5/20. The House Homeland Security Committee (HHSC) approved HR 1738 [LOC | WW], the "Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Modernization Act of 2015".

Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) introduced this bill on April 13, 2015. However, other versions of this bill were considered by prior Congresses. For the 112th Congress, see HR 2904 [LOC | WW], the "Integrated Public Alert Warning System Modernization Act of 2011", and HR 3563 [LOC | WW], the "Integrated Public Alert Warning System Modernization Act of 2012". For the 113th Congress, see HR 3283 [LOC | WW], the "Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Modernization Act of 2013".

This bill would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to add a new section titled "National integrated public alert and warning system modernization".

The HHSC approved by voice vote an amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ). The HHSC also approved a minor amendment offered by Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ). The HHSC then approved the bill as amended by voice vote.

5/20. The House Homeland Security Committee (HHSC) approved HR 1646 [LOC | WW], the "Homeland Security Drone Assessment and Analysis Act". Rep. Bonnie Coleman (D-NJ) introduced this bill on March 26, 2015. This bill would merely require the DHS to conduct a study of the threats to homeland security posed by "commercially available small and medium sized unmanned aircraft". The HHSC approved by voice vote an amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by Rep. Coleman. The HHSC then approved the bill by voice vote.

5/20. The House Homeland Security Committee (HHSC) approved HR 1637 [LOC | WW], the "Federally Funded Research and Development Sunshine Act of 2015". Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) introduced this bill on March 25, 2015. The DHS conducts research on, among other topics, communications and interoperability and cyber security. This bill would merely require the DHS to annually provide Congressional Committees with a list of its federally funded research projects. The HHSC approved this bill by voice vote, without amendment.

5/20. The House Homeland Security Committee (HHSC) approved HR 1626 [LOC | WW], the "DHS IT Duplication Reduction Act of 2015". Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) introduced this bill on March 25, 2015. This bill would merely require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to write a report for Congressional Committees. The HHSC approved by voice vote an amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by Rep. Hurd. The HHSC also approved by voice vote an amendment offered by Rep. Sheila Lee (D-TX). The HHSC then approved the bill by voice vote.

5/21. The Senate Banking Committee (SBC) approved S __, a yet to be introduced bill titled the "Financial Regulatory Improvement Act of 2015". This bill would provide post-Dodd Frank regulatory relief to financial institutions. See, discussion draft [215 pages in PDF] and SBC summary.

See also, the SBC Democrats' amendment in the nature of a substitute [17 pages in PDF] and summary [2 pages in PDF].

The SBC rejected the Democrats' substitute, and then approved the Republicans' draft bill, on straight party line votes.

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), the Chairman of the SBC, wrote in his opening statement that "I view this as just one step in a very long process. Even if we report this bill on a partisan vote, I do not in any way see this as the end of the road. In fact, I believe it presents another opportunity to explore areas of potential agreement before this bill goes to the Senate floor which I fully expect that it will."

The Democrats' substitute is titled the "Community Financial Institution Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act of 2015".

Both bills would, among other things, amend Section 503 of the Gramm Leach Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. § 6803) to create an exception to the annual written privacy notice requirement for financial institutions that have not changed their privacy policy.

5/20. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) introduced S 1402 [LOC | WW], the "Patents for Humanity Program Improvement Act".

This bill would provide statutory authority for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) Patents for Humanity Program. It would also allow the recipients of the USPTO's "acceleration certificates" to sell these, and thereby create a market for preferential treatment at the USPTO.

The current USPTO program, and especially this bill's proposal to enable well capitalized patent applicants to receive preferential treatment, are fundamentally inconsistent with the mission of the USPTO.

Also, it is highly unlikely that this bill will be enacted into law.

Patent applications and other proceedings take time. The USPTO created a program in February of 2012 under which it grants "acceleration certificates" to patent applicants, owners and licensees, based upon value judgments regarding USPTO policy goals, who have used patented technologies to "address humanitarian needs".

The USPTO began the process of creating this program early in President Obama's first term. The USPTO is not implementing a statute. Rather, this program is an invention of the Obama administration.

It was created by a USPTO notice in the Federal Register (FR), Vol. 77, No. 26, February 8, 2012, at Pages 6544-6548.

This bill references this 2012 FR notice, provides statutory authority for the program created by this FR notice, and makes these certificates alienable, including by sale.

Legislative History. This bill was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC). Sen. Leahy and Sen. Grassley are the ranking Democrat and Chairman, respectively.

Sen. Leahy has long been introducing this bill. In the 112th Congress he introduced S 3652 [LOC | WW], the "Patents for Humanity Program Improvement Act of 2012". See, story titled "Sen. Leahy Introduces a Bill to Make USPTO Acceleration Certificates Alienable" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,487, December 10, 2012.

Neither the Senate, nor the SJC, took any action on that bill. Although, Sen. Leahy did not introduce that bill until the closing days of the 112th Congress.

However, he introduced S 712 [LOC | WW], the "Patents for Humanity Program Improvement Act of 2013", early in the 113th Congress. See, story titled "Sen. Leahy Again Introduces Bill to Make USPTO Acceleration Certificates Alienable" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,551, April 17, 2013.

But, neither the Senate, nor the SJC, took any action on that bill either.

Sen. Leahy's Explanation of the Bill. Sen. Leahy explained this bill. See, Congressional Record, May 20, 2015, at Pages 3187-8. Actually, this statement is mostly cut and pasted from his statement on the introduction of the bill in the 113th Congress. See, Congressional Record, April 11, 2013, at Page S2592.

He wrote that "A healthy patent system should do more than drive economic development; it should incentivize research and discoveries that advance humanitarian needs."

He said that this bill "strengthens" the program created by the USPTO in 2012, which "provides rewards to selected patent holders who use their invention to address a humanitarian issue that significantly affects the public health or quality of life of an impoverished population. Those who receive the award are given a certificate to accelerate certain PTO processes".

Sen. Leahy continued that "The innovations that have been recognized by this program help underserved people throughout the world. Award winners have worked to improve the treatment and diagnosis of devastating diseases, improve nutrition and the environment, and combat the spread of dangerous counterfeit drugs."

He also related that President Obama's first head of the USPTO, David Kappos, stated at a SJC hearing in 2012 that the program would be more effective, and more attractive to innovators, if the acceleration certificates awarded were transferable to a third party.

And, said Sen. Leahy, "Since that time, other small start-ups and global health groups have emphasized that making the certificates transferable would improve their usability and increase the incentives of the Patents for Humanity Award. The Patents for Humanity Program Improvement Act makes this enhancement to the program. It is a straightforward, cost-neutral bill that will strengthen this award and encourage innovations to be used for humanitarian goods."

5/20. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) introduced S 1402 [LOC | WW], the "Patents for Humanity Program Improvement Act".

This bill would provide statutory authority for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) recently created Patents for Humanity Program. Currently, this program is a creature of the Obama administration, not Congressional statute. This bill would also allow the recipients of the USPTO's policy based "acceleration certificates" to sell these. Hence, this bill would create a market for preferential treatment at the USPTO.

The mission of the USPTO is set by the patent system is set by the Constitution. It is to secure for limited times to inventors the exclusive right to their discoveries. Until a few years ago, the USPTO did not judge the value or merits of an invention. It merely determined whether the claim is an invention. Until a few years ago, the USPTO did not provide any compensation or reward to inventors. The incentives to inventors was the potential revenue that derives from exclusive practice of an invention, or the sale or licensing of that invention.

The USPTO reviews and acts upon patent applications. It grants patents to inventors, who have disclosed something new, useful, novel and non-obvious. Impartial patent examiners apply technical and objective criteria. Rewards to the inventor, if any, come only through the operation of a free market, and not from financially valuable transferable grants from the USPTO. This new USPTO program, in contrast, puts the USPTO into the new position of giving rewards. These rewards will be financially valuable if Sen. Leahy's bill is enacted.

The government does many things to try to bring about invention and innovation, including many that involve giving out rewards. The government gives research grants. It gives National Medals of Science, and National Medals of Technology. It gives tax breaks to businesses that spend on research.

But, giving out policy based financial awards is not the function of the patent system. Moreover, under this program, and Sen. Leahy's proposal, the patent system itself is involved in the rewards program.

Under this new USPTO program, those who further the USPTO's enumerated policy goals are awarded acceleration certificates. These can be of value to the awardee. Sen. Leahy proposes to make these certificates alienable. That is, the awardee would be allowed to sell a certificate to another participant in the patent process.

Patent processes take a long time. There are many things that the Congress does that slows done the process, and things that it could do to reduce delays. The Congress has a history of diverting USPTO user fees to subsidize other government programs. The Congress could provide stable funding for more examiners.

Applicants usually have an interest in faster processing, and hence, would be willing to pay for quicker determinations. But, by accelerating some, the USPTO is delaying and thereby harming others. Moreover, some would be able to afford to pay for acceleration certificates, while most others would not. Well capitalized businesses would benefit from this, while small businesses and individual inventors would be harmed.

In short, this program, and Sen. Leahy's proposal, not only put the USPTO in the new role of granting policy based rewards, but also depart from the principle that all applicants are treated alike.

5/22. The Senate amended and passed HR 1314 [LOC | WW], a bill that would give the President trade promotion authority (TPA), by a vote of 62-37. See, Roll Call No. 193. The House has yet to pass this or another TPA bill.

5/21. The House passed HR 2262 [LOC | WW], the "Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship Act of 2015" or "SPACE Act", by a vote of 284-133. See, Roll Call No. 262. Republicans voted 236-3. Democrats voted 48-130.

5/20. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) amended and approved S 1297 [LOC | WW], the "Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act".

5/21. The House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) unanimously approved HR 2323 [LOC | WW], the "United States International Communications Reform Act of 2015". Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) introduced this bill on May 14. This is a reintroduction of a bill passed by the House last year by voice vote. See, HR 4490 [LOC | WW], the "United States International Communications Reform Act of 2014", and story titled "House to Consider International Communications Reform Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,681, July 28, 2014.

5/21. The House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) approved HR 1853 [LOC | WW], a bill to direct the President to develop a strategy to obtain observer status for Taiwan in the International Criminal Police Organization, aka INTERPOL.

5/20. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) approved without amendment HR 1020 [LOC | WW], the "STEM Education Act of 2015". Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced this bill on February 20, 2015. The full House passed it on February 25 by a vote of 412-8. The bill is now ready for consideration by the full Senate. This bill expands the definition of STEM for the federal science agencies to include not only science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, but also computer science.

Memorial Day. This is a federal holiday. See, Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) 2015 calendar of federal holidays.

The House will not meet the week of May 25-29.

The Senate will not meet the week of May 25-29. See, 2015 Senate Schedule.

11:45 AM - 1:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a presentation titled "Social Media, E-Discovery and Ethics". The speaker will be Robert Keeling (Sidley Austin). Free. No CLE credits. No reporters. No webcast. Registration required. Send e-mail to Kevin Clark at kclark at complianceds dot com.  See, notice. Location: Sidley Austin, 1501 K St., NW.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Mobile Payments Committee will host a panel discussion regarding potential regulation by the FTC, FCC, and CFPB of the security of mobile payments data. The speakers will be Rick Hindman (Chief of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau's Telecommunications Consumers Division), Katherine McCarron (FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection's Division of Privacy and Identity Protection), and Scott Talbott (ETA). Free. No CLE credits. No webcast. Bring your own lunch. See, notice. Location: Harris Wiltshire & Grannis, 8th floor, 1919 M St., NW.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will host an event titled "Meet the FCC Enforcement Bureau Front Office". The speakers will be Travis LeBlanc (Chief of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau), William Davenport (Deputy Chief), Paula Blizzard (Deputy Chief), and Phillip Rosario (Deputy Chief). The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) asserts that this is event of its Enforcement Committee. No webcast. No CLE credits. Bring your own lunch. Free. See, notice. Location: Wiley Rein, 1776 K St., NW.

12:30 - 2:00 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a panel discussion titled "Trade Legislation and Policy Update". The speakers will be Angela Ellard (Republican Chief International Trade Counsel, House Ways and Means Committee), Jason Kearns (Democratic Chief Trade Counsel, HWMC), Everett Eissenstat (Republican Chief International Trade Counsel, Senate Finance Committee), and Jayme White (Democratic Chief Adviser for International Competitiveness and Innovation, SFC). The price to attend ranges from $15 to $25. No CLE credits. No webcast. Lunch will be served. See, notice. Location: Barnes & Thornburg, 1717 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

Supreme Court conference day. See, 2014-2015 calendar. Closed to the public.

10:30 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Brookings Institution (BI) will host a panel discussion titled "The Digital Single Market: Implications for the Transatlantic Relationship ". The speakers will be Andrus Ansip (European Commission), Miriam Sapiro (BI), and Cameron Kerry (BI). See, notice. Location: JHU School of Advanced International Studies, 1740 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

12:00 NOON. The Cato Institute will host a panel discussion titled "Removing Barriers to Online Medical Care". The speakers will be Rene Quashie (Epstein Becker & Green), Jeff Rowes (Institute for Justice), Josh Sharfstein (Johns Hopkins University), and Simon Lester (Cato). Free. Open to the public. Webcast. See, notice. Location: Cato, 1000 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a presentation titled "Hot Apps and Tech for the Modern Lawyer". The price to attend ranges from free to $30. No CLE credits. For more information, call 202-626-3463. The DC Bar has a history of barring reporters from its events. See, notice. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) International Telecommunications Committee will host a panel discussion titled "Celebrating the ITU’s 150th Anniversary and the 50th Anniversary of the Creation of INTELSAT". The speakers will be Henry Goldberg (Goldberg Godles Weiner & Wright), Brian Fontes (National Emergency Numbering Association), David Leive, and Jennifer Manner (EchoStar). No webcast. No CLE credits. Bring your own lunch. Free. See, notice. Location: Wiley Rein, 1776 K St., NW.

1:00 PM. The US Telecom will host a webcast presentation titled "Telecom Cyber Frameworks, Policies and Business Processes". The speakers will be Jeff Goldtrop (FCC/PSHSB Associate Chief for Cybersecurity and Communications Reliability) and Adam Sedgewick (DOC/NIST Senior Information Technology Policy Advisor). See, notice.

1:00 - 2:30 PM.The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "Online Privacy & Data Security Soup to Nuts: A Primer and Update on Important Developments for the Business Lawyer". The speakers will be Lisa Lifshitz, Richard Balough, Theodore Claypoole, and Jonathan Rubens. Prices vary. Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "The New EU Unitary Patent & Unified Patent Court: Strategic Considerations for US Applicants/Patentees". The speakers will be Bernd Aechter, Brad Hattenbach, Charles Larsen, Willard Jones, and Margaret Welsh. Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "Dealing With Cybersecurity Threats & Breaches". The speakers will be Henry Talavera (Polsinelli PC), Brian Johnston (Polsinelli PC), Lisa Sotto (Hunton & Williams), Lisa Van Fleet (Bryan Cave). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

9:00 - 10:30 AM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Uncle Sam’s Broadband Plan: Which Way Forward for the New Interagency Broadband Council?". The speakers will be Doug Brake (ITIF), Blair Levin (Brookings Institute), and Thomas Power (CTIA Wireless Association). Free. Open to the public. Live and archived webcast. See, notice. Location: ITIF/ITIC, Suite 610, 1101 K St., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) regarding the draft [15 pages in PDF] titled "2015 National Space Weather Strategy". This draft addresses, among other things, the effect of solar flares, solar energetic particles, and coronal mass ejections upon telecommunications. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 80, No. 83, April 30, 2015, at Pages 24296-24297.

The Senate will return from it Memorial Day recess to consider legislation to extend and/or revise three provisions of surveillance law (Section 215, lone wolf FISA authority, and roving wiretap).

12:00 MIDNIGHT. Three provisions of surveillance law (Section 215, lone wolf FISA authority, and roving wiretap) sunset.

The House will return from its Memorial Day recess.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft NIST IR 8058 [42 pages in PDF] titled "Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) Version 1.2 Content Style Guide: Best Practices for Creating and Maintaining SCAP 1.2 Content".

Tech Law Journal publishes a free access web site and a subscription e-mail alert. The basic rate for a subscription to the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert is $250 per year for a single recipient. There are discounts for subscribers with multiple recipients.

Free one month trial subscriptions are available. Also, free subscriptions are available for federal elected officials, and employees of the Congress, courts, and executive branch. The TLJ web site is free access. However, copies of the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert are not published in the web site until two months after writing.

For information about subscriptions, see subscription information page.

Tech Law Journal now accepts credit card payments. See, TLJ credit card payments page.

TLJ is published by David Carney
Contact: 202-364-8882.
carney at techlawjournal dot com
3034 Newark St. NW, Washington DC, 20008.

Privacy Policy
Notices & Disclaimers
Copyright 1998-2015 David Carney. All rights reserved.