Patents for Humanity Act of 2022

“28. Award of certificates to accelerate certain matters at the Patent and Trademark Office

“(a) Definition—In this section, the term eligible entity means an entity—

“(1) the application of which submitted under subsection (d) is with respect to a patent that addresses a humanitarian issue; and

“(2) that, pursuant to subsection (e)(1), is eligible to receive an award under the competition established under subsection (b).

“(b) Establishment—There is established a competition, to be held not less frequently than biennially, to award eligible entities certificates that can be redeemed to accelerate one of the following matters:

“(1) An ex parte reexamination proceeding, including 1 appeal to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board from that proceeding.

“(2) An application for a patent, including 1 appeal to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board from that application.

“(3) An appeal to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of a claim twice rejected in a patent application or reissue application or finally rejected in an ex parte reexamination, without accelerating the underlying matter that generated the appeal.

“(4) A matter identified under subsection (e)(4).

“(c) Administration—The Director shall administer the competition established under subsection (b).

“(d) Application—An eligible entity seeking an award under subsection (b) shall submit to the Director an application, at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Director may require.

“(e) Rulemaking authority—With respect to the competition established under subsection (b), the Director shall conduct a rulemaking proceeding to promulgate rules on the—

“(1) entities that are eligible to receive an award under the competition;

“(2) process and metrics by which applications submitted under subsection (d) are judged, including the criteria for selecting judges for the competition;

“(3) factors that will be considered in selecting the eligible entities that receive awards under the competition; and

“(4) additional matters for which a certificate described in subsection (b) may be awarded.

“(f) Promotion of competition—The Director shall promote the competition established under subsection (b) through the satellite offices established pursuant to section 1(b).

“(g) Treatment as successor—The competition established under subsection (b) shall be treated as a successor to the Patents for Humanity Program (established in the notice entitled “Humanitarian Awards Pilot Program”, published at 77 Fed. Reg. 6544 (February 8, 2012)).”