Congressional Group Urges Rapid Passage of Fee Bill to Improve Patent Office Services

The Intellectual Property Caucus of Congress recently sent an open letter to House of Representatives leaders stating its view that reforms to the US Patent and Trade-mark Office (USPTO) would stall if a proposed fee bill is not passed this year. The bill, United States Patent and Trade-mark Fee Modernization Act of 2003, proposes to increase patent-related fees across a wide spectrum of items. The resulting increase in cost for a patent application, estimated from 15 to 25 percent, is designed to finance a five-year strategic plan of the USPTO for addressing problems of quality and pendency (the time the patenting process takes) that have plagued the patenting process. Currently, the average pendency ranges from two to five years, depending on the technological field; and the number of pending applications is approaching a half million. The IP Caucus letter reiterated the warning of the Director of the USPTO who testified before the House of Representatives Intellectual Property Subcommittee the day after the introduction of the fee bill that pendency is slated to jump to over 40 months by 2008; moreover, the backlog of unexamined patent applications would simultaneously increase to over one million applications. Supported by the Bush Administration and several large companies and intellectual property groups, the five-year USPTO plan proposes, among other measures, to hire 3,000 new patent examiners and put into place "e-government processing systems for patents" for meeting current challenges and avoiding further deterioration. The Bill passed through the House Judiciary Committee in July and awaits presentation to the House for a final vote. For the statement of the USPTO Director before the House Subcommittee, please see: http://www.uspto.gov/main/newsarchive/news-04-03-03.htm. For a report of the IP Caucus letter, please see: http://makeashorterlink.com/?J1BB32896. Summary by:   Peter Wang