PATENT Act

Summary

Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship Act of 2015 or the PATENT Act Requires the Supreme Court to eliminate from the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure the model patent infringement complaint form. Directs parties alleging infringement to include in their court pleadings specified details concerning: each claim of each patent allegedly infringed; each process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter alleged to infringe the claim; and for each claim of indirect infringement, the acts of the alleged infringer that contribute to or induce direct infringement. Requires courts, upon a motion, to dismiss claims that do not meet such pleading requirements unless a party with a plausible claim provides a general description of information that was inaccessible after a reasonable inquiry. Requires parties alleging infringement to disclose to the court, adverse parties, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): (1) assignees of the patent and their ultimate parent entities, (2) entities and ultimate parent entities with a right to sublicense to unaffiliated entities or to enforce the patent; and (3) entities known to have a financial interest in the patent, the patentee, or any ultimate parent entity. Directs alleging parties to further disclose to the court and adverse parties: (1) claims by the patentee, an affiliate, or other claimants during the previous three years; (2) certain assurances made to a standards development organization to license others under such patent; and (3) whether the federal government has imposed specific licensing requirements. Requires courts to grant a motion to stay an action against a retailer or end user accused of infringing a patent based on a product or process under specified conditions, if: (1) the manufacturer is a party to the action or a separate action in a federal court involving the same patent; and (2) the retailer or end user agrees to be bound as to issues determined in the action to which the manufacturer is a party, without a full and fair opportunity to separately litigate any such issue, but only as to those issues for which all other elements of the common law doctrine of issue preclusion are met. Directs courts to stay discovery in patent actions during the pendency of certain preliminary motions, but allows a court to permit further discovery to resolve a motion or preserve evidence. Permits parties to voluntarily exclude themselves from such discovery limits. Requires the Judicial Conference of the United States to develop discovery rules for patent actions that address the extent to which: (1) parties should be responsible for the costs of producing core documentary evidence, and (2) a party may seek additional noncore document discovery and bear the additional costs. Requires a court, upon a motion, to award attorney's fees to the prevailing party if the position or conduct of the non-prevailing party was not objectively reasonable. Allows a party defending against a claim of infringement to require the party alleging infringement to: (1) certify that it will have sufficient funds to satisfy an award of attorney's fees; (2) demonstrate that its primary business is not the assertion and enforcement of patents or related licensing activities; or (3) identify any other parties with a financial interest. Makes identified interested parties accountable for an award of attorney's fees (unless they renounce their interest in the claim) if the party alleging infringement cannot satisfy the full amount. Exempts from certain requirements of this Act patent actions that include claims relating to abbreviated new drug applications for generic drugs under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Public Health Service Act, including animal drugs, veterinary products, and other biological products. Prohibits a claimant seeking to establish willful infringement from relying on evidence of a pre-suit notification sent to the alleged infringer unless the notice included details regarding the patent and specific infringement, the possible right of a retailer or end user to stay the action, the identity of any person who can enforce the patent, and the manner in which any proposed compensation was determined. Allows defendants an additional 30 days to respond to a complaint if the initial notice did not contain such information. Subjects to penalties under the Federal Trade Commission Act any person who: (1) commits an unfair or deceptive act or practice in connection with the assertion of a patent; and (2) engages in the widespread sending of demand letters representing falsely, without a reasonable basis, or in a misleading manner that the intended recipients or their affiliates may bear liability or owe compensation for infringement. Provides the Federal Trade Commission with authority to enforce against such violations. Requires patent holders to disclose to the USPTO any assignment resulting in a change to the ultimate parent entity. Prohibits a party that fails to comply with such disclosure requirements from recovering increased damages or attorney's fees for any period of noncompliance. Requires courts in cross-border bankruptcy cases involving the recognition of a foreign proceeding to apply U.S. bankruptcy laws relating to the retention or termination of licensed intellectual property rights after a trustee has rejected an executory contract. Allows a licensee to elect to retain its right to intellectual property if a foreign representative rejects or repudiates a contract under which the debtor is the licensor. Expands the definition of "intellectual property" as it applies to the federal bankruptcy code to include trademarks, service marks, or trade names, thereby providing for trademark licenses to be retained instead of voided in bankruptcy. Directs the USPTO to notify the public on its website when a patent case is brought in federal court. Amends the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to: limit the grounds for invalidity of a patent claim that a post-grant review petitioner is prohibited, by estoppel, from asserting in subsequent civil actions or certain U.S. International Trade Commission proceedings to only those grounds that the petitioner actually raised during post-grant review; and revise the transitional covered business method patent review program to expand the scope of prior art that may serve as the basis of a challenge and permit the USPTO to waive filing fees.

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Documents

6 official files

• Reported to Senate (text)

  Reported to Senate · EN · 8 September 2015

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• Reported to Senate (PDF)

  Reported to Senate · EN · 8 September 2015

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• Reported to Senate with amendment(s)

  summary · EN · 8 September 2015

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• Introduced in Senate (text)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 29 April 2015

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• Introduced in Senate (PDF)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 29 April 2015

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• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 29 April 2015

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