,,ii  #aaeth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #cdhc  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,september #bd1
 #bjah,mr4 ,grassley 7for himself1 ,mr4 
,coons1 and ,mr4 ,hatch7 introduced the 
following bill2 which was read twice and
 referred to the ,committee on the      
,judiciary  ,a ,,bill  ,to direct the   
,under ,secretary of ,commerce for      
,intellectual ,property and ,director of
 the ,united ,states ,patent and        
,trademark ,office1 in consultation with
 the ,administrator of the ,small       
,business ,administration1 to conduct a 
study and provide recommendations to    
promote the participation of women1     
minorities1 and veterans in             
entrepreneurship activities and the     
patent system1 to extend by #h years the
 authority of the ,united ,states       
,patent and ,trademark ,office to set   
the amounts for the fees that the       
,office charges1 and for other purposes4
  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be    
cited as the ,study of ,underrepresented

 ,classes ,chasing ,engineering and     
,science ,success ,act of #bjah or the  
,,success ,act4  #b4 ,findings2 sense of
 congress  7a7 ,findings ,congress finds
 the following3  7#a7 ,patents and other
 forms of intellectual property are     
important engines of innovation1        
invention1 and economic growth4  7#b7   
,many innovative small businesses1 which
 create more than #bj percent of the    
total number of new jobs created in the 
,united ,states each year1 depend on    
patent protections to commercialize new 
technologies4  7#c7 ,universities and   
their industry partners also rely on    
patent protections to transfer          
innovative new technologies from the    
laboratory or classroom to commercial   
use4  7#d7 ,recent studies have shown   
that there is a significant gap in the  
number of patents applied for and       
obtained by women and minorities4  7b7  
,sense of ,congress ,it is the sense of 
,congress that the ,government of 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 and   
minorities to harness the maximum       
innovative potential of the ,united     
,states and continue to promote         
leadership by the ,united ,states in the
 global economy4  #c4 ,study and report 
7a7 ,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7 
,administrator ,the term ,administrator 
means the ,administrator of the ,small  
,business ,administration4  7#b7 ,agency
 ,the term agency means a department1   
agency1 or instrumentality of the       
,united ,states ,government4  7#c7      
,director ,the term ,director means the 
,under ,secretary of ,commerce for      
,intellectual ,property and ,director of
 the ,united ,states ,patent and        
,trademark ,office4  7b7 ,study ,the    
,director1 in consultation with the     
,administrator and any other head of an 
appropriate agency1 shall conduct a     
study that--  7#a7 identifies publicly  
available data on the number of patents 

annually applied for and obtained by1   
and the benefits of increasing the      
number of patents applied for and       
obtained by1 women1 minorities1 and     
veterans and small businesses owned by  
women1 minorities1 and veterans2 and    
7#b7 provides legislative               
recommendations for how to-- 7,a7       
promote the participation of women1     
minorities1 and veterans in             
entrepreneurship activities2 and  7,b7  
increase the number of women1           
minorities1 and veterans who apply for  
and obtain patents4  7c7 ,report ,not   
later than #a year after the date of    
enactment of this ,act1 the ,director   
shall submit to the ,committee on the   
,judiciary of the ,senate1 the          
,committee on ,small ,business and      
,entrepreneurship of the ,senate1 the   
,committee on the ,judiciary of the     
,house of ,representatives1 and the     
,committee on ,small ,business of the   
,house of ,representatives a report on  
the results of the study conducted under

 subsection 7b74  #d4 ,extension of     
fee-setting authority ,section          
#aj7;i77#b7 of the ,leahy-,smith        
,america ,invents ,act 7#ce ,u4,s4,c4   
#da note7 is amended by striking #g-year
 and inserting #ae-year4