Washington Update: Grace Period Restoration Act; Patent Legislation; Open Access

Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in both the House and Senate that would fix an unintended flaw in the America Invents Act that discourages researchers from publishing findings. In addition, APLU and the Association of American Universities (AAU) sent a letter to the Consumer Electronics Association reiterating a strong desire to find a balance between combating patent trolls and retaining strong patents. APLU and AAU also sent a letter supporting legislation that would make journal articles resulting from federally funded scientific research freely available online.

Senators Baldwin and Vitter and Representatives Sensenbrenner and Conyers Introduce the Grace Period Restoration Act

Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and David Vitter (R-LA) along with Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) introduced the Grace Period Restoration Act, which APLU strongly supports. The legislation would fix an unintended flaw with the America Invents Act (AIA) that discourages publication of knowledge/research discoveries as the inventor could be beat to the patent office. The Grace Period Restoration Act clarifies that the AIA provides a grace period in which inventors can disclose research findings in printed publications without jeopardizing intellectual property rights

APLU and AAU Respond to the Consumer Electronics Association Letter to Universities on Patent Legislation

APLU and AAU sent a letter to the Consumer Electronics Association as a response to their communications with universities urging institutions to remove their names from the 145-university sign-on letter expressing concern with H.R. 9, the Innovation Act. The APLU/AAU letter further clarifies the concerns of the higher education community and reiterates our strong desire to find an appropriate balance between combatting patent trolls and retaining the strength of patents which are crucial to technology transfer.

APLU, AAU on Expressing Support for Public Access Legislation

APLU and AAU sent letters of support to sponsors of three pieces of legislation that would make journal articles resulting from federally funded scientific research freely available online. The letters were sent to the sponsors of the Fair Access to Science Technology Research Act of 2015 (FASTR, H.R.1477/S.779) and the Public Access to Public Science Act (PAPS, H.R.1426).

FASTR and PAPS would effectively reinforce in statute the public access policy promulgated by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) governing peer-reviewed articles resulting from federally funded research. FASTR would require all federal agencies funding $100 million or more in extramural research expenditures to create federal research public access policies, comparable to the Public Access Policy of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). PAPS would require the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the National Weather Service (NWS) to create federal research public access policies comparable to the Public Access Policy of the NIH.

The letters can be found here:

• H.R.1477
• S.779
• H.R.1426