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S. 1553 · Where this bill is now

In committee

Introduced in the Senate, May 1, 2025

What this bill does

In plain words · AI-written from the official summary

Makes patent challenges harder at the USPTO

The bill changes how the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office handles challenges to patents that have already been issued. It requires that different judges handle different stages of these challenges, limits who can file challenges, prevents people from making the same challenge twice in different courts, and raises the standard for proving a patent is invalid. The bill also gives colleges, universities, and nonprofits that own patents access to lower patent fees, and lets the USPTO keep the fees it collects to use as needed.

How it affects you

If you work for or own a company that invests heavily in patents and innovation, this may reduce the chances that competitors can successfully challenge your patents. If you work at a university or nonprofit that holds patents, your organization could benefit from lower fees. Most everyday people won't feel a direct effect, though the changes could indirectly influence how easily patents can be challenged in your industry or field.

Read the official summary (Introduced in Senate, May 1, 2025)

Promoting and Respecting Economically Vital American Innovation Leadership Act or the PREVAIL Act

This bill addresses various issues relating to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), including by imposing additional requirements on administrative patent validity challenges (proceedings to review and potentially cancel issued patents) at the USPTO.

The bill modifies provisions relating to inter partes reviews (IPRs) and other administrative patent validity proceedings, including by

• prohibiting an administrative patent judge who participated in deciding whether to institute an IPR (i.e., whether to allow the IPR to proceed based on the initial petition) from also participating in deciding the final outcome of the same IPR;

• prohibiting a person (individual or entity) from petitioning for an IPR against a patent unless the person meets certain standing requirements (currently, any person may petition for an IPR);

• prohibiting a person who has challenged a patent's validity in an IPR from raising the same challenges against the patent in other proceedings (e.g., district court) if the IPR has been instituted; and

• raising the burden that the petitioner in an IPR must meet to invalidate a previously issued patent claim.

The bill also makes institutions of higher education (IHEs) and nonprofit entities that hold patents on behalf of IHEs eligible for reduced patent-related fees, including filing fees. (Currently, employees of IHEs are eligible for reduced fees but not the IHEs themselves.)

The bill also makes fees collected by the USPTO available for the USPTO's use without further appropriations from Congress.

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.

119th Congress
1st SessionS. 1553

A BILL

PREVAIL Act

In the SenateNo vote yet

Sponsor: Sen. Christopher A. Coons (D-DE) · Introduced May 1, 2025 · Commerce · 1 version of the text

Read the full billOfficial record on Congress.gov ↗

Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action May 1, 2025: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.”

Sections

Sections · 9