PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Mar 7, 2018
Preserving Access to Cost Effective Drugs Act or the PACED Act
This bill prohibits patent owners from asserting tribal sovereign immunity as a defense in certain proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, including patent validity challenge proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). The prohibition also applies to court actions and proceedings before the International Trade Commission.
Sovereign immunity for foreign states shall apply in the PTAB as it applies in federal court.
People & committees
Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR] · R–AR
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Aug 10, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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