[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1833 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1833
To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property
and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to
establish and carry out a pilot program to expedite the examination of
applications for certain patents, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 21, 2025
Mrs. Blackburn (for herself and Mr. Welch) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property
and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to
establish and carry out a pilot program to expedite the examination of
applications for certain patents, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Leadership in Critical and Emerging
Technologies Act'' or the ``Leadership in CET Act''.
SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM FOR EXPEDITING EXAMINATION OF CERTAIN CRITICAL
AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PATENT APPLICATIONS.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Covered application.--The term ``covered application''
means an application for patent that contains at least 1
claimed invention directed to an eligible critical or emerging
technology.
(2) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Under
Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of
the Office.
(3) Eligible critical or emerging technology.--The term
``eligible critical or emerging technology'' means--
(A) an artificial intelligence capability relating
to--
(i) machine learning;
(ii) deep learning;
(iii) reinforcement learning;
(iv) sensory perception or recognition;
(v) an artificial intelligence assurance or
assessment technique;
(vi) a foundation model;
(vii) a generative artificial intelligence
system or multimodal or large language model;
(viii) a synthetic data approach for
training, tuning, or testing;
(ix) planning, reasoning, or decision
making; or
(x) the improvement of artificial
intelligence safety, trust, security, or
responsible use;
(B) semiconductor design or an electronic design
automation tool; or
(C) a quantum information science capability
relating to--
(i) quantum computing;
(ii) materials, isotopes, or fabrication
techniques for quantum devices;
(iii) quantum sensing; or
(iv) quantum communications or networking.
(4) Expedite.--The term ``expedite'' means, with respect to
a covered application, to advance that covered application out
of turn through the use of a petition to make special.
(5) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the United States
Patent and Trademark Office.
(6) Pilot program.--The term ``pilot program'' means the
pilot program established under subsection (b).
(b) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Director shall establish a pilot program to
expedite the examination, under section 131 of title 35, United States
Code, of covered applications.
(c) Purpose.--The purpose of the pilot program shall be to
encourage innovation by, and the leadership of, the United States with
respect to critical or emerging technologies by ensuring that covered
applications receive prompt consideration.
(d) Implementation.--In carrying out the pilot program, the
Director may--
(1) by regulation, and in addition to the requirements
under subsection (e), prescribe the conditions under which a
covered application shall be accepted and examined under the
pilot program, including--
(A) the requirements to participate in the pilot
program;
(B) internal processing by the Office of covered
applications under the pilot program;
(C) requirements for restriction or unity of
inventions identified in covered applications;
(D) the period during which the applicant
submitting the covered application may reply with
respect to an action taken by the Office with respect
to the covered application;
(E) standards relating to a reply described in
subparagraph (D);
(F) standards or procedures governing--
(i) any amendment, affidavit, or other
evidence filed after a final action taken by
the Office with respect to the covered
application; and
(ii) any process for appeal with respect to
a final action described in clause (i); and
(G) the withdrawal, by an applicant, of a covered
application submitted under the pilot program;
(2) waive--
(A) the petition fee described in section 1.102(d)
of title 37, Code of Federal Regulations, or any
successor regulation; or
(B) any other requirement of the Office relating to
the accelerated examination program or the prioritized
examination program; and
(3) consult with the Attorney General, the Secretary of
Defense, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury,
the Director of National Intelligence, or the head of any other
Federal agency, as may be appropriate to carry out the pilot
program.
(e) Qualifying Applications.--To best achieve the purpose of the
pilot program, the Director shall ensure that a covered application
satisfies the following requirements to qualify for the pilot program:
(1) The applicant submitting the covered application--
(A) is not a foreign entity of concern, as defined
in section 9901 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021
(15 U.S.C. 4651); and
(B) certifies in the covered application that the
inventor or any joint inventor with respect to any
claimed invention in the covered application has not
been named as the inventor or joint inventor with
respect to more than 4 other covered applications
submitted under the pilot program.
(2) The covered application is a noncontinuing,
nonprovisional application for an original utility patent filed
under section 111(a) of title 35, United States Code, that does
not claim any domestic benefit under section 120, 121, 365(c),
or 386(c) of that title.
(f) Termination.--
(1) In general.--The pilot program shall terminate on the
earlier of the following:
(A) The date that is 5 years after the date on
which the Director first accepts a covered application
for participation in the pilot program.
(B) The date on which the Director has accepted
15,000 covered applications for participation in the
pilot program, without regard to whether those covered
applications have been expedited under the pilot
program.
(2) Renewal.--If the pilot program terminates under
paragraph (1)(B), the Director may renew the pilot program for
the shorter of the following:
(A) An additional 5-year period, beginning on the
date on which the pilot program terminates under
paragraph (1)(B).
(B) An additional period--
(i) beginning on the date on which the
pilot program terminates under paragraph
(1)(B); and
(ii) ending on the date on which the
Director has accepted an additional 15,000
covered applications for participation in the
pilot program, without regard to whether those
covered applications have been expedited under
the pilot program.
(3) Notice of renewal.--The Director shall notify the
Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on
the Judiciary of the House of Representatives of the intent of
the Director to renew the pilot program under paragraph (2) not
later than the date that is the earlier of the following:
(A) The date that is 60 days before the date
described in paragraph (1)(A).
(B) The date that is 30 days after the date on
which the Director has accepted 12,000 covered
applications for participation in the pilot program,
without regard to whether those covered applications
have been expedited under the pilot program.
(g) Public Availability of Information.--The Director shall make
publicly available in an easily accessible location on the website of
the Office information about the pilot program, including--
(1) the number of covered applications submitted under the
pilot program;
(2) the number of covered applications described in
paragraph (1) that the Director has accepted for participation
in the pilot program; and
(3) the number of patents that have been issued for
inventions claimed in covered applications expedited under the
pilot program.
(h) Report to Congress.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date on
which the pilot program terminates (including any renewal of
the pilot program under subsection (f)(2)), the Director shall
submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the
Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a
report that assesses the impact and effectiveness of the pilot
program based on all available data.
(2) Applicability.--The collection of any data for the
purposes of carrying out paragraph (1) shall be exempt from
subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code
(commonly referred to as the ``Paperwork Reduction Act'').
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