May 22, 2003
#03-17
House Subcommittee Approves USPTO Fee Proposal
HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE APPROVES USPTO FEE PROPOSAL
PRESS RELEASE
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the
Internet and Intellectual Property today approved H.R. 1561,
the "United States Patent and Trademark Fee Modernization Act
of 2003.” The Department of Commerce’s U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office (USPTO) is fully funded by user fees. The
new fee structure contained in the legislation will fund
USPTO’s 21st Century Strategic Plan, the agency’s
five-year blueprint for improving patent and trademark quality
and productivity.
“I want to thank Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Smith for
moving this important legislation so quickly, and ranking
member Howard Berman for his support” noted Under
Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, James E.
Rogan. “Intellectual property-based enterprises represent
the largest single sector of the U.S. economy. Chairman Smith
and Congressman Berman recognize that fully funding
USPTO’s 21st Century Strategic Plan will promote economic
growth by creating an agile organization worthy of the
leadership role American intellectual property plays in the
global economy.”
Without the fees contained in H.R. 1561, quality and productivity will suffer. The USPTO will be unable to hire the people who make the best patent and trademark examiners, or certify their knowledge and competencies throughout their careers, or implement new quality initiatives, including the “second pair of eyes” program that has been so successful in processing business method patents. In addition, 140,000 patents will not be issued over the next five years. The inventory of unexamined patent applications will skyrocket to a backlog of over one million applications by 2008--more than double the current amount -- and pendency (as measured from the time of filing) will jump to over 40 months average in the next few years.
# # #
