A summary of the House vote for amendments to HR 1249

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Passed by vote:

Voted 283-140 in favor of the Manager's Amendment offered by House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith, R-TX

Voted 223-198 in favor of an amendment offered by Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) that would reinsert the calculation of 60-day period for application of patent term extension into the Smith (R-TX) H.R. 1249 by the Manager's Amendment.

Agreed to by voice vote:

Amendments that would specify that the USPTO will take into consideration small businesses, minority-owned businesses, and women-owned businesses when conducting outreach activities (offered by Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI)).

Amendments to add a sense of Congress that it is important to protect the rights of small businesses and inventors (offered by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX))

Amendments that would add requirements to the satellite office location selection process to ensure that 1) the purposes, as described in the bill, of establishing satellite offices are achieved, 2) recruitment costs are minimized by considering the availability of knowledge (offered by Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM))

Amendment that would mandate a USPTO-led study on what USPTO, SBA, and other agencies can do to help small businesses obtain, maintain, and enforce foreign patents. This study is to be conducted using existing resources. offered by Rep. Gary Peters (D-MI))

Amendment that would direct the PTO to prescribe a requirement that parties provide sufficient evidence to prove and rebut a claim of derivation (offered by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA)) .

Failed amendments:

Include those that would insert language to move the United States to a first to file system only upon a Presidential finding that other major patent authorities have adopted a similar one-year grace period. (offered by Rep. Conyers; rejected 316-105)

Ammendment to strike Section 5, the “prior user rights” language, and conform H.R. 1249 to H.R. 1908, as passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on September 7, 2007, and S. 23, as passed by the U.S. Senate on March 8, 2011. (offered by Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI); rejected 342-81)

Amendment that would strike Section 3 of the legislation, which would convert the U.S patent system from “first-to-invent” to “first-to-file.” (offered by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-WI); rejected 295-129)

Amendment that would eliminate the ability of the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to set fees, retaining that authority for Congress. (offered by Rep. Donald Manzullo (R-IL); rejected 329-92)

Amendment that would eliminate the burden of post-grant reviews and reexaminations on individual inventors and small businesses with 100 or fewer employees. (offered by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA); rejected 342-81)

Amendment that would strike section 18 of H.R. 1249, the transitional program for covered business method patents. (offered by Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL); rejected 262-158).