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S. 926: Grace Period Restoration Act of 2015

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S. 926: Grace Period Restoration Act of 2015

114th Congress · introduced 2015-04-14 · Commerce · Latest: Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-603.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2015-04-14 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-603. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Grace Period Restoration Act of 2015

Plain summary

Grace Period Restoration Act of 2015 Amends federal patent law to revise the one-year grace period under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) that prohibits certain pre-filing disclosures made during the year preceding the effective filing date of a claimed invention from being considered prior art that would make the claim ineligible for a patent based on lack of novelty or obvious subject matter grounds. (A disclosure that is prior art generally means that a patent cannot be issued for a claimed invention because the invention was already patented, described in a printed publication, in public use, on sale, available to the public, or described in an issued patent or a previously filed application.) Prohibits an inventor's or any other person's pre-filing disclosure from barring the patentability of certain claims based on lack of novelty or obvious subject matter grounds if, before such disclosure and within the one-year period before the filing date, the claimed invention was already publicly disclosed in a printed publication by the inventor, a joint inventor, or another who obtained the claimed invention from the inventor or a joint inventor. Allows an inventor who discloses an invention in a printed publication in such a manner in the year before filing a patent claim for the invention to remain entitled to the patent, regardless of any subsequent disclosures by third parties. Excludes certain disclosures from being considered prior art under the revised grace period. Requires the amendments made by this Act to take effect as if enacted as part of the AIA.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Grace Period Restoration Act of 2015

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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The strongest published arguments

Arguments for (supporters)

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Arguments against (opponents)

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI] · 1 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI] reported raising $3.5 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong114-s926 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114