PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Aug 4, 1995
Prior Domestic Commercial Use Act of 1995 - Amends the Federal judicial code to create a defense to patent infringement with respect to any subject matter the manufacture, use, sale, offer for sale, or importation of which in the United States would otherwise infringe one or more claims in the patent being asserted, if a person had, acting in good faith, commercially used the subject matter before the effective filing date of such patent. Specifies that the sale or other disposition of the subject matter of a patent by a person entitled to assert the defense shall exhaust the patent owner's rights to the extent they would have been exhausted had such disposition been made by the patent owner. Subjects the defense to specified limitations and qualifications regarding: (1) the scope of the defense (the defense is not a general license under all claims of the patent at issue but extends only to the subject matter claimed in the patent that the person asserting the defense had commercially used before the effective filing date of the patent, with exceptions); (2) effective and serious preparation; (3) burden of proof (on the person asserting the defense); (4) abandonment of use; (5) who may assert the defense (it is a personal defense); (6) a one-year limitation (the subject matter on which the defense is based must have been commercially used or reduced to practice more than one year prior to the effective filing date of the patent); (7) unsuccessful assertion of the defense (directs the court to find the case exceptional for purposes of awarding attorney's fees); and (8) invalidity of a patent (a patent shall not be deemed invalid solely because a defense is raised or established under this Act).
People & committees
Rep. Moorhead, Carlos J. [R-CA-27] · R–CA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
For Further Action See H.R.3460.
Subcommittee Hearings Held.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E1680)
Referred to the House Committee on Judiciary.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Aug 21, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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