UNITED STATES PATENT
AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
REAUTHORIZATION ACT, FISCAL YEAR 2003
NEED FOR CHANGES TO 35 U.S.C. 41 - FEES
The proposed statutory
changes to patent fees in section 41 of title 35, United States Code, and the
authorization to change trademark fees to levels in excess of the increase in
the Consumer Price Index over the last twelve months, provide an alternative
to the surcharges proposed in the President's 2003 budget proposal for the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and would still generate the levels
of patent and trademark fee income reflected in that budget even though the
USPTO has received fewer patent and trademark application filings than the
estimates on which the 2003 budget was based and, therefore, a corresponding
reduction in fee income.
The President's 2003
budget proposes a 19.3 percent surcharge on all patent fees and a 10.3 percent
surcharge on trademark fees to cover necessary costs to fund the USPTO's
long-term quality, e-Government, and pendency initiatives, and to pay the full
Government share of the accruing cost of retirement for current CSRS employees
and post-retirement health benefits for current civilian employees. Private
sector interests oppose the use of surcharges because such surcharges do not
reflect accurately the costs of the particular services for which the fees are
paid. The proposed fee changes in this legislation provide an alternative to
the surcharges, an alternative that reflects more accurately the costs of the
services provided. The alternative would produce income levels equivalent to
the 2003 budget proposal, taking into account the reductions in patent and
trademark application filings. The resulting revenues will ensure that there
was no delay in the implementation of the USPTO's new initiatives aimed at
improving the quality of granted patents and trademark registrations,
increasing efficiency through e-Government programs, and reducing pendency in
processing applications for patents and for registration of
trademarks.
The proposed changes to
section 41 also will initiate a restructuring of patent fees by, among other
things, providing a separate filing fee and an examination fee, rather than
the composite fee currently charged. This change will provide patent
applicants with a reduced filing fee and an opportunity to evaluate the
commercial value of their invention before having to pay a fee to cover the
cost of patent examination. This change also will eliminate the need for the
USPTO to examine all patent applications, regardless of whether the applicant
determines that its invention is of sufficient commercial value to justify
prosecuting its application.
It is critical that the
proposal be given expedited treatment, since the changes need to be in place
by the beginning of fiscal year 2003. The Office of Management and Budget has
no objection from the standpoint of the Administration's program to the
submission of this legislative proposal to the Congress.
