Demand Letter Transparency Act

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H.R.1896: Demand Letter Transparency Act of 2015 (Congress)

• If an entity sends more than 20 demand letters to the USPTO within a year, each demand letter must follow certain rules and requirements
  • Must include disclosure with specific details regarding the case, such as exactly what patents have been infringed upon, the related parties, etc
• Permits a recipient of a demand letter to file a petition with the USPTO if it believes that disclosure or patent letter information requirements have not been met
  • USPTO will notify the patent owner that the patent will be voided unless a fee is paid

GovTrack predicts that the Demand Letter Transparency Act has a 0% chance of being enacted.

Summary

Requires any entity that sends a specified number of demand letters during any 365-day period to submit to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), with respect to each patent that was the subject in each letter, a disclosure identifying:

• the patent, including a confirmation that the entity that sent the letter is the owner of the patent and is the last recorded entity in USPTO records for purposes of assignment, grant, or conveyance;
• the entity that has the right to license the patent or the name of the exclusive licensee;
• each entity asserting a claim with regard to the patent;
• each obligation to license the patent and the financial terms at which such patent has been licensed;
• the ultimate parent entity of such entity;
• the number of recipients of the letter;
• any case that has been filed by such entity relating to such patent; and
• any ex parte review or inter partes review of such patent.