S. 1546

II
  119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
  S. 1546
  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
  May 1, 2025
  Mr. Tillis  (for himself and  Mr. Coons ) introduced the following bill; which was
  read twice and referred to the  Committee on
  Judiciary
  A BILL
To amend title 35, United States Code, to address matters relating to patent
  subject matter eligibility, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
  Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of
  2025  .
2.
Findings
Congress finds the following:
(1)
As of the day before the date of enactment of this Act, patent eligibility
  jurisprudence interpreting section 101 of title 35, United States Code, requires
  significant modification and clarification.
(2)
For many years after the original enactment of section 101 of title 35, United
  States Code, the Supreme Court of the United States and other courts created
  judicial exceptions to the wording of that section, thereby rendering an
  increasing number of inventions ineligible for patent protection.
(3)
Efforts by judges of district courts and courts of appeals of the United
  States to apply the exceptions described in paragraph (2) to specific
  circumstances have led to extensive confusion and a lack of consistency—
(A)
throughout the judicial branch of the
  Federal Government and Federal agencies; and
(B)
among patent practitioners.
(4)
Many judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and
  of various district courts of the United States have explicitly expressed the
  need for more guidance with respect to the meaning of section 101 of title 35,
  United States Code, and many patent owners, and persons that engage with patent
  owners, complain that the interpretation of that section is extremely confusing
  and difficult to discern and apply with any confidence.
(5)
Under this Act, and the amendments made by this Act, the state of the law
  shall be as follows:
(A)
All judicial exceptions to patent
  eligibility are eliminated.
(B)
Any invention or discovery that can be
  claimed as a useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter,
  or any useful improvement thereof, is eligible for patent protection, except
  as explicitly provided in section 101 of title 35, United States Code, as
  amended by this Act, as described in subparagraphs (D) and (E) of this
  paragraph.
(C)
Sections 102, 103, and 112 of title 35, United States Code, will continue
  to prescribe the requirements for obtaining a patent, but no such
  requirement will be used in determining patent eligibility.
(D)
The following inventions shall not be eligible for patent
  protection:
(i)
A mathematical formula that is not part of an invention that is in a
  category described in subparagraph (B).
(ii)
A mental process performed solely in the mind of a human being.
(iii)
An unmodified human gene, as that gene exists in the human
  body.
(iv)
An unmodified human gene that is isolated from the human body, but
  otherwise the same as that gene exists in the human body.
(v)
An unmodified natural material, as
  that material exists in nature.
(vi)
A process that is substantially economic, financial, business, social,
  cultural, or artistic.
(E)
Under the exception described in subparagraph (D)(vi)—
(i)
process claims drawn solely to the
  steps undertaken by human beings in methods of doing business,
  performing dance moves, offering marriage proposals, and the like shall
  not be eligible for patent coverage, and adding a non-essential
  reference to a computer by merely stating, for example,  do it on
  a computer  shall not establish such eligibility; and
(ii)
any process that cannot be practically performed without the use of a
  machine (including a computer) or manufacture shall be eligible for
  patent coverage.
3.
Patent eligibility
(a)
In general
Chapter 10 of title 35, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in section 100—
(A)
in subsection (b), by striking  includes a new use of a known
  process  and inserting  includes a use, application, or
  method of manufacture of a known or naturally-occurring
  process ; and
(B)
by adding at the end the following:
(k)
The term  useful  means, with respect to an
  invention or discovery, that the invention or discovery has a
  specific and practical utility from the perspective of a person
  of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention or discovery
  pertains.
  ; and
(2)
by amending section 101 to read as follows:
101.
Patent eligibility
(a)
In general
Whoever invents or discovers any useful process, machine,
  manufacture, or composition of matter, or any useful improvement
  thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject only to the
  exclusions in subsection (b) and to the further conditions and
  requirements of this title.
(b)
Eligibility exclusions
(1)
In general
Subject to paragraph (2), a person may not obtain a patent
  for any of the following, if claimed as such:
(A)
A mathematical formula that is not part of a claimed
  invention in a category described in subsection
  (a).
(B)
A process that is substantially economic, financial,
  business, social, cultural, or artistic, even though at
  least 1 step in the process refers to a machine or
  manufacture.
(C)
A process that—
(i)
is a mental
  process performed solely in the human mind;
  or
(ii)
occurs in nature wholly independent of, and prior
  to, any human activity.
(D)
An unmodified human gene, as that gene exists in the
  human body.
(E)
An unmodified natural material, as that material
  exists in nature.
(2)
Conditions
For the purposes of—
(A)
subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1), the
  claimed invention shall not be excluded from eligibility
  for a patent if the invention cannot practically be
  performed without the use of a machine or
  manufacture;
(B)
paragraph (1)(D),
  a human gene shall not be considered to be unmodified if
  that human gene is—
(i)
purified,
  enriched, or otherwise altered by human activity;
  or
(ii)
otherwise employed in a useful invention or
  discovery; and
(C)
paragraph (1)(E), a natural material shall not be
  considered to be unmodified if that natural material
  is—
(i)
isolated,
  purified, enriched, or otherwise altered by human
  activity; or
(ii)
otherwise employed in a useful invention or
  discovery.
(c)
Eligibility
(1)
In general
In determining whether, under this section, a claimed
  invention is eligible for a patent, eligibility shall be
  determined—
(A)
by considering the claimed invention as a whole and
  without discounting or disregarding any claim element;
  and
(B)
without regard to—
(i)
the manner in which the claimed invention was
  made;
(ii)
whether a claim element is known, conventional,
  routine, or naturally occurring;
(iii)
the state of the applicable art, as of the date on
  which the claimed invention is invented; or
(iv)
any other consideration in section 102, 103, or
  112.
(2)
Infringement action
(A)
In general
In an action brought for infringement under this
  title, the court, at any time, may determine whether an
  invention or discovery that is a subject of the action
  is eligible for a patent under this section, including
  on motion of a party when there are no genuine issues of
  material fact.
(B)
Limited discovery
With respect to a determination described in
  subparagraph (A), the court may consider limited
  discovery relevant only to the eligibility described in
  that subparagraph before ruling on a motion described in
  that subparagraph.
  .
(b)
Technical and conforming amendment
The table of sections for chapter 10 of title 35, United States Code, is
  amended by striking the item relating to section 101 and inserting the
  following:
101. Patent eligibility.
  .
4.
Rules of construction
(a)
Obviousness-Type double patenting
Nothing in this Act, or any amendment made by this Act, may be construed to
  affect or alter the judicially-created doctrine of obviousness-type double
  patenting.
(b)
Insignificant extra-Solution activity
With respect to the exclusions to patent eligibility described in
  subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 101(b)(1) of title 35, United States Code,
  as added by section 3 of this Act, the inclusion of pre- or post-solution
  activity by a computer (or other machine or manufacture) in claim language shall
  not be sufficient to confer patent eligibility on the claim if that computer (or
  other machine or manufacture) is not necessary to practically perform the
  invention.