Compromise reached on USPTO fee bill

Posted by J. Matthew Buchanan

February 12, 2004

A compromise was reached yesterday by the House Judiciary and Appropriations Committees regarding the patent and trademark fee bill (H.R.1561). Under the compromise, fees collected by the patent office that exceed the amount appropriated will be deposited into a Patent and Trademark Fee Reserve Fund. Apparently, the Fund will be rebated to USPTO users.

Both the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) and the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) endorsed the compromise as an acceptable approach to the fee diversion issue.

Review the summary of H.R. 1561.

In thinking about this only briefly, a few thoughts come to mind. If the patent office actually refunds monies to applicants, how will the program be administered? Will the funds be sent back to the attorney or agent (if there is one)? Will this create a huge burden on law firms? If a deposit account is used, can the account simply be credited? How will the “rebates” be appropriated? I see the development of a huge administrative section at the patent office that simply collects money, shuffles paper, calculates returns, and mails checks. Maybe the IRS should handle the chore….

Uncategorized