HR 3957
101th Congress
House
Commerce
Biotechnology
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Import restrictions
Patents
Restrictive trade practices
To amend title 35, United States Code, with respect to patents on certain processes.
Everywhere this bill has been
8 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Sep 25, 1990
Subcommittee Hearings Held.
Mar 22, 1990
Executive Comment Requested from USTR.
Mar 9, 1990
Executive Comment Requested from Commerce, NIH.
Mar 9, 1990
Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Administration of Justice.
Feb 12, 1990
Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.
Feb 6, 1990
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Feb 6, 1990
Referred to the House Committee on Judiciary.
Feb 6, 1990
Introduced in House
Ask about this bill
Have a question about what this bill does? Ask in plain English; the answer is drawn from the bill's actual text and official record, and it'll tell you when something isn't in the text rather than guess.
Plain-English summary
Amends Federal patent law to provide that a process of making a product shall not be considered obvious (and shall thus be patentable) if an essential material used in the process is novel and nonobvious.
Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to declare as an unlawful trade practice the importation into the United States of articles made or processed by means of a biotechnological material infringing on an enforceable U.S. patent.
What's happening now
Subcommittee Hearings Held.
Bill text
1 version
- Introduced in House Formatted Text
Cosponsors
1
Cite this page
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 3957: To amend title 35, United States Code, with respect to patents on certain processes.. 101st Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/101-HR-3957/
"H.R. 3957: To amend title 35, United States Code, with respect to patents on certain processes.." 101st Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/101-HR-3957/.
H.R. 3957, 101st Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/101-HR-3957/.
[H.R. 3957: To amend title 35, United States Code, with respect to patents on certain processes.](https://openamerica.io/bill/101-HR-3957/)