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United States Patent and Trademark Office (view source)
Revision as of 12:27, 3 December 2015
, 12:27, 3 December 2015no edit summary
Plant patents protect a "distinct and new variety of plant that can be asexually reproduced"[http://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/glossary]
==Funding==
The USPTO receives its operating funds through application fees, although 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.
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] However, the USPTO must still petition Congress annually for permission to spend the money deposited in the reserve fund.
===Proposed Legislation===
The Innovation Protection Act (H.R. 1832), 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.
==Fee Diversion==
==Criticism==
==Contact Information==
