An amendment numbered 4 printed in House Report 110-319 to require the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to conduct a study of patent damage awards in cases from at least 1990 to the present where such awards have been based on a reasonable royalty under Section 284 of Title 35 of the United States Code. The Director of the PTO would be required to submit the findings to Congress no later than one year after the Act's enactment.

1. Adds SEC. 18. STUDY ON PATENT DAMAGES at the end of the bill

   Adds a section

   Inserted: SEC. 18. STUDY ON PATENT DAMAGES.

   Inserted: (a) In General.--The Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (in this section referred to as the "Director") shall conduct a study of patent damage awards in cases where such awards have been based on a reasonable royalty under section 284 of title 35, United States Code. The study should, at a minimum, consider cases from 1990 to the present.

   Inserted: (b) Conduct.--In conducting the study under subsection (a), the Director shall investigate, at a minimum, the following:

   Inserted: (1) Whether the mean or median dollar amount of reasonable-royalty-based patent damages awarded by courts or juries, as the case may be, has significantly increased on a per case basis during the period covered by the study, taking into consideration adjustments for inflation and other relevant economic factors.

   Inserted: (2) Whether there has been a pattern of excessive and inequitable reasonable-royalty-based damages during the period covered by the study and, if so, any contributing factors, including, for example, evidence that Federal courts have routinely and inappropriately broadened the scope of the "entire market value rule", or that juries have routinely misapplied the entire market value rule to the facts at issue.

   Inserted: (3) To the extent that a pattern of excessive and inequitable damage awards exists, measures that could guard against such inappropriate awards without unduly prejudicing the rights and remedies of patent holders or significantly increasing litigation costs, including legislative reforms or improved model jury instructions.

   Inserted: (4) To the extent that a pattern of excessive and inequitable damage awards exists, whether legislative proposals that would mandate, or create a presumption in favor of, apportionment of reasonable-royalty-based patent damages would effectively guard against such inappropriate awards without unduly prejudicing the rights and remedies of patent holders or significantly increasing litigation costs.

   Inserted: (c) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall submit to the Congress a report on the study conducted under this section.

   Original wording

   At the end of the bill insert the following new section:

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As printed