsju00 · Standing
Related records
- related to → Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act of 2019
- related to → FUTURE Act
- related to → Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Through Improvements to Patent Litigation Act
Sources
PoliticalRepo is an index and interpretation layer, not the authoritative legal source.
- Official source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/3991
- Open data entity: https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/116/hr/3991
- us · 116-hr-3991 · source updated 7 April 2025