DIVISION I – Committee on the Judiciary | Mobile-Friendly Documents

DIVISION I – Committee on the Judiciary

Prevents the disclosure of the identities of any member of a review panel to applicants by any agency that awards federal research grants.

Provides that the Director of the Patent and Trademark Office shall allow for the collection, on a voluntary basis, of information on gender, race, military, or veteran status, and any other demographic category that the Director determines is appropriate from patent applicants.
Requires the Director to keep demographic information confidential and separate from the rest of the patent application as it is considered by the patent examiner.
Requires annual reporting from the Director on patent applicants and inventors on issued patents broken down by demographics, technology class of the invention, and country and state (if in the United States) of residence and the Director must make an anonymized version of the underlying data available to the public.

Amends the Trademark Act of 1946 to append a new paragraph that provides expressly for contributory liability for electronic commerce platforms for sales of counterfeit products that pose a risk to consumer health and safety unless certain best practices are followed by the platform.

Updates filing fees for mergers for the first time in two decades. The legislation helps ensure that the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission have the resources they need to aggressively enforce the antitrust law.
Large, complex mergers typically require more agency staff and resources to review. These deals are also more likely to raise antitrust concerns. However, the largest transactions only account for a small percentage of the filing fees under the current fee schedule. The provisions increase filing fees on the types of acquisitions that consume significant agency time and resources, while also reducing fees on smaller and mid-sized transactions. Mergers valued at $1 billion and over will pay higher fees, while those valued under $500,000 will pay lower fees. Filing fees will remain a tiny fraction of the value of the transaction. To ensure this legislation if not just a one-time fix, these filing fees will be linked to increases in the Consumer Price Index.

Provides that $252,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated for the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and $418,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated for the Federal Trade Commission for FY 2022.

Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to create a new classification of “W” nonimmigrants as follows:
- W-1: Entrepreneurs with an ownership interest in a start-up entity.
- W-2 Essential employees of a start-up entity.
- W-3: The spouses and children of W-1 and W-2 nonimmigrants.

Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish procedures for certain aliens with an ownership interest in a start-up entity to self-petition for classification as a W-1 nonimmigrant, and to receive extensions of such classification for up to 8 years if the entity meets certain growth benchmarks.
Provides for a limited number of W-2 visas for personnel who are essential to the growth and success of the start-up entity if the entity serves as the basis for the W-1 status of a founder.
Provides for W-3 visas for the spouses and children of W-1 and W-2 nonimmigrants.

Directs the Secretary to establish procedures for certain aliens with an ownership interest in a start-up entity to self-petition for lawful permanent resident status as an immigrant entrepreneur if the entity demonstrates a proven track record of success through job creation and significant revenue generation or receipt of investment capital.

Exempts from the numerical limits on immigrant visas, certain aliens (and the spouses and children of such aliens) who have earned a doctoral degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) from a qualified U.S. research institution or a foreign institution if the degree is the equivalent to a doctoral degree issued by a qualified U.S. research institution.

Requires individuals seeking classification as W-1 nonimmigrants, immigrant entrepreneurs, or immigrant STEM doctoral recipients to pay a $1,000 supplemental fee, which will fund STEM scholarships for low-income U.S. students.

Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish procedures for aliens to self-petition for classification as a W-1 immigrant. Provides the Secretary discretion to classify an individual as a W-1 nonimmigrant for an initial 3-year period if:
- The individual possesses an ownership interest of not less than 10 percent in a start-up entity.
- The individual will play a central and active role in the management or operations of the start-up entity.
- The individual possesses the knowledge, skills, or experience to substantially assist the start-up entity with the growth and success of the business
During the 18-month period preceding the filing of the petition, the start-up entity received at least $250,000 in qualifying investments from one or more qualified investors, or at least $100,000 in qualifying government awards or grants.