NOTE 1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

 

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As of and for the years ended September 30, 2005 and 2004

 

Reporting Entity

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency of the United States within the U.S. Department of Commerce. The USPTO administers the laws relevant to patents and trademarks and advises the Secretary of Commerce, the President of the United States, and the Administration on patent, trademark, and copyright protection, and trade-related aspects of intellectual property.

These financial statements include the USPTO’s two core business activities – granting patents and registering trademarks – that promote the use of intellectual property rights as a means of achieving economic prosperity. These activities give innovators, businesses, and entrepreneurs the protection and encouragement they need to turn their creative ideas into tangible products, and also provide protection for their inventions and trademarks.

These financial statements report the accounts for salaries and expenses (13X1006), special fund receipts (135127), customer deposits from the public (13X6542), customer deposits from other federal agencies (13F3885), Patent Cooperation Treaty collections (13X6538), and Madrid Protocol collections (13X6554) which are under the control of the USPTO. The federal budget classifies the USPTO under the Other Advancement of Commerce (376) budget function. The USPTO does not have custodial responsibility, nor does it have lending or borrowing authority. The USPTO does not transact business among its own operating units, and therefore, no intra-entity eliminations are necessary.

Basis of Presentation

As required by the Chief Financial Officers’ Act of 1990 and 31 U.S.C. 3515 (b), the accompanying financial statements present the financial position, net cost of operations, budgetary resources, and cash flows for the USPTO’s core business activities. The books and records of the USPTO serve as the source of this information.

These financial statements were prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (GAAP) and the form and content for entity financial statements specified by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in Circular A-136, Financial Reporting Requirements , as well as the accounting policies of the USPTO. Therefore, they may differ from other financial reports submitted pursuant to OMB directives for the purpose of monitoring and controlling the use of the USPTO's budgetary resources. The GAAP for federal entities are the standards prescribed by the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB), which is the official body for setting the accounting standards of the federal government. There were no changes in GAAP during FY 2005 that affected the financial statements. Certain prior year balances were reclassified to conform with current year presentation.

Throughout these financial statements, assets, liabilities, revenues, and costs have been classified according to the type of entity with which the transactions are associated. Intra-governmental assets and liabilities are those from or to other federal entities. Intra-governmental earned revenues are collections or accruals of revenue from other federal entities and intra-governmental costs are payments or accruals to other federal entities.

Basis of Accounting

Transactions are recorded on the accrual basis of accounting, as well as on a budgetary basis. Accrual accounting allows for revenue to be recognized when earned and expenses to be recognized when goods or services are received, without regard to the receipt or payment of cash. Budgetary accounting allows for compliance with the requirements for and controls over the use of federal funds. The accompanying financial statements are presented on the accrual basis of accounting.

Budgets and Budgetary Accounting

Total budgetary resources are primarily comprised of Congressional authority to spend current year fee collections, as well as fees collected in a prior year that were previously temporarily unavailable. Temporarily unavailable fee collections occur when the Congress does not provide appropriation authority for the USPTO to spend all fees collected during the given fiscal year.

In FY 2005 and FY 2004, the USPTO was appropriated up to $1,554,754 thousand and $1,222,460 thousand for fees collected during each fiscal year, respectively. During FY 2005, the USPTO collected $57,603 thousand less than the amount appropriated. In accordance with Public Law 108-447, the USPTO adjusted its spending from fee collections to $1,497,151 thousand. For FY 2004, the USPTO’s fee collections of $1,320,950 thousand exceeded the congressional authority, leaving $98,490 thousand that was not available for spending.

In addition to these annual restrictions, certain USPTO collections of $233,529 thousand were withheld in accordance with the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1990, and deposited in a special fund receipt account at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The total temporarily unavailable fee collections pursuant to Public Law at the end of FY 2005 are $750,028 thousand.

The USPTO receives an appropriation of Category A funds from OMB, which apportions budgetary resources by fiscal quarter. The USPTO does not receive any Category B funds, or those exempt from apportionment.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Revenue and Other Financing Sources

The USPTO’s fee rates are established by law and, consequently, in some instances may not represent full cost or market price. Since FY 1993, the USPTO funding has been primarily through the collection of user fees. Fees that are remitted with initial applications and requests for other services are recorded as exchange revenue when received, with an adjustment to defer revenue for services that have not been performed. All amounts remitted by customers without a request for service are recorded as liabilities in customer deposit accounts until services are ordered.

The USPTO also receives some financial gifts and gifts-in-kind. All such transactions are included in the consolidated Gifts and Bequests Fund financial statements of the Department of Commerce. These gifts are not of significant value and are not reflected in the USPTO’s financial statements. Most gifts-in-kind are used for official travel to further attain the USPTO mission and objectives.

Entity/Non-Entity

Assets that an entity is authorized to use in its operations are termed entity assets, while assets that are held by an entity and are not available for the entity’s use are termed non-entity assets. Most of the USPTO’s assets are entity assets and are available to carry out the mission of the USPTO, as appropriated by Congress, with the exception of a portion of the Fund Balance with Treasury, cash, and accounts receivable, as highlighted in Note 3.

Fund Balance with Treasury

The USPTO deposits revenue in commercial bank accounts maintained by the Treasury’s Financial Management Service (FMS). All moneys maintained in these accounts are transferred to the Federal Reserve Bank on the next business day following the day of deposit. In addition, many customer deposits are wired directly to the Federal Reserve Bank. All banking activity is conducted in accordance with the directives issued by the FMS. Treasury processes all disbursements.

Accounts Receivable

Most of the USPTO’s public accounts receivable balance consists of electronic funds transfer and credit card payments for fees that are in transit and have not been credited to the USPTO’s accounts. As of September 30, 2005 and 2004, respectively, $2,244 thousand and $1,015 thousand are in transit due to the lag time between deposits in commercial bank accounts and the confirmation received from Treasury.

The remaining portion of accounts receivable are mainly comprised of amounts due from former employees for the reimbursement of education expenses and other benefits. This balance in accounts receivable remains as a very small portion of the USPTO’s assets as the USPTO requires payment prior to the provision of goods or services during the course of its core business activities.

The USPTO recorded a $1 thousand allowance for uncollectible amounts to reduce the gross amount of its employee-related accounts receivable to its net realizable value as of September 30, 2005 and 2004, respectively. The allowance is established for receivables that have been transferred to Treasury. The gross amount of USPTO’s employee-related accounts receivable as of September 30, 2005 and 2004 was $423 thousand and $289 thousand, respectively.

Advances and Prepayments

On occasion, the USPTO prepays amounts in anticipation of receiving future benefits. Although a payment has been made, an expense is not recorded until goods have been received or services have been performed. The USPTO has prepayments and advances with non-governmental, as well as governmental vendors.

Total prepayments and advances to non-governmental vendors as of September 30, 2005 and 2004 were $5,631 thousand and $5,162 thousand, respectively. The largest single prepayment as of September 30, 2005 was $3,261 thousand for an annual operating lease for mass information technology storage space. The USPTO advances include funds to personnel for travel costs, which are expensed after travel has occurred. Travel advances to personnel as of September 30, 2005 were $33 thousand.

Total prepayments and advances to governmental vendors as of September 30, 2005 and 2004 were $2,729 thousand and $6,370 thousand, respectively. The governmental prepayments include the USPTO deposit accounts held with the U.S. Government Printing Office and the U.S. Department of Commerce to facilitate recurring transactions. Deposit accounts held with the U.S. Government Printing Office as of September 30, 2005 were $1,902 thousand. Deposit accounts held with the U.S. Department of Commerce as of September 30, 2005 were $163 thousand.

Cash

Most of the USPTO’s cash balance consists of undeposited checks for fees that were not processed at the Balance Sheet date due to the lag time between receipt and initial review. All such undeposited check amounts are considered to be cash equivalents. As of September 30, 2005 and 2004, the cash balance includes undeposited checks of $8,872 thousand and $11,869 thousand, respectively. Of these balances, $787 thousand and $463 thousand were non-entity Patent Cooperation Treaty Account assets as of September 30, 2005 and 2004, respectively. Cash is also held outside the Treasury to be used as imprest funds. An imprest fund of $2 thousand was held as of September 30, 2005 and 2004.

Property, Plant, and Equipment, Net

The USPTO's capitalization policies are summarized below:

Contractor costs for developing custom internal use software are capitalized when incurred for the design, coding, and testing of the software. Software in progress and construction in progress are not amortized until placed in service.

Property, plant, and equipment acquisitions that do not meet the capitalization criteria are expensed upon receipt.

Injury Compensation

Claims brought by USPTO employees for on-the-job injuries fall under the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA) administered by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The DOL bills each agency annually as its claims are paid, but payment on these bills is deferred approximately two years to allow for funding through the budget process. As of September 30, 2005, the USPTO had a $1,328 thousand liability for claims paid on its behalf during the benefit period October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2005. As of September 30, 2004, the USPTO had a $1,449 thousand liability for claims paid on its behalf during the benefit period October 1, 2002 through September 30, 2004.

Post-employment Compensation

USPTO employees who lose their jobs through no fault of their own may receive unemployment compensation benefits under the unemployment insurance program administered by the DOL. The DOL bills each agency quarterly as its claims are paid. As of September 30, 2005 and 2004, the USPTO liability was $39 thousand and $73 thousand, respectively, for estimated claims paid by the DOL on behalf of the USPTO.

Annual, Sick, and Other Leave

Annual leave and compensatory time are accrued as earned, with the accrual being reduced when leave is taken. An adjustment is made each fiscal quarter to ensure that the balances in the accrued leave accounts reflect current pay rates. No portion of this liability has been obligated. To the extent current or prior year funding is not available to pay for leave earned but not taken, funding will be obtained from future financing sources. Sick leave and other types of non-vested leave are expensed as used.

Accrued leave as of September 30, 2005 and 2004 was $39,097 thousand and $38,935 thousand, respectively.

Employee Retirement Systems and Benefits

USPTO employees participate in either the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). The FERS was established by the enactment of Public Law 99-335. Pursuant to this law, the FERS and Social Security automatically cover most employees hired after December 31, 1983. Employees who had five years of federal civilian service prior to 1984 and who are rehired after a break in service of more than one year may elect to join the FERS and Social Security system or be placed in the CSRS offset retirement system.

The USPTO’s financial statements do not report CSRS or FERS assets, accumulated plan benefits, or liabilities applicable to its employees. The reporting of such amounts is the responsibility of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) who administers the plans. While the USPTO reported no liability for future payments to employees under these programs, the federal government is liable for future payments to employees through the various agencies administering these programs. The USPTO financial statements for FY 2005 recognize an expense, which represents the USPTO’s share of the costs to the federal government of providing pension, post-retirement health, and post-retirement life insurance benefits to all eligible USPTO employees. Prior to FY 2005, the USPTO did not fully fund the pension and post-retirement health and life insurance benefits of all eligible USPTO employees. Instead, the USPTO recognized an imputed financing source and corresponding expense to represent its share of the cost to the federal government of providing pension and post-retirement health and life insurance benefits, to all eligible USPTO employees. The USPTO appropriation for FY 2005 required full funding of the present costs of post-retirement benefits such as the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHB) and the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Program (FEGLI), and to fully fund the CSRS and FERS pension liabilities. While ultimate administration of any post-retirement benefits or retirement system payments will continue to be administered by various federal government agencies, the USPTO is responsible for the payment of the present value associated with these costs calculated using the OPM factors.

For the year ended September 30, 2005, the USPTO made current year contributions equivalent to approximately 7.0 percent and 11.2 percent of the employee’s basic pay for those employees covered by CSRS and FERS, respectively, based on OPM cost factors. For the year ended September 30, 2004, the USPTO made contributions equivalent to approximately 7.0 percent and 10.7 percent of the employee’s basic pay for those employees covered by CSRS and FERS, respectively, based on OPM cost factors.

All employees are eligible to contribute to a thrift savings plan. For those employees participating in the FERS, a thrift savings plan is automatically established, and the USPTO makes a mandatory contribution to this plan equal to one percent of the employees’ compensation. In addition, the USPTO makes matching contributions ranging from one to four percent of the employees’ compensation for FERS-eligible employees who contribute to their thrift savings plans. No matching contributions are made to the thrift savings plans for employees participating in the CSRS. Employees participating in the FERS are also covered under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), for which the USPTO contributes a matching amount to the Social Security Administration.

Deferred Revenue

Deferred revenue represents fees that have been received by the USPTO for requested services that have not been substantially completed. Two types of deferred revenue are recorded. The first type results from checks received, with requests for services, which were not yet deposited due to the lag time between receipt and initial review. The second type of deferred revenue relates primarily to fees for applications that have been partially processed. The deferred revenue calculation is a complex accounting estimate, dependent upon numerous business and administrative processes, workloads, and inventories.

Environmental Cleanup

The USPTO does not have any liabilities for environmental cleanup.

 

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