By Berlanga H.B. No. 1520
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the protection and use of certain products,
1-3 information, and technology of the Texas Department of Health.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 12, Health and Safety Code,
1-6 is amended by adding Section 12.020 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 12.020. PROTECTION AND USE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.
1-8 (a) The department may:
1-9 (1) apply for, register, secure, hold, and protect
1-10 under the laws of the United States, any state, or any nation:
1-11 (A) a patent for an invention or discovery of,
1-12 or improvement to, any process, machine, manufacture, or
1-13 composition of matter;
1-14 (B) a copyright for an original work of
1-15 authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression now known or
1-16 later developed that can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise
1-17 communicated;
1-18 (C) a trademark, service mark, collective mark,
1-19 or certification mark for a word, name, symbol, device, or slogan,
1-20 or any combination of those items, that has been adopted and used
1-21 by the department to identify goods or services and distinguish
1-22 those goods or services from other goods or services; or
1-23 (D) other evidence of protection or exclusivity
1-24 issued in or for intellectual property;
2-1 (2) enter into a nonexclusive contract with an
2-2 individual or company for the sale, lease, marketing, or other
2-3 distribution of intellectual property of the department;
2-4 (3) obtain under a nonexclusive contract entered into
2-5 under Subdivision (2) a royalty, license right, or other
2-6 appropriate means of securing appropriate compensation for the
2-7 development or purchase of intellectual property of the department;
2-8 and
2-9 (4) waive or reduce the amount of a fee, royalty, or
2-10 other thing of monetary or nonmonetary value to be assessed by the
2-11 department if the department determines that the waiver will:
2-12 (A) further the goals and missions of the
2-13 department; and
2-14 (B) result in a net benefit to the state.
2-15 (b) Intellectual property for which the department has
2-16 applied for or received a patent, copyright, trademark, or other
2-17 evidence of protection or exclusivity is excepted from required
2-18 disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code.
2-19 (c) Money paid to the department under this section shall be
2-20 deposited to the credit of the general revenue fund.
2-21 (d) It is not a violation of Chapter 572, Government Code,
2-22 or another law of this state:
2-23 (1) for an employee of the department who conceives,
2-24 creates, discovers, invents, or develops intellectual property to
2-25 own or to be awarded any amount of equity interest or participation
2-26 in the research, development, licensing, or exploitation of that
2-27 intellectual property with the approval of the commissioner; or
3-1 (2) for an individual, at the request of the
3-2 commissioner, to serve as a member of the board of directors or
3-3 other governing board of a business entity that has an agreement
3-4 with this state or a political subdivision of this state relating
3-5 to the research, development, licensing, or exploitation of
3-6 intellectual property in which the department has an ownership
3-7 interest.
3-8 (e) The commissioner shall institute intellectual property
3-9 policies for the department that establish minimum standards for:
3-10 (1) the public disclosure or availability of products,
3-11 technology, and scientific information, including inventions,
3-12 discoveries, trade secrets, and computer software;
3-13 (2) review by the department of products, technology,
3-14 and scientific information, including consideration of ownership
3-15 and appropriate legal protection;
3-16 (3) the licensing of products, technology, and
3-17 scientific information;
3-18 (4) the identification of ownership and licensing
3-19 responsibilities for each class of intellectual property;
3-20 (5) royalty participation by inventors and the
3-21 department; and
3-22 (6) equity and management participation on the part of
3-23 the inventor in business entities that use technology or scientific
3-24 information created at the department.
3-25 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
3-26 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-27 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-3 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-4 passage, and it is so enacted.