Patent Eligibility Restoration Act gets its first full-committee hearing, and stalls there

2026-07-14Legislation

S. 1546 (119th Cong.); H.R. 3152 — Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, July 14, 2026

The Senate Judiciary Committee held its first full-committee hearing on the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act, the Tillis–Coons bill that would abolish the judge-made exceptions to 35 U.S.C. § 101 and replace them with five statutory exclusions, one of which covers processes that are substantially economic, financial, business, social, cultural, or artistic. The bill did not advance. Chairman Grassley described the hearing as fact-finding and said the committee had not reached consensus.

What it changesNothing to plan around yet. This is the fourth Congress to consider a § 101 rewrite without passing one, so applications filed today should still be drafted to survive Alice and Mayo rather than a hoped-for statute.

← All recent developments · Full archive

This is general information about a published decision, agency guidance or piece of legislation. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Items concerning offices outside the United States are reported for information only and are not counsel on the law of those countries.