Findings

Congress finds the following: (1) Decisions by the United States Patent and Trademark Office relating to patents may implicate, or have relevance to, information housed at or involving other Federal agencies. (2) Entities submitting patent applications to the United States Patent and Trademark Office may also submit information to, or share information with, other Federal agencies, necessitating accuracy and consistency in those representations. (3) Research has shown that patent examiners may benefit from additional information that is housed at, or is available to, Federal agencies other than the United States Patent and Trademark Office in order to assess prior art and the state of science and technology. (4) The Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office is encouraged to work with other Federal agencies.