Congress·In Committee·H.R. 7140

CLEAR Act

Congress Proposes Bill to Shield Small Businesses and Customers from Costly Patent Lawsuits

Jan 16·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

Next up: A house committeeNo action in 6 months

A house committee must act next: committee consideration.

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Key Points

Congress is considering a bill called the CLEAR Act to stop patent owners from suing stores or regular customers for products they didn't actually make. This targets a common tactic where legal threats are used against small businesses that simply sell a product, rather than the company that designed it.
The bill would allow a court to pause a lawsuit against a shop or a customer if the manufacturer of the product is already involved in a legal case over the same patent. This ensures the real legal battle happens between the patent owner and the maker of the product, not the person who bought it or the store that sold it.
To get this legal pause, the store or customer must agree to follow whatever the court decides in the manufacturer's case. This means if the manufacturer loses and is told to stop selling the product, the store must also stop selling it without starting a whole new trial.
This policy aims to protect 'Main Street' retailers from expensive legal fees for products they just put on their shelves. It also helps prevent 'patent trolls' from using the threat of a lawsuit to get quick cash settlements from people who don't have the money to fight in court.
If a court finds that the manufacturer is broke and cannot pay for the damages, the pause on the lawsuit against the store can be lifted. This ensures that the person who owns the patent still has a way to get paid if their rights were actually violated.

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Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Scores run from -100 (strongly harmful) to +100 (strongly beneficial) for each group, combining impact, certainty, scope, and duration ratings of 1-5. How impact scoring works

Homeowners and other end users who buy products for ordinary personal use could be shielded from patent infringement lawsuits targeting those products. Under this bill, if you bought a gadget or piece of technology and the patent owner has a problem with it, they'd have to go after the manufacturer first — not you. While patent suits against individual consumers are relatively rare, this provides a clear legal protection that didn't exist before.

ImpactCertaintyScopeDurationSentiment

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Jan 16, 2026House

Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Jan 16, 2026

Introduced in House

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

Related News

2 articles

The Floridian·Jan 19

Laurel Lee Introduces Bipartisan Bill Creating Universal Customer Stay Rule

Representative Laurel Lee (R-FL) has introduced bipartisan legislation establishing a universal 'customer stay' rule to protect small businesses in patent litigation. The CLEAR Act ensures patent disputes are litigated against manufacturers rather than unsuspecting retailers or end users.

Center Right

Florida Politics·Jan 20

Delegation for 1.20.26: Playoffs — blueprint — freezing ICE — nutrition — Nicaragua

Rep. Laurel Lee introduced the Customer Legal Ease and Relief (CLEAR) Act, a bipartisan bill to establish standard rules protecting retailers from lawsuits for selling or even using products where patents are in dispute. The bill aims to shift litigation to the manufacturers of the products.

Center

No votes or related bills recorded for this bill yet.