S. 1097 · Where this bill is now
In committee
Introduced in the Senate, Mar 24, 2025
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryPatent office and FDA coordinate on drug patents
Ever wondered how the Patent Office and the FDA work together on drug patents. This bill creates a task force to help these two government agencies communicate and share information about their processes and decisions. The task force will set up ways for the Patent Office to ask the FDA for information that helps patent examiners do their jobs, and for the FDA to provide that information.
How it affects you
This doesn't directly change anything for most people. The bill is about making government agencies work together better behind the scenes on patent and drug approval processes, which could potentially make those systems run more smoothly, but the official summary doesn't describe specific changes that individuals would experience.
Read the official summary (Introduced in Senate, Mar 24, 2025)
Interagency Patent Coordination and Improvement Act of 2025
This bill establishes the Interagency Task Force on Patents to support coordination and communication between the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on activities relating to patents for human drugs and biological products.
The task force's duties shall include sharing information about (1) the processes of each agency, including how each agency evaluates applications (e.g., patent applications at the USPTO and new drug applications at the FDA); and (2) new approvals of patents, human drugs, biological products, and new technologies. The task force must also establish a process that requires (1) the USPTO to request from the FDA information relating to certain patent applications to help patent examiners carry out their duties, (2) the FDA to provide such information to the USPTO, and (3) the USPTO to assist the FDA in its ministerial role of listing patents.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
1st SessionS. 1097
A BILL
Interagency Patent Coordination and Improvement Act of 2025
Sponsor: Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) · Introduced Mar 24, 2025 · Commerce · 2 versions of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Apr 10, 2025: “Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 41.”
Sections
The wording of this bill hasn’t changed across its 2 official versions.