United States Patent and Trademark Office Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010

Floor Speech

* Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H.R. 5874, the United States Patent and Trademark Office Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010. This bill will help reduce backlogs in processing patent applications. I am a proud to have voted with a majority of the House to pass this important piece of legislation.

* Processing patents is crucial to the U.S. economy. In order for our nation to thrive in a global economy, it is essential that patent and trademark applications are processed in a timely and efficient manner. Currently, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) can take an average of nearly three years to complete the examination of a patent application and has maintained a backlog of unexamined applications for several years. At this time, there are approximately 1.2 million patent applications in the system with more than 750,000 awaiting review by a USPTO patent examiner. The more time patent applications are waiting to be reviewed, the longer the U.S. goes without an invention that can spur economic growth.

* Specifically, H.R. 5874 provides up to $129 million, fully offset, to help prevent additional backlogs in the processing of patent applications. With this funding, the USPTO will be able to hire additional staff and afford to pay necessary overtime to prevent additional backlogs.

* Patents are critical to American innovation and economic growth. An efficient patent examination system will foster innovation and job creation by ensuring that individuals and small businesses have the ability to protect their intellectual property and continue to create new products.

* Again, I am a proud supporter of this supplemental appropriations bill for the USPTO. I am proud to have voted with a majority of the House yesterday to pass this vital legislation.

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