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| Presidential Budget Supports USPTO's 5-Year Plan |
by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York
Monday, February 08, 2010
Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) David Kappos
has announced that President Obama is seeking a budget of USD2.32bn in fiscal
year 2011 for the USPTO, enabling it to carry through its 5-year improvement plan.
The five-year plan is designed to enable the USPTO to achieve the strategic
objectives laid out by Kappos and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, which include
a significant reduction in patent pendency periods and the existing patent inventory
backlog; improvement in patent quality; enhanced intellectual property protection
and enforcement; global IP policy leadership; and investment in information
technology infrastructure.
As of August 2009, the USPTO had a patent application backlog of more than
770,000. Moreover, there are long waiting periods for patent review, and the
office has information technology systems that are regarded as outdated and
an application process in need of modernization.
The USPTO is proposing to achieve 3% annual efficiency gains in patents processing
by changing management processes and intends to carry out a hiring surge to
bring 1,000 patent examiners to the Office annually during fiscal years 2011
and 2012. This effort will target former patent examiners and IP professionals
who will require minimal training and can be productive virtually from the start
of their employment.
“The USPTO’s 2011 budget represents a significant investment in
American innovation,” Locke said. “We must reduce the unacceptably
long time it takes to patent a new idea or technology and improve our enforcement
of intellectual property. Doing so will help create jobs and enhance the long-term
competitiveness of the US economy.”
The President's 2011 budget request projects fee collections of more than USD2bn.
In addition, the administration is proposing an interim fee increase on certain
patent fees which is estimated to generate USD224m.
“The USPTO’s work in fostering innovation and bringing patented
goods and services to market is a crucial driver of job creation and economic
recovery,” said Kappos. “Intellectual property is America’s
competitive advantage in the 21st Century global economy and will play a central
role in our long-term economic growth. We will continue to take steps to make
the USPTO more efficient, and drive to reduce the unacceptably long pendency
periods that hinder the creation of new businesses and new jobs.”
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