SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the United States Patent and Trademark
Fee Modernization Act of 2003.
SEC. 2. FEES FOR PATENT SERVICES.
(a) GENERAL PATENT FEES.—Section 41(a) of title
35, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
“(a) The Director shall charge the following fees—
“(1) FILING AND BASIC NATIONAL FEES—
“(A) On filing each application for an original
patent, except for design, plant, or provisional applications,
$300.
“(B) On filing each application for an original
design patent, $200.
“(C) On filing each application for an original
plant patent, $200.
(D) On filing each provisional application
for an original patent, $200.
“(E) On filing each application for the reissue
of a patent, $300.
“(F) The basic national fee for each international
application filed under the treaty defined in section 351(a)
of this title entering the national stage under section 371
of this title, $300.
“(G) In addition, excluding any sequence
listing or computer program listing filed in an electronic
medium as prescribed by the Director, for any application the
specification and drawings of which exceed 100 sheets of paper
(or equivalent as prescribed by the Director if filed
in an electronic medium), $250 for each additional 50
sheets of paper (or equivalent as prescribed by the Director
if filed in an electronic medium) or fraction thereof
.
“(2) EXCESS CLAIMS FEES—
“(A) On filing or on presentation at any other time, $200
for each claim in independent form in excess of 3.
“(B) On filing or on presentation at any
other time, $50 for each claim (whether dependent or independent)
in excess of 20.
“(C) For each application containing a multiple
dependent claim, $360.
“For
the purpose of computing fees under this paragraph, a multiple
dependent claim as referred to in section 112 of this title
or any claim depending therefrom shall be considered as separate
dependent claims in accordance with the number of claims
to which reference is made. The Director may, by regulation,
provide for a refund of any part of the fee specified in
this paragraph for any claim that is canceled before an examination
on the merits, as prescribed by the Director, has been made
of the application under section 131 of this title. Errors
in payment of the additional fees under this paragraph may
be rectified in accordance with regulations prescribed by
the Director.
“(3) EXAMINATION FEES—
“(A) For examination of each application
for an original patent, except for design, plant, provisional,
or international applications, $200.
“(B) For examination of each application
for an original design patent, $130.
“(C) For examination of each application
for an original plant patent, $160.
“(D) For examination of the national stage
of each international application, $200.
“(E) For examination of each application
for the reissue of a patent, $600.
“The provisions of section 111(a)(3)
of this title for payment of the fee for filing the application shall
apply to the payment of the fee specified in this paragraph with
respect to an application filed under section 111(a) of this title. The
provisions of section 371(d) of this title for payment of the national
fee shall apply to the payment of the fee specified in this paragraph
with respect to an international application. The Director may,
by regulation, provide for a refund of any part of the fee specified
in this paragraph for any applicant who files a written declaration
of express abandonment as prescribed by the Director before an examination
has been made of the application under section 131 of this title,
as well as for any applicant who provides a search report that meets
the conditions prescribed by the Director.
“(A) For issuing each original patent, except
for design or plant patents, $1,400.
"(B) For issuing each original design patent,
$800.
“(C) For issuing each original plant patent,
$1,100.
“(D) For issuing each reissue patent, $1,400.
“(5) DISCLAIMER FEE—On filing each disclaimer, $130.
“(6) APPEAL FEES—
“(A) On filing an appeal from the examiner
to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, $500.
“(B) In addition, on filing a brief in support
of the appeal, $500, and on requesting an oral hearing in the
appeal before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences,
$1,000.
“(7) REVIVAL FEES—On filing each petition for the revival
of an unintentionally abandoned application for a patent, for
the unintentionally delayed payment of the fee for issuing
each patent, or for an unintentionally delayed response by
the patent owner in any reexamination proceeding, $1,500, unless
the petition is filed under section 133 or 151 of this title,
in which case the fee shall be $500.
“(8) EXTENSION FEES—For petitions for 1-month extensions of
time to take actions required by the Director in an application—
“(A) on filing a first petition, $120;
“(B) on filing a second petition, $330; and
“(C) on filing a third or subsequent petition,
$570.”.
(b) PATENT MAINTENANCE FEES.—Section 41(b) of title 35, United
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
“(b) The Director shall charge the following fees for maintaining
in force all patents based on applications filed on or after
December 12, 1980—
“(1) 3 years and 6 months after grant, $900.
“(2) 7 years and 6 months after grant, $2,300.
“(3) 11 years and 6 months after grant, $3,800.
“Unless payment of the applicable maintenance
fee is received in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on or before
the date the fee is due or within a grace period of six months thereafter,
the patent will expire as of the end of such grace period. The Director
may require the payment of a surcharge as a condition of accepting
within such 6-month grace period the payment of an applicable maintenance
fee. No fee may be established for maintaining a design or plant patent
in force.”.
(c) PATENT SEARCH FEES.—Section 41(d) of title 35, United States
Code, is amended to read as follows:
“(d)(1) The Director shall charge a fee for the search
of each application for a patent, except for provisional
applications. The Director shall establish the fees charged
under this paragraph to recover an amount not to exceed the estimated
average cost to the Office of searching applications for patent
either by acquiring a search report from a qualified search authority,
or by causing a search by Office personnel to be made, of each
application for patent.
“(A) For purposes of determining
the fees to be established under this paragraph, the cost to
the Office of causing a search of an application to be made
by Office personnel shall be deemed to be—
“(i) $500 for each application for an original patent,
except for design, plant, provisional, or international
applications;
“(ii) $100 for each application for an original design
patent;
“(iii) $300 for each application for an original plant
patent;
“(iv) $500 for the national stage of each international
application; and
“(v) $500 for each application for the reissue of a patent.
“(B) The provisions of section 111(a)(3) of this title for
payment of the fee for filing the application shall apply to
the payment of the fee specified in this paragraph with respect
to an application filed under section 111(a) of this title. The
provisions of section 371(d) of this title for payment of the
national fee shall apply to the payment of the fee specified
in this paragraph with respect to an international application.
“(C) The Director may, by regulation, provide for a refund
of any part of the fee specified in this paragraph for any
applicant who files a written declaration of express abandonment
as prescribed by the Director before an examination has been
made of the application under section 131 of this title, as
well as for any applicant who provides a search report that
meets the conditions prescribed by the Director.
“(2) The Director shall establish fees for all
other processing, services, or materials relating to patents not
specified in this section to recover the estimated average cost to
the Office of such processing, services, or materials, except that
the Director shall charge the following fees for the following services—
“(A) for recording a document affecting
title, $40 per property.
“(B) for each photocopy, $.25 per page.
“(C) for each black and white copy of a patent,
$3.
“The yearly fee for providing a library specified in section 13
of this title with uncertified printed copies of the specifications
and drawings for all patents in that year shall be $50.”.
(d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 119(e)(2) of title 35, United
States Code, is amended by striking “subparagraph (A) or (C) of”.
SEC. 3. ADJUSTMENT OF TRADEMARK FEES.
(a) The fee under section 31(a) of the Trademark Act of 1946 (15
U.S.C. 1113(a)) for filing an electronic application for the registration
of a trademark shall be $325. If the trademark application is filed
on paper the fee shall be $375. The Director may reduce the fee
for filing an electronic application for the registration of a trademark
to $275 for any applicant who prosecutes the application through
electronic means under such conditions as may be prescribed by the
Director. Beginning in fiscal year 2004, the provisions of the second
and third sentence of section 31(a) of the Trademark Act of 1946
shall apply to the fee established under this section.
(b) For purposes of this section, the “Trademark Act of 1946” refers
to the Act entitled “An Act to provide for the registration and protection
of trademarks used in commerce, to carry out the provisions of certain
international conventions, and for other purposes”, approved July
5, 1946, as amended (15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.).
SEC. 4. CORRECTION OF ERRONEOUS NAMING OF OFFICER.
Effective on the date of its enactment, section 13203(a) of
Public Law 107-273 (116 Stat. 1902) is amended by striking “COMMISSIONER” and
inserting “DIRECTOR”, and by striking each occurrence of “Commissioner” and
inserting “Director”.
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE, APPLICABILITY, AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISION.
(a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as otherwise
provided, this Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take
effect on March 30, 2003 or the date of enactment of this Act, whichever
is later.
(b) APPLICABILITY.—
(1) Except as otherwise provided in subparagraphs (A) and (B), the
amendments made by section 2 shall apply to all patents, whenever
granted, and to all patent applications pending on or filed after
the effective date of this Act.
(A) Except as otherwise provided in this subparagraph, sections
41(a)(1), 41(a)(3), and 41(d)(1) of title 35, United States Code,
as amended by this Act shall apply only to all applications for
patents filed under section 111(a) of title 35, United States Code,
on or after the effective date of this Act, and all international
applications entering the national stage after compliance with
section 371 of title 35, United States Code, on or after the effective
date of this Act. Section 41(a)(1)(D) of title 35, United States
Code, as amended by this Act shall apply only to all applications
for patent filed under section 111(b) of title 35, United States
Code, before, on, or after the effective date of this Act in which
the filing fee specified in section 41 of title 35, United States
Code, was not paid before the effective date of this Act.
(B) Section 41(a)(2) of title 35, United States Code, as amended
by this Act shall apply only to the extent that the number of excess
claims, after giving effect to any cancellation of claims, is in
excess of the number of claims for which the excess claims fee
specified in section 41 of title 35, United States Code, was paid
before the effective date of this Act.
(2) The amendments made by section 3 shall apply to
all applications for the registration of a trademark filed or amended
after the effective date of this Act.
(c) TRANSITIONAL PROVISION.—
(1) Between the effective date of this Act and the date on which
the Director establishes search fees under the authority provided
in section 41(d)(1) of title 35, United States Code, the Director
shall charge—
(A) For the search of each application for an original patent,
except for design, plant, provisional, or international applications,
$500.
(B) For the search of each application for an original design
patent, $100.
(C) For the search of each application for an original plant
patent, $300.
(D) For the search of the national stage of each international
application, $500.
(E) For the search of each application for the reissue of a
patent, $500.
(2) The provisions of section 111(a)(3) of this title for payment
of the fee for filing the application shall apply to the payment
of the fee specified in paragraph (1) with respect to an application
filed under section 111(a) of this title. The provisions of section
371(d) of this title for payment of the national fee shall apply
to the payment of the fee specified in paragraph (1) with respect
to an international application. The Director may by regulation,
provide for a refund of any part of the fee specified in paragraph
(1) for any applicant who files a written declaration of express
abandonment as prescribed by the Director before an examination has
been made of the application under section 131 of this title, as
well as for any applicant who provides a search report that meets
the conditions prescribed by the Director.
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