ETHIC Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2276 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2276

                      To address patent thickets.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 15, 2025

 Mr. Welch (for himself, Mr. Hawley, and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
                      To address patent thickets.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Eliminating Thickets to Increase 
Competition Act'' or the ``ETHIC Act''.

SEC. 2. ADDRESSING PATENT THICKETS.

    (a) Limit on Number of Patents Per Patent Group That May Be 
Asserted in Action for Infringement.--Section 271(e) of title 35, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(7)(A) A person who brings an action for infringement of a patent 
under this section against a party described in subparagraph (B) may 
assert in the action not more than one patent per Patent Group.
    ``(B) A party described in this subparagraph is--
            ``(i) a person who--
                    ``(I) submits an application for approval of a drug 
                under subsection (b)(2) or (j) of section 505 of the 
                Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355), 
                or is a holder of such an approved application; or
                    ``(II) submits an application for licensure of a 
                biological product under section 351(k) of the Public 
                Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 262(k)), or is a holder 
                of such a licensure; or
            ``(ii) a person making, using, selling, offering for sale, 
        introducing or delivering into interstate commerce, or 
        importing--
                    ``(I) a drug approved pursuant to an application 
                under subsection (b)(2) or (j) of section 505 of the 
                Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355); 
                or
                    ``(II) a biological product licensed under section 
                351(k) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
                262(k)).
    ``(C) A person who brings an action described in subparagraph (A) 
asserting a patent against a party may not bring any additional actions 
described in that subparagraph asserting a patent in the same Patent 
Group against that party.
    ``(D)(i) For purposes of this paragraph, the term `Patent Group' 
means 2 or more commonly owned patents or applications that--
            ``(I) are identified on 1 or more disclaimers under section 
        253 to obviate obviousness-type double patenting of another 
        commonly owned patent; or
            ``(II) are subject to 1 or more disclaimers under section 
        253 to obviate obviousness-type double patenting of another 
        commonly owned patent.
    ``(ii) For purposes of clause (i)(I)--
            ``(I) each patent or application that identifies the same 
        patent or application on a disclaimer under section 253 is part 
        of the same Patent Group; and
            ``(II) each patent or application that is identified on a 
        disclaimer under section 253 is part of the same Patent Group 
        as the patent or application subject to the disclaimer.''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to an application submitted under subsection (b)(2) 
or (j) of section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 
U.S.C. 355) or section 351(k) of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 262(k)) on or after the date of enactment of this Act.
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