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The United States Patent and Trademark Office is the organization within the United States government that examines and grants patents and trademarks. Established under the Department of Commerce on July 19, 1952[https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/patent-and-trademark-office] by 35 U.S.C. §1[http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2013-title35/html/USCODE-2013-title35-partI-chap1-sec1.htm], the USPTO fulfills the mandate in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."[https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/United_States_of_America_1992]. Since 1790, the USPTO has issued more than 6.5 million patents[http://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-updates/uspto-web-database-now-includes-all-patents-dating-1790]. The agency's main offices reside in Alexandria, Virginia, with several satellite offices around the country.
==Patent Database==
Classification Numbers can be found [http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/classification/selectnumwithtitle.htm here].
USPTO's new visual database, PatentsView, can be found [http://www.patentsview.org/web/ here].
Google's helpful article on downloading USPTO PAIR (Patent Application Information Retrieval) data can be found [https://www.google.com/googlebooks/uspto-patents-pair.html#AvailableApplications here].
===Patent Types===
[http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/h_counts.htm]
====Utility Patent====
Utility patents protect a "machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof"[http://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/glossary]
====Design Patent====
Design patents protect a "new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture"[http://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/glossary]
====Plant Patent====
Plant patents protect a "distinct and new variety of plant that can be asexually reproduced"[http://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/glossary]
==Criticism==
United States Patent and Trademark Office (view source)
Revision as of 14:52, 2 September 2016
, 14:52, 2 September 2016no edit summary
Return to [[Innovation Policy]].<section begin=USPTO />The [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]] (USPTO) is the organization within the United States government that reviews and grants patents and trademarks. The USPTO is tasked with defining [[patent types]] and what each type covers and protects. Established under the Department of Commerce on July 19, 1952[https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/patent-and-trademark-office] by 35 U.S.C. §1[http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2013-title35/html/USCODE-2013-title35-partI-chap1-sec1.htm], the USPTO is intended to fulfill the mandate in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."[https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/United_States_of_America_1992]. Since 1790, the US has issued more than 6.5 million patents[http://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-updates/uspto-web-database-now-includes-all-patents-dating-1790]. The agency's main offices reside in Alexandria, Virginia, with several satellite offices around the country. <section end=USPTO /><section begin=HistoryUSPTO2 />In April 2016, the USPTO had an unexamined patent backlog of 549,896 and 352,573 application filings for review. The unexamined patent backlog is a record of how many [[Patent Types| UPR Patents]] are waiting for review by a patent examiner, and application filings are how many patents are being sent in for review. [http://www.uspto.gov/corda/dashboards/patents/main.dashxml?CTNAVID=1005] The USPTO reports that in 2016 the average total pendency time, the time between filing a patent application and issuing or dismissing a patent, has been 26 months. The USPTO stated in its Performance and Accountability Report for 2015 that it struggles to find and to maintain sustainable funding. The report shows that the funding is necessary to improve on both patent and trademark quality and timeliness. <ref name="USPTO report" /><section end=USPTO2 />
==Organization==
===Employment===
The USPTO released its 2015-2018 People Plan, which outlines three pillars of focus for its workforce through the 2018 fiscal year.[http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USPTO%202015%20-%202018%20People%20Plan.pdf] The Office intends to use the three pillars of ''lead'', ''engage'', and ''enable'' for its strategic human capital planning, which is "the process by which an organization takes stock of how its people and people-management activities align with and support the agency’s strategic goals." Some human capital planning recommendations include The primary results consist of diversifying and developing its workforce, connecting its employees with the core vision of the USPTO, and maximizing its internal leadership capabilities.
At the end of FY 2015, the USPTO employed 12,667 individuals, which includes 9,161 patent examiners and 456 trademark examining attorneys.[http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USPTOFY15PAR.pdf]. This number is up from 12,450 total federal employees in FY 2014[http://www.uspto.gov/about/stratplan/ar/USPTOFY2014PAR.pdf] and 11,773 employees in FY 2013[http://www.uspto.gov/about/stratplan/ar/USPTOFY2013PAR.pdf]. The USPTO is expected to employ around 13,500 employees for FY 2016.[http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fy16pbr.pdf]
===Budget===
==Funding==
The USPTO receives its operating funds through application fees, officially designated as "offsetting collections" to be placed in the Patent and Trademark Office Appropriations Account. However, the office must publish annal reports to Congress on its expected level of revenue and expenditure. From there, Congress appropriates a certain level of funding that the USPTO may keep form its fee collection in order to run the office. Essentially, the USPTO must request permission to keep and use the money it receives from the application fees. No additional appropriation through Congress is usually approved. The net appropriation for the past three years has been $0.
The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) created a reserve fund for the USPTO, where all excess fees are to be deposited. Further, the AIA granted the USPTO authority "to set or adjust by rule any fee established or charged by the Office". This provision increased the office's flexibility on fee setting and helped pave the way for a new class of fees for "micro entities."[http://www.uspto.gov/custom-page/inventors-eye-advice]
For FY 2016, the office requested $3.2 billion of allowed expenditure from its fee collections, which with funds from other income and the Operating reserve balance, is expected to fund the necessary operating budget of $3.5 billion.[http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fy16pbr.pdf]
Section 22 of the America Invents Act (AIA) created a Patent and Trademark Fee Reserve Fund, where excess fees collected by the USPTO are to be deposited.[http://www.uspto.gov/patent/laws-and-regulations/america-invents-act-aia/fees-and-budgetary-issues] The reserve fund is meant to reduce uncertainty in financial stability for the office, especially during government shutdown. The reserve should be able to sustain the operations of the USPTO for three months of its patent operations and four-to-six months of its trademark operations. The office projects the reserve fund to hold $1.9 billion through FY 2019, which will allow the office "to propose reducing trademark fees in FY 2015."[http://www.uspto.gov/blog/director/entry/an_update_on_sustainable_funding]
However, the USPTO must still petition Congress annually for permission to spend the money deposited in the reserve fund. ===Proposed Legislation=== *'''Innovation Protection Act''' The Innovation Protection Act (H.R. 1832)[http://www.ipo.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Draft-[Innovation-Protection-Act-As-Introduced.pdf][http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-114hr1832ih/pdf/BILLS-114hr1832ih.pdf], proposed by Rep. Conyers, D-MI on 4/16/15, provides for the permanent funding of the USPTO through the creation of a revolving fund. The United States Patent and Trademark Office Public Enterprise Fund would replace the current Patent and Trademark Office Appropriation Account; this public enterprise would hold all funds available for USPTO use without the Congressional appropriation requirement. The Patent and Trademark Fee Reserve Fund, created under the AIA, would be terminated after the remaining balance in the fund is transferred to the public enterprise fund. Under H.R. 1832, the USPTO would still be required to submit an annual budget to the President, an annual report and operation plan to Congress, and an annual spending plan to the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. The act allows the USPTO to keep and spend all of the fees it collects, even those in excess of current fiscal year projection. However, the USPTO retains its obligation to submit spending reports and budgets. H.R. 1832 is a reintroduction of H.R. 3349 (2013) [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr3349], the Innovation Protection Act that Rep. Conyers proposed on 10/28/2013. H.R. 3349 was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary and subsequently died in committee. The 2013 Innovation Protection Act had 16 cosponsors (10 Democrats and 6 Republicans). H.R. 1832 currently has 22 cosponsors (18 Democrats and 4 Republicans). Govtrack gives the bill a 5% chance of being enacted.[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr1832] The legislation is currently in the House Judiciary Committee. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX18) is a cosponsor for the H.R. 1832, and was a cosponsor for H.R. 3349 (2013).[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr1832] *'''Patent Fee Integrity Act''' The Patent Fee Integrity Act (S. 2146)[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s2146], ] have been proposed by Sen. Feinstein, D-CA on 3/13/14, creates a revolving fund known as the United States Patent to monitor and Trademark Office Innovation Promotion Fund. This piece of legislation is identical to regulate the aforementioned Innovation Protection Act through its power delegation, termination of existing USPTO accounts, and annual reports. The bill was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee and subsequently died. S. 2146 had 4 cosponsors (1 Democrat and 3 Republicans). No reintroduction of the bill has happened during the current sessionfunding.
==Fee Diversion==
This practice of fee diversion helped other sectors of the federal government cover additional expenses without exceeding appropriation limits. The USPTO reacted to this practice by closely estimating expected revenue and matching this estimate with its annual appropriations proposal for Congress.
The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1990[http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-104/pdf/STATUTE-104-Pg1388.pdf] established the USPTO as a fully fee funded organization. The passage of this act, designed to cut the budget deficit, meant that Congress would not appropriate additional sources of funding for the USPTO. Instead, the office would have to remain afloat through only the fees it collects through processing patent and trademark applications. During the eight years of OBRA, an estimated $234 million in fee payments were collected by the USPTO in excess of the budget authority for the office.[https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RS20906.pdf] The excess funds were not placed in a reserve fund, and instead were appropriated to non-USPTO related activities. A Congressional Research Service report has estimated $1.009 billion diverted or made unavailable to the USPTO from FY1990 to FY2011.[https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RS20906.pdf]
The Leahy-Smith Act America Invents Act created a USPTO reserve fund to hold excess fees collected in a given fiscal year. Although the reserve fund balance may only be appropriated to USPTO activities, the director of the USPTO must still petition Congress to use these funds in its annual budget request.
==Contact Information==
*'''Detroit, MI''':
:Midwest Regional Office - USPTO
:300 River Place South
:Suite 2900
:Detroit, MI 48207
*'''Denver, CO''': :Rocky Mountain Regional Office (USPTO):1961 Stout Street:Denver, CO 80294 *'''Silicon Valley, CA''': :Silicon Valley USPTO:26 S. Fourth Street:San Jose, CA 95113 *'''Dallas, TX''': :Texas Regional Office (USPTO):207 South Houston St.:Dallas, TX 75202 ===Online Locationsand Helpful Links===
*[http://www.uspto.gov/ Website]
*[https://twitter.com/uspto Twitter]
*[https://www.youtube.com/user/USPTOvideo YouTube]
*[http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/classification/selectnumwithtitle.htm Patent Classification Numbers].
*[http://www.patentsview.org/web/ USPTO Visual Database, PatentsView].
*[https://www.google.com/googlebooks/uspto-patents-pair.html#AvailableApplications USPTO PAIR (Patent Application Information Retrieval)]
=References=
<ref name="USPTO report"> [http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USPTOFY15PAR.pdf] 'United States Patent and Trademark Office Performance and Accountability Report: Fiscal Year 2015', "United States Patent and Trademark Office", (Alexandria, Virginia). </ref>
[[Category: Public]]
