H.R. 6390 — Introduced in House

I 115th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 6390 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 16, 2018Mrs. Comstock (for herself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Costa, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Jeffries, Mr. Lipinski, Ms. Clarke of New York, and Mr. Peters) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to study and identify best practices for closing the gender, race, and income gap in patenting rates for certain small business concerns, and for other purposes. 1. Short Title This Act may be cited as the Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing Engineering and Science Success Act of 2018 or the SUCCESS Act. 2. Findings; sense of Congress (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Patents and other forms of intellectual property are important engines of innovation, invention, and economic growth. (2) Many innovative small businesses, which create over 20 percent of the total number of new jobs created in the United States each year, depend on patent protections to commercialize new technologies. (3) Universities and their industry partners also rely on patent protections to transfer innovative new technologies from the laboratory or classroom to commercial use. (4) Recent studies have shown that there is a significant gap in the number of patents applied for and obtained by women, socially disadvantaged individuals, and economically disadvantaged individuals and the number of patents applied for and obtained by individuals from other groups. (b) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the United States has the responsibility to work with the private sector to close the gap in the number of patents applied for and obtained by women, socially disadvantaged individuals, and economically disadvantaged individuals to harness the maximum innovative potential and continue to promote United States leadership in the global economy. 3. Report (a) Study The Administrator of the Small Business Administration, in consultation with the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office and any other head of an appropriate Federal agency, shall conduct a study that— (1) identifies the benefits of increasing the number of patents applied for and obtained by— (A) small business concerns owned and controlled by women; and (B) small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals; and (2) provides legislative recommendations for how to— (A) promote the participation of women, socially disadvantaged individuals, and economically disadvantaged individuals in entrepreneurship activities; and (B) increase the number of women, socially disadvantaged individuals, and economically disadvantaged individuals who apply for and obtain patents. (b) Report Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall submit to the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate a report on the results of the study conducted under subsection (a). (c) Definitions In this Act: (1) Economically disadvantaged individual The term economically disadvantaged individual has the meaning given the term under section 8(a)(6)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(6)(A)). (2) Small business concern owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals The term small business concern owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals has the meaning given the term under section 8(d)(3)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C)). (3) Small business concern owned and controlled by women The term small business concern owned and controlled by women has the meaning given the term under section 3(n) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(n)). (4) Socially disadvantaged individual The term socially disadvantaged individual has the meaning given the term under section 8(a)(5) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(5)).