AMENDMENTS TO THE PATENT ACT OF 1952

IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF ENACTMENT

  The Patent Act of 1952 

Pub. L. 82--593 (chapter 950), 66 Stat. 792

Date of enactment: July 19, 1952

Effective date: January 1, 1953

Legislative history: H.R. 7794

Committee reports: H. Rep. No. 82--1923 (May 12, 1952)

S. Rep. No. 82--1979 (June 27, 1952), reprinted in 1952 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, pp. 2394--2428

Congressional Record: vol. 98, no. 1120, p. 9534 (July 4, 1952)

Commentaries:

Charles J. Zinn, &quotCommentary on New Title 35 U.S. Code 'Patents,' " 1952 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, p. 2507

P.J. Federico, &quotCommentary on the New Patent Act," Title 35 U.S.C.A. (1954 edition), reprinted 75 J.P.T.O.S. Special
Issue (1993)

G.S. Rich, Address at the Meeting of the New York Patent Law Association held on Nov. 6, 1952, reprinted 75 J.P.T.O.S.
Special Issue (1993)

See also: In re Arbeit, 206 F.2d 947, 955, 99 U.S.P.Q. 123, 129 (C.C.P.A. 1953)
 

  1954 

Pub. L. 83--775 (chapter 1259), 68 Stat. 1190

Date of enactment: September 3, 1954

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 161 so as to encompass plants that are &quotnew" in the sense of being newly discovered as well as
plants that result from deliberate breeding.

Legislative history: H.R. 5420

Committee reports: H. Rep. No. 83--1455

S. Rep. No. 83--1937, reprinted in U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, p. 3981

Text reference: § 6.01[4][a]


 

  1958 

Pub. L. 85--933, 72 Stat. 1793

Date of enactment: September 6, 1958

Amends: 35 U.S.C. §§ 3, 7 by increasing the number of examiners-in-chief from nine to fifteen.

Legislative history: S. 1864

Text reference: § 15.04[1][a]


 

  1959 

Pub. L. 86--370, 73 Stat. 650

Date of enactment: September 23, 1959

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 3 by by fixing the compensation of an examiner-in- chief at not in excess of the maximum rate for a
GS-17 and of a designated (acting) examiner-in-chief at the rate of a GS-16.

Legislative history: S. 1845

Text reference: § 15.04[1][a]


 

  1961 

Pub. L. 87--333, 75 Stat. 748

Date of enactment: October 3, 1961

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 119 to allow one to claim priority on the basis of a subsequently regularly filed foreign application in the
same country instead of only the first, thereby carrying into effect a provision of the Lisbon revision of the Paris Convention.

Legislative history: H.R. 5754

Text reference: § 18.03


 

  1962 

Pub. L. 87--831, 76 Stat. 958

Date of enactment: October 15, 1962

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 135 to provide public notice of settlement in patent interferences.

Legislative history: H.R. 12513

Committee reports: H. Rep. No. 87--1983

S. Rep. No. 87--2169, reprinted in 1962 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, p. 3286

Text reference: § 10.07


 

  1964 

Pub. L. 88--292, 78 Stat. 171

Date of enactment: March 26, 1964

Adds: 35 U.S.C. § 25 which allows the Commissioner to accept a declaration with respect to any document which by any law,
rule, or other regulation must be under oath.

35 U.S.C. § 26 which allows the Commissioner to accept provisionally a defectively executed document provided a properly
executed document is submitted within such time as may be prescribed.

Legislative history: S. 2040

Committee reports: H. Rep. No. 88--1181 reprinted in 1964 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, p. 2122

S. Rep. No. 88--689

Text reference: § 13.01

Pub. L. 88--426, 78 Stat. 425, sec. 305(26)

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 3 by increasing the annual compensation of the Commissioner of Patents to $20,000.

Legislative history: H.R. 11049

Text reference: § 15.00.


 

  1965 

Pub. L. 89--83, 79 Stat. 259

Date of enactment: July 24, 1965

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 41 by raising fees payable to the Patent Office (secs. 1 & 2);

35 U.S.C. § 151 by deleting the mandate that &quotThe patent shall issue within three months from the date of the payment of
the final fee" and by reducing from six months to three months the period, measured from the date of notice of allowance,
during which timely payment of such fee may be made. &quotIssue fee" is substituted for &quotfinal fee" (sec. 4); 35 U.S.C. §
154 by adding the phrase &quotsubject to the payment of issue fees as provided for in this title . ." (sec. 5). 35 U.S.C. § 112
by adding the sentence, &quotA claim may be written in independent or dependent form . ." (sec. 9); 35 U.S.C. § 282 by
stating that each claim of a patent shall be presumed valid independently of the validity of other claims (sec. 10).

Repeals: 35 U.S.C. § 266 &quotIssue of patents without fees to Government employees" (sec. 8).

Legislative history: H.R. 4185

Committee reports: H. Rep. No. 89--113

S. Rep. No. 89--301, reprinted in 1965 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, p. 2315

Text references: § 14.08 (sec. 9);

§ 15.02[2] (secs. 1, 2 & 4).

 

  1971 

Pub. L. 92--132, 85 Stat. 364

Date of enactment: October 5, 1971

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 6 by authorizing the Commissioner, in coordination with the Department of State, to carry on programs
and studies cooperatively with foreign patent offices and international intergovernmental organizations.

Legislative history: S. 1253

Committee reports: H. Rep. No. 92--475, reprinted in 1971 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, p. 1516

S. Rep. No. 92--71

Text reference: § 15.00

 

  1972 

Pub. L. 92--358, 86 Stat. 501

Date of enactment: July 28, 1972

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 102(d) by negating novelty if the invention was first the subject of an inventor's certificate by the
applicant in a foreign country prior to the date of the application for patent filed more than twelve months before the filing of the
applicationin the U.S. as well as being first patented or caused to be patented, thereby carrying into effect a provision of the
Stockholm revision of the Paris Convention.

Legislative history: H.R. 5237

Committee reports: H. Rep. No. 92--256, reprinted in 1972 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, p. 2873

Text reference: § 7.09


 

  1975 

Pub. L. 93--596, 88 Stat. 1949

Date of enactment: January 2, 1975

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 1 by changing the name of the U.S. Patent Office to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Legislative history: H.R. 7599

Committee reports: H. Rep. No. 93--523

S. Rep. No. 93--1399, reprinted in 1974 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News 7113

Text reference: § 15.00

Pub. L. 93--601, 88 Stat. 1956

Date of enactment: January 2, 1975

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 3 by changing the title of First Assistant Commissioner to Deputy Commissioner (sec. 1) and by
mandating that appointments to the Board of Appeals be made under classified civil service (sec. 2).

35 U.S.C. § 151 by empowering the Commissioner to accept late payment of the issue fee if delay is shown to be
&quotunavoidable" (sec. 3).

Legislative history: H.R. 9199

Committee reports: H. Rep. No. 93--856

S. Rep. No. 93--1401, reprinted in 1974 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News 7137

Text reference: § 15.04[1][a]


Pub. L. 94--131, 89 Stat. 685

Date of enactment: November 14, 1975

Amends: 35 U.S.C. §§ 6, 41, 42, 102(e), 104, 111, 112, 113, 115, 119, 120, and 282

Adds: 35 U.S.C. §§ 361--368, 371--376.

Carries into effect Chapter I of the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

Legislative history: S. 24

Committee reports: H. Rep. No. 94--592, reprinted in 1975 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News 1220

S. Rep. No. 94--215

Text reference: § 18.02[1][b]
 
 

  1980 

Pub. L. 96--517, 94 Stat. 3015 (Bayh-Dole Act)

Date of enactment: December 12, 1980

Amends: 35 U.S.C. §§ 13, 41, 131 by giving the Commissioner the authority to establish fees and by imposing maintenance
fees (sec. 2).

Adds: 35 U.S.C. §§ 200--211 relating to private rights in inventions made with federal funds (sec. 6(a)).

35 U.S.C. §§ 301--307 by providing for reexamination of patents based on prior art (sec. 1).

Legislative history: H.R. 6933

Committee report: H. Rep. No. 96--130

Text references: § 12.01 relating to rights in inventions made with federal funds

§ 15.02[2] relating to fees § 15.09[3] relating to reexamination of patents
 

  1982 

Pub. L. 97--247, 96 Stat. 317 (Patent Law Amendments Act of 1982)

Date of enactment: August 27, 1982

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 3 by removing the statutory limitation on the number of examiners-in-chief (sec. 4);

35 U.S.C. § 41 by raising patent fees (secs. 2, 3); 35 U.S.C. § 111 by allowing for payment of the application fee after filing
(sec. 5); 35 U.S.C. § 116 allowing for substitution of inventors (sec. 6); 35 U.S.C. § 173 by making the term of all design
patents fourteen years from the date of issue (sec. 16); 35 U.S.C. § 256 by allowing for substitution of inventors (sec. 6(b)).

Adds: 35 U.S.C. § 294 providing for voluntary arbitration of patent validity and infringement issues (sec. 17(b)(1))

Legislative history: H.R. 6260

Committee reports: H. Rep. No. 97--542, reprinted in 1982 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News 765

Text references: § 1.07 duration of design patent term

§ 11.03 substitution of inventors § 15.02[2] patent fees § 15.04[1][a] examiners-in-chief § 17.10 arbitration of infringement
disputes

Pub. L. 97--256, 96 Stat. 816

Date of enactment: September 8, 1982

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 41 by making technical and conforming amendments (sec. 101).

Legislative history: H.R. 3345

Committee reports: H. Rep. No. 97--389

Text reference: § 15.02[3]

Pub. L. 97--366, 96 Stat. 1759, sec. 4

Date of enactment: October 25, 1982

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 3 by making the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks also an Assistant Secretary of Commerce.

Legislative history: H.R. 4441

Committee reports: H. Rep. 97--494

H. Rep. 97--930

Text reference: § 15.00

  1983 

Pub. L. 97--414, 96 Stat. 2065 (Orphan Drug Act)

Date of enactment: January 4, 1983

Adds: 35 U.S.C. § 155 so as to, in effect, extend the term of the patent on aspartame.

Legislative history: H.R. 5238

Committee reports: H. Rep. No. 97--840, reprinted in 1982 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, p. 3577

Text reference: § 1.07[1][a]

Pub. L. 98--127, 97 Stat. 831, sec. 4(a)

Date of enactment: October 13, 1983

Adds: 35 U.S.C. § 155A so as to, in effect restore the term of the patent on Forane.

Legislative history: S. 216

Text reference: § 1.07[1][a]

  1984 

Pub. L. 98--417, 98 Stat. 1585 (Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 a/k/a the Hatch-Waxman
Amendments)

Date of enactment: September 24, 1984

Adds: 35 U.S.C. § 156 provides patent term extension (of up to five years) commensurate with the period of "regulatory
review" of any new human drug product, medical device, food additive, or color additive (sec. 201).

Amends: 35 U.S.C. §§ 271 (sec. 202); 282 (sec. 203).

Legislative history: S. 1538

Committee reports: H. Rep. 98--857, Part I reprinted in 1984 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News p. 2647; Part II reprinted in
1984 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News p. 2686

S. Rep. 98--547

Text references: § 1.07[1][a]; Appendix E

Pub. L. 98--620, 98 Stat. 3335 (Title V-Government Research and Development Patent Policy)

Date enacted: November 8, 1984

Amends: 35 U.S.C. §§ 201, 202, 203, 206, and 212 (sec. 501) by removing certain limitations on exclusive licenses to other
than small business firms.

Legislative history: H.R. 6163

Committee report: H. Rep. No. 98--1062

Text reference: § 12.01[2][a]

Pub. L. 98--622, 98 Stat. 3383 (Patent Law Amendments Act of 1984)

Date of enactment: November 8, 1984

Amends: 35 U.S.C. §§ 7, 134, and 135(a) merging the former Board of Appeals and Board of Patent Interferences into the
Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (secs. 201(a), 204(b), and 302);

35 U.S.C. § 103 by adding the paragraph that subject matter developed by another person which qualifies as prior art only
under 35 U.S.C. § 102(f) or (g) shall not preclude patentability under 35 U.S.C. § 103 under the circumstances specified (sec.
103); 35 U.S.C. § 116 by adding the second and final sentence (sec. 104(a)); 35 U.S.C. § 141 by conforming this section to
the Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1982 (Pub. L. 97--164), abolishing the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and
creating the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (sec. 203(a)).

Adds: 35 U.S.C. § 135(d) permitting arbitration of patent interferences (sec. 105);

35 U.S.C. § 157 providing for a statutory invention registration in lieu of a patent (sec. 107); 35 U.S.C. § 271(f)(1)--(2)
making the supplier of a component of a patented combination which combination is assembled outside of the U.S. liable as an
infringer (sec. 101).

Legislative history: H.R. 6286

Committee reports: None. In lieu thereof, "Section-by-Section Analysis," 130 Cong. Rec. H. 10525 (Oct. 1, 1984),
reprinted in 1984 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, p. 5827

Text references: § 9.02: 35 U.S.C. § 103

§ 10.02[5][a]: 35 U.S.C. § 7 § 10.04[4]: 35 U.S.C. §§ 134, 135(a) § 10.07: 35 U.S.C. § 135(d) § 11.01: 35 U.S.C. § 116
§ 15.04[2]: 35 U.S.C. § 141 § 15.11: 35 U.S.C. § 157 § 17.02: 35 U.S.C. § 271(f)
 

  1986 

Pub. L. 99--607, 100 Stat. 3470

Date enacted: November 6, 1986

Adds: 35 U.S.C. § 41(h) providing a reduction by 50 percent of fees charge under 35 U.S.C. § 41(a) and (b) with regard to a
small business concern, an independent inventor, or a nonprofit organization (sec. 1(b)(2)).

Legislative history: H.R. 2434

Committee report: H. Rep. No. 99--104

S. Rep. No. 99--305, reprinted in 1986 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, p.5884

Text reference: § 15.02[2]

Pub. L. 99--616, 100 Stat. 3485

Date of enactment: November 6, 1986

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 351 by authorizing U.S. participation in Chapter II of the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

Legislative history: S. 1230

Committee reports: H. Rep. No. 99--807

S. Rep. No. 99--275, reprinted in 1986 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, p. 5911

Text reference: § 18.02[1][b]

  1988 

Pub. L. 100--418, 102 Stat. 1107, at 1563 (Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988) Title IX-Patents:

Subtitle A-Process Patents, 102 Stat. 1563;

Substitle B-Foreign Filing, 102 Stat. 1567; Subtitle C-Patent Term Extension, 102 Stat. 1569.

Date of enactment: August 23, 1988

Subtitle A-a/k/a the Process Patent Amendments Act of 1988 (sec. 9001--9007)

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 287

Adds: 35 U.S.C. §§ 271(g), 295

Makes the importation of a product made according to process claims of a U.S. patent an infringement under certain specified
circumstances and with certain specified exceptions.

Subtitle B-a/k/a the Patent Law Foreign Filing Act of 1988 (sec. 9101)

Amends:

35 U.S.C. § 184 to allow the Commissioner to grant a retroactive export license where petitioner demonstrates that a foreign
filing was merely through error and without deceptive intent.

Subtitle C-Extends the term of the patent on the drug Lopid (sec. 9201)

Legislative history: H.R. 4848

Committee reports: H. Conf. Rep. No. 100--576, reprinted in 1988 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, p. 1547, at 2118

H. Rep. No. 100--60 S. Rep. No. 100--83

Text references: Subtitle A-§§ 2.13, 17.02, 18.05[1]

Subtitle B-§ 18.04 Subtitle C-§ 1.07

Pub. L. 100--670, 102 Stat. 3971 (Generic Animal Drug and Patent Restoration Act of 1988)

Date of enactment: November 16, 1988

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 156 by generally extending patent term extension to veterinary as well as human drug products.

Legislative history: S. 2843

Committee reports: H. Rep. No. 100--972(I), reprinted in 1988 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, p. 5659

Text references: §§ 1.07[1][b]; Appendix E

Pub. L. 100--703, 102 Stat. 4675 (Patent & Trademark Office Authorization Act of 1988)

Date of enactment: November 19, 1988

Title I-Patent & Trademark Office Authorizations (secs. 101--106)

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 41 by keying fee increases during fiscal years 1989-- 91 to fluctuations during the previous three years in
the Consumer Price Index.

Title II-a/k/a the Patent Misuse Reform Act of 1988 (sec. 201)

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 271(d) by declaring that certain specified conduct shall not be deemed a patent misuse or illegal
extension of the patent right.

Legislative history: H.R. 4972

Text reference: § 16.05[3]

  1990 

Pub. L. 101--580, 104 Stat. 2863 (Patents in Outer Space Act of 1990)

Date of enactment: November 15, 1990

Adds: 35 U.S.C. § 105 providing that any invention made, used, or sold in outer space on a space object or component
thereof under the jurisdiction or control of the U.S. shall be considered to be made, used, or sold within the U.S. with certain
specified exceptions.

Legislative history: S. 459

Committee report: S. Rep. No. 101--266, reprinted in 1990 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, p. 4058

Text reference: § 18.01

1990

Pub. L. 101--508, 104 Stat. 1388, at 1391 (Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990)

Date enacted: November 5, 1990

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 41(a) and (b) by imposing a 69% surcharge on fees to be rounded off by standard arithmetic rules, Title
X, Subtitle B, sec. 10101.

Legislative history: H.R. 5835

Committee reports: H. Rep. No. 101--881

H. Rep. No. 101--964

Text reference: § 15.02[2]

  1991 

Pub. L. 102--204, 105 Stat. 1637

Date enacted: December 10, 1991

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 41 by further increasing patent fees (sec. 5).

Legislative history: H.R. 3531

Committee report: H. Rep. No. 102--382

Text reference: § 15.02[2]


 

  1992 

Pub. L. 102--560, 106 Stat. 4230 (Patent and Plant Variety Remedy Clarification Act of 1992)

Date enacted: October 28, 1992

Adds: 35 U.S.C. § 271(h) to define &quotwhoever" in 35 U.S.C. § 271 to include any state, any instrumentality of a state, and
any officer or employee of a state or instrumentality of a state acting in his official capacity (sec. 2).

35 U.S.C. § 296 abrogating State immunity for patent infringement (sec. 2).

Legislative history: S. 758

Committee reports: S. Rep. No. 102--280

Text reference: § 12.04[5]

[The Patent and Plant Protection Remedy Clarification Act has been held to be an unconstitutional attempt to abrogate state
sovereign immunity. Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board v. College Savings Bank, 119 S. Ct. 2199, 51
U.S.P.Q.2d 1081 (1999).]

Pub. L. 102--444, 106 Stat. 2245

Date of enactment: November 23, 1992

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 41(c)(1) by providing for late payment of maintenance fees where the delay was merely unintentional.

Legislative history: H.R. 5328

Committee report: H. Rep. No. 102--993

Text reference: § 15.02[2]

  1993 

Pub. L. 103--182, 107 Stat. 2057, at 2113 (North American Free Trade Implementation Act of 1993)

Date of enactment: December 8, 1993

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 104 by extending the territory wherein activity can establish a date of invention to any NAFTA country
(sec. 331).

Legislative history: H.R. 3450

Committee reports: H. Rep. No. 103--361(I) reprinted in U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, p. 2552

H. Rep. No. 103--361(II), reprinted in U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, p. 2721

H. Rep. No. 103--361(III) S. Rep. No. 103--189

Text reference: § 10.03[4]

  1994 

Pub. L. 103--465, 108 Stat. 4809, at 4982 (Uruguay Round Agreements Act of 1994)

Date of enactment: December 8, 1994

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 104 by extending the territory wherein activity can establish a date of invention to any NAFTA or WTO
country (sec. 531);

35 U.S.C. § 154 changes the duration and measurement of utility and plant patent term (sec. 532); 35 U.S.C. § 271 makes
importation and an offer to sell acts of infringement (sec. 533).

Adds: 35 U.S.C. § 111(b) providing for provisional applications (sec. 532).

Legislative history: S. 2467; H.R. 5110

Committee reports: H. Rep. No. 103--826(I), reprinted in 1994 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News 3773

H. Rep. No. 103--826 (II) S. Rep. No. 103--412

Text references: § 1.07 duration and measurement of patent term

§ 10.03[4] territory in which inventive activity can establish a date of invention § 15.02[2] provisional applications § 17.02
importation and an offer to sell as acts of infringement

  1995 

Pub. L. No. 104--41; 109 Stat. 351 (Biotechnological Process Patents Act of 1995)

Date of enactment: November 1, 1995

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 103 by adding to this section a new paragraph providing that a &quotbiotechnological process" using or
resulting in a composition that is novel and nonobvious shall itself be considered nonobvious if claims to the process and
composition are contained in the same application or in separate applications having the same effective filing date (sec. 1). 35
U.S.C. § 282 by adding to this section " . . if a claim to a composition is held invalid and that claim was the basis of a
determination of nonobviousness under section 103(b)(1), the process shall no longer be considered nonobvious solely on the
basis of section 103(b)(1)" (sec. 2).

Legislative history: S. 1111

Committee reports: H. Rep. No. 104--178, reprinted in 1995 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, p. 395

Text references: §§ 6.01[1], 9.02, 17.05


 

  1996 

Pub. L. 104--208, 110 Stat. 3009, sec. 616(c)(1) (Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 1997)

Date of enactment: September 30, 1996

Adds: 35 U.S.C. § 287(c), which precludes any remedy for infringement against a &quotmedical practitioner" for performance
of a &quotmedical activity" as defined in 35 U.S.C. § 287(c)(2)(A). 35 U.S.C. § 287(c) applies only to patents granted on or
after September 30, 1996 (sec. 616).

Legislative history: H.R. 3610

Committee reports: H. Conf. Rep. No. 104--863

Cong. Rec. H. 11865 (September 28, 1996)

Text references: § 2.13

§ 2A.01 § 6.01[1] § 17.08


 

  1998 

Pub. L. No. 105--289, 112 Stat. 2780 (Plant Patent Amendments Act of 1997)

Date enacted: October 27, 1998

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 163 to read: &quotIn the case of a plant patent, the grant shall include the right to exclude others from
asexually reproducing the plant, and from using, offering for sale or selling the plant so reproduced, or any of its parts,
throughout the United States, or from importing the plant so reproduced, or any parts thereof, into the United States" [language
added by the amendment emphasized].

Legislative history: H.R. 1197

Text reference: § 6.01[4][a]

Pub. L. 105--304, 112 Stat. 2860 (Digital Millennium Copyright Act)

Date of enactment: October 27, 1998

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 3(d) by increasing the pay level of the Commissioner of Patents & Trademarks to that in effect for level
III of the Executive Schedule (Title IV, sec. 401(a)(1))

Legislative history: H.R. 2281 (S. 2037)

Committee report: H. Rep. No. 105--551

H. Rep. No. 105--796 H. Rep. No. 105--190 H. Conf. Rep. No. 105--796

Text reference: § 15.03

Pub. L. 105--358, 112 Stat. 3274 (United States Patent and Trademark Office Reauthorization Act, Fiscal Year 1999)

Date of enactment: November 10, 1998

Amends: 35 U.S.C. § 41 by prescribing the dollar amounts for certain patent and patent application fees set forth in 35 U.S.C.
§ 41, effective October 1, 1998 (sec. 3) 35 U.S.C. § 42(c) by stating that fees collected &quotshall be available to the
Commissioner to carry out the activities of the Patent and Trademark Office" (sec. 4)

Legislative history: H.R. 3723

Committee report: H. Rep. No. 105--528

Text references: § 15.02[3]


 

  1999 

Pub. L. 106--113, 113 Stat. 1501 (&quotAn Act Making Consolidated Appropriations for the Fiscal Year ending September
30, 2000, and for other purposes")

Appendix I-S.1948, 113 Stat. 1501A--521 (Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999)

Title IV-Inventor Protection, 113 Stat. 1501A--522 (American Inventors Protection Act of 1999)
Subtitle A - Inventors' Rights

(Inventors' Rights Act of 1999) 113 Stat. 1501A--522
Subtitle B - Patent and Trademark Fee Fairness

(Patent and Trademark Fee Fairness Act of 1999) 113 Stat. 1501A--554
Subtitle C - First Inventor Defense

(First Inventor Defense Act of 1999) 113 Stat. 1501A--555
Subtitle D - Patent Term Guarantee

(Patent Term Guarantee Act of 1999) 113 Stat. 1501A--557
Subtitle E - Domestic Publication of Patent Applications Published Abroad

(Domestic Publication of Foreign Filed Patent Applications Act of 1999) 113 Stat. 1501A--561
Subtitle F - Optional Inter Partes Reexamination Procedure

(Optional Inter Partes Reexamination Act of 1999) 113 Stat. 1501A--567
Subtitle G - Patent and Trademark Office

(Patent and Trademark Office Efficiency Act) 113 Stat. 1501A--572
Subtitle H - Miscellaneous Patent Provisions

113 Stat. 1501A--588

Date of enactment: November 29, 1999

Amends: 35 U.S.C. §§ 1, 2, 3, 6, 12, 13, 22, 32, 41, 42, 100, 102, 103, 111, 119, 120, 122, 132, 134, 135, 154, 156, 282,
287, 374

Adds: 35 U.S.C. § 5-establishment of public advisory committees (sec. 4714).

35 U.S.C. § 273-defense to infringement based on earlier invention of a method of doing business (sec. 4302). 35 U.S.C. §
297-improper and deceptive invention promotion (sec. 4102). 35 U.S.C. §§ 311--318-optional inter partes reexamination
procedure (sec. 4604).

Legislative history: H.R. 3194 (although S. 1948 verbatim)

Cong. Rec. H. 12595 (November 17, 1999)

Text references: § 1.7 publication of pending applications filed abroad

§ 1.07[2] extension of patent term commensurate with PTO delay § 6.01[1], § 7.07[1][b] prior user defense for methods of
doing business § 15.01[3] duty of disclosure incumbent on invention promoters § 15.02[2] provisional applications § 15.02[4]
continued examination of patent applications § 15.03 reorganization of the U.S. PTO § 15.04 § 15.09[3] optional inter partes
reexamination procedure § 18.03 right of priority in regard to any WTO member country