Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of 2025
Sponsored By: Senator Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC]
Introduced
Summary
Recenter patent eligibility on inventions that show a specific and practical utility tied to a machine, manufacture, or composition of matter. The bill would rewrite 35 U.S.C. §101 to replace judicial exceptions with a statutory framework that enumerates explicit exclusions and clarifies when excluded subject matter can qualify.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 2 mixed.
Patent eligibility changes for inventors
If enacted, this bill would broaden what inventions can be patented by saying any useful process, machine, manufacture, composition, or useful improvement is potentially eligible. It would define "useful" as having specific, practical utility to someone skilled in the field. The bill would also list items barred from patents, like pure math, mainly business or economic processes, purely mental steps, unmodified human genes, and unmodified natural materials. Those exclusions would not apply if the invention cannot practically be done without a machine or if a gene or material is purified, altered, or used in a useful invention. The bill would tell examiners and courts to treat eligibility separately from novelty, nonobviousness, and disclosure rules. These changes would take effect upon enactment.
Double patenting rule preserved
If enacted, this bill would say it does not change the judicial rule against obviousness‑type double patenting. That means courts would still limit getting extra patent time through similar later patents. This clarification would take effect upon enactment.
Courts may decide eligibility sooner
If enacted, this bill would let courts decide patent eligibility at any time during an infringement case, including on motion when facts are not disputed. Courts could allow limited discovery only about eligibility before ruling. This could speed some cases but also change how parties prepare and budget for litigation. These changes would take effect upon enactment.
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Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC]
NC • R
Cosponsors
Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
DE • D
Sponsored 5/1/2025
Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN]
TN • R
Sponsored 6/17/2025
Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI]
HI • D
Sponsored 6/17/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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