By
Donald Zuhn --
In
the face of strong opposition, the House of Representatives declined to bring a
bill that would provide the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office with fee-setting
authority to the floor for a vote during today's legislative business
session. While the text of the
bill had not been made available as of Monday, reports indicated that the
legislation would have transferred fee-setting authority from Congress to the
USPTO, but without prohibiting fee diversion to other government agencies (see "House to Vote on Bill That
Would Give USPTO Fee-Setting Authority"). However, in response to opposition from
a number of patent groups, including the Intellectual Property
Owners Association (IPO), American Intellectual Property Law Association
(AIPLA), and Coalition for 21st Century Patent Reform, the House decided instead
to withdraw the legislation.
In
place of the old bill, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)
and Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced a new bill on Tuesday. In a press release
posted on the House Judiciary Committee's website, the two legislators
announced that the new bill, entitled the "Patent and Trademark Office
Funding Stabilization Act," would "assist[] our nation's inventors
and innovative businesses by providing the United States Patent and Trademark Office
(USPTO) with urgently needed resources for reliable and sustainable funding." According to the press release, the
bill would give the USPTO fee-setting authority, provide the Office with the
authority to impose a 15% temporary surcharge for all of its fees, and prevent
fees from being diverted away from the agency for unrelated government
programs.
Chairman
Conyers stated that the bill was "not intended to impact the negotiations
over the larger patent bill pending in the Senate," adding that he and
Rep. Smith "remain optimistic and hopeful about the prospects for passage
this Congress of comprehensive patent reform." Chairman Conyers and Rep. Smith assert that "[t]he USPTO
is in the midst of a crisis," with the backlog of unexamined applications
having ballooned to over 750,000 and "hundreds of millions of dollars in
fees hav[ing] been diverted from the USPTO over the years." Noting that "fee diversion robs
the USPTO of valuable resources needed to hire and retain qualified examiners
and address patent backlog issues," the pair contend that "[i]ncreased
backlogs and poor patent quality affect not only the agency, they hurt American
innovation, and delay our economic and jobs recovery."
A
link to the
text of the bill was provided in the Committee's press release.
If the comprehensive patent reform bill stalls in the Senate, I hope that at least the Conyers-Smith legislation makes it through. The USPTO needs all the help that it can get.
http://www.generalpatent.com/media/videos/general-patent-corporation-helps-patent-owners-enforce-their-ip-rights
Posted by: Gena777 | May 25, 2010 at 12:46 PM