Women Inventor Development and Equality Act

“124. Collection of demographic information for patent applications

“(a) Voluntary collection—The Director shall provide for the collection of demographic information (including gender, race, and ethnicity) related to an inventor with an application for patent, that may be submitted voluntarily by that inventor.

“(b) Access to information—Any information submitted under subsection (a) shall be kept confidential and separate from the application for patent. The Director shall establish appropriate procedures to ensure the confidentiality of any information submitted under subsection (a) and to ensure that demographic information is not included when the application for patent is reviewed.

“(c) Publication of demographic information

“(1) Report required—Not later than January 31 of each year, the Director shall publish a report that includes the following:

“(A) The total number of patent applications filed during the previous year dis­ag­gre­gated by demographic information and by class number and title.

“(B) The total number of patents issued during the previous year disaggregated by demographic information and by class number and title.

“(2) Privacy—Any personally identifying information may not be included in the report described in paragraph (1). If any information that is required to be included in the report would be personally identifying information, such information shall be excluded from the report.

“(3) Format—The report described in paragraph (1) shall be made available in a format that allows the demographic information to be cross-tabulated to review subgroups.”