Extracted Text (may have errors)

117 1 ment of this Act and shall apply to proceedings com- 2 menced on or after that date. 3 SEC. 16. MARKING. 4 (a) VIRTUAL MARKING.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 287(a) of title 35, 6 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘or 7 when,’’ and inserting ‘‘or by fixing thereon the word 8 ‘patent’ or the abbreviation ‘pat.’ together with an 9 address of a posting on the Internet, accessible to 10 the public without charge for accessing the address, 11 that associates the patented article with the number 12 of the patent, or when,’’. 13 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 14 by this subsection shall apply to any case that is 15 pending on, or commenced on or after, the date of 16 the enactment of this Act. 17 (3) REPORT.—Not later than the date that is 18 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 19 the Director shall submit a report to Congress that 20 provides— 21 (A) an analysis of the effectiveness of ‘‘vir- 22 tual marking’’, as provided in the amendment 23 made by paragraph (1) of this subsection, as an 24 alternative to the physical marking of articles; •HR 1249 EH