Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 113 Part 2.djvu/1081

 PUBLIC LAW 106-113—APPENDIX I 113 STAT. 1501A-563 (1) IN GENERAL. — The Comptroller General shall conduct a 3-year study of the applicants who file only in the United States on or after the effective date of this subtitle and shall provide the results of such study to the Judiciary Committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate. (2) CONTENTS. —The study conducted under paragraph (1) shall— (A) consider the number of such applicants in relation to the number of applicants who file i]i the United States and outside of the United States; (B) examine how many domestic-only filers request at the time of filing not to be published; (C) examine how many such filers rescind that request or later choose to file abroad; (D) examine the status of the entit>' seeking an application and any correlation that may exist between such status and the publication of patent applications; and (E) examine the abandonment/issuance ratios and length of application pendency before patent issuance or abandonment for published versus unpublished applications. SEC. 4503. TIME FOR CLAIMING BENEFIT OF EARLIER FILING DATE. (a) IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY. —Section 119(b) of title 35, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: "(b)(1) No application for patent shall be entitled to this right of priority unless a claim is filed in the Patent and Trademark Office, identifying the foreign application by specifying the application number on that foreign application, the intellectual property authority or country in or for which the application was filed, and the date of filing the application, at such time during the pendency of the application as required by the EHrector. "(2) The Director may consider the failure of the applicant to file a timely claim for priority as a waiver of any such claim. The Director may establish procedures, including the payment of a surcharge, to accept an unintentionally delayed claim under this section. "(3) The Director may require a certified copy of the original foreign application, specification, and drawings upon which it is based, a translation if not in the English language, and such other information as the Director considers necessary. Any such certification shall be made by the foreign intellectual property authority in which the foreign application was filed and show the date of the application and of the filing of the specification and other papers.". (b) IN THE UNITED STATES.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 120 of title 35, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: "No application shall be entitled to the benefit of an earlier filed application under this section unless an amendment containing the specific reference to the earlier filed application is submitted at such time during the pendency of the application as required by the Director. The Director may consider the failure to submit such an amendment within that time period as a waiver of any benefit under this section. The Director may establish procedures, including the payment of a surcharge, to accept

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