S.Amdt. 6346

1. Adds SEC. ___. COLLECTION OF DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION FOR PATENT INVENTORS wherever appropriate

   Adds a section

   Inserted: SEC. ___. COLLECTION OF DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION FOR PATENT INVENTORS.

   Inserted: (a) Amendment.--Chapter 11 of title 35, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

   Inserted: "Sec. 124. Collection of demographic information for patent inventors

   Inserted: "(a) Voluntary Collection.--The Director shall provide for the collection of demographic information, including gender, race, military or veteran status, and any other demographic category that the Director determines appropriate, related to each inventor listed with an application for patent, that may be submitted voluntarily by that inventor.

   Inserted: "(b) Protection of Information.--The Director shall--

   Inserted: "(1) keep any information submitted under subsection (a) confidential and separate from the application for patent; and

   Inserted: "(2) establish appropriate procedures to ensure--

   Inserted: "(A) the confidentiality of any information submitted under subsection (a); and

   Inserted: "(B) that demographic information is not made available to examiners or considered in the examination of any application for patent.

   Inserted: "(c) Relation to Other Laws.--

   Inserted: "(1) Freedom of information act.--Any demographic information submitted under subsection (a) shall be exempt from disclosure under section 552(b)(3) of title 5.

   Inserted: "(2) Federal information policy law.--Subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44 shall not apply to the collection of demographic information under subsection (a).

   Show 18 more inserted paragraphsShow less

   Inserted: "(d) Publication of Demographic Information.--

   Inserted: "(1) Report required.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, and not later than January 31 of each year thereafter, the Director shall make publicly available a report that, except as provided in paragraph (3)--

   Inserted: "(A) includes the total number of patent applications filed during the previous year disaggregated--

   Inserted: "(i) by demographic information described in subsection (a); and

   Inserted: "(ii) by technology class number, technology class title, country of residence of the inventor, and State of residence of the inventor in the United States;

   Inserted: "(B) includes the total number of patents issued during the previous year disaggregated--

   Inserted: "(i) by demographic information described in subsection (a); and

   Inserted: "(ii) by technology class number, technology class title, country of residence of the inventor, and State of residence of the inventor in the United States; and

   Inserted: "(C) includes a discussion of the data collection methodology and summaries of the aggregate responses.

   Inserted: "(2) Data availability.--In conjunction with issuance of the report under paragraph (1), the Director shall make publicly available data based on the demographic information collected under subsection (a) that, except as provided in paragraph (3), allows the information to be cross-tabulated to review subgroups.

   Inserted: "(3) Privacy.--The Director--

   Inserted: "(A) may not include personally identifying information in--

   Inserted: "(i) the report made publicly available under paragraph (1); or

   Inserted: "(ii) the data made publicly available under paragraph (2); and

   Inserted: "(B) in making publicly available the report under paragraph (1) and the data under paragraph (2), shall anonymize any personally identifying information related to the demographic information collected under subsection (a).

   Inserted: "(e) Biennial Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this section, and every 2 years thereafter, the Director shall submit to Congress a biennial report that evaluates the data collection process under this section, ease of access to the information by the public, and recommendations on how to improve data collection.".

   Inserted: (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 11 of title 35, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

   Inserted: "124. Collection of demographic information for patent inventors.".

   The amendment doesn't say where this goes; the clerk decides.

   Original wording

   At the appropriate place, insert the following:

Read automatically from the Congressional Record. Check the original before relying on it.

As printed