U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Funding

U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE FUNDING -- (House of Representatives - July 07, 2009)

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Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, this bill will help the Patent and Trademark Office retain educated and trained employees who face the possibility of furlough and reduction in force due to the current economic downturn.

It is with great urgency that I bring this bill to the floor today. We have recently been informed by the Department of Commerce and the Patent and Trademark Office that the current downtrend in patent fee revenues could lead to employee furlough.

The USPTO is a user-fee funded organization, and the downturn in the economy has led to a steep drop in revenues. USPTO management has already shaved over $120 million from its current budget through various cost savings; however, June's receipts show that those cuts may not be sufficient. A budget shortfall is a very real possibility, which could necessitate furloughs and, if severe enough, a reduction in force.

Now is not the time to impede the essential economic stimulating activity at the Patent Office. Now more than ever, we need to foster innovation to help the U.S. economy rebound.

This century has seen an explosion in the number of patent applications filed, and even though the PTO has hired over 1,000 examiners each year
for the past several years, this explosion has led to a current inventory of about 1.2 million pending applications. That is 1.2 million potential patents that could provide the foundation for new businesses and new jobs.

Because of this backlog, inventors are waiting an average of 32 months to get their patents approved, and in some areas, such as communications and computer-related technologies, the wait is much longer. This backlog means a delay in the creation of new products or startup companies that would generate new jobs and research and development investment.

Now is not the time to exacerbate this problem. Furloughing employees will only increase the backlog and the consequent delays. In order to help the USPTO get through the next year, we have identified an approximately $60 million surplus in the trademark operation at the USPTO.

The bill we are considering today would permit the Director of the USPTO to use a portion of that surplus to prevent the furlough of USPTO employees. Rest assured, Mr. Speaker, this is not robbing Peter to pay Paul. Any trademark money used for patent operations will be recovered by a surcharge on the patent fees paid by those who benefit from the efforts of the patent workforce.

I think it is pretty shameful that throughout the years we have not fully funded the number of employees that this agency needs to fulfill its mandate and so now in the 111th Congress we are seeking to use this lull period, if you will, because the number of applications will pick up, but we can use this period with our employees, our current employees, to put a dent in those 1.2 million applications that exist currently that are on file. This inefficiency in government with respect to the Patent and Trademark Office stifles commercial activity, and it just doesn't make any sense for the agency to not have been funded to begin with and staffed with an adequate amount of employees to meet the demand.

It is our understanding, Mr. Speaker, that with the Department of Commerce and the USPTO agreement, that the money raised by the surcharge will be used to pay the trademark operation for the money borrowed from it. The surcharge will be no more and no less than what is needed to repay the loan.

This bill is a limited and temporary exception to the statutory fence built around trademark fees. It will last only until June 30 of next year and requires that all fees used for patent payroll purposes will be recovered through surcharges on the patent operation. And it ensures, Mr. Speaker, that furloughs or reduction-in-force will not occur in the trademark operation as a consequence of the patent operations needs.

This bill will ensure that we retain the highly qualified and experienced patent examiners that helped innovators protect important technological gains, and we certainly need to do all that we can, now especially, to make it more efficient for those who would create new products in this rapidly changing environment that will lead to jobs for our citizens.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important measure.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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