{ "id": "RS20906", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "RS20906", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 458467, "date": "2017-01-12", "retrieved": "2017-02-03T19:16:45.721795", "title": "U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Appropriations Process: A Brief Explanation", "summary": "The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) examines and approves applications for patents on claimed inventions and administers the registration of trademarks. It also assists other federal departments and agencies protect American intellectual property in the international marketplace. The USPTO is funded by user fees paid by customers that are designated as \u201coffsetting collections\u201d and subject to spending limits established by the Committee on Appropriations. \nUntil recently, appropriation measures limited USPTO use of all fees accumulated within a fiscal year. Critics of this approach argued that because agency operations are supported by payments for services, all fees were necessary to fund these services in the year they were provided. Some experts claimed that a portion of the patent and trademark collections were used to offset the cost of other, non-related programs. Proponents of limiting use of funds collected maintained that the fees appropriated back to the USPTO were sufficient to cover the agency\u2019s operating budget.\nOn December 9, 2016, President Obama signed into law the Further Continuing and Security Assistance, Appropriations Act of 2017 (P.L. 114-254). This act, among other provisions, continues USPTO\u2019s budget supported by patent fees at $3.231 billion. For FY2017, the Administration\u2019s request for a fee-based budget authority was $3.244 billion. \nP.L. 112-29, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, keeps the use of fees collected within the congressional appropriations process, but requires that fees generated above the budget authority provided by the Committee on Appropriations be placed in a separate fund within the Department of the Treasury. 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It also assists other federal departments and agencies protect American intellectual property in the international marketplace. The USPTO is funded by user fees paid by customers that are designated as \u201coffsetting collections\u201d and subject to spending limits established by the Committee on Appropriations. \nUntil recently, appropriation measures limited USPTO use of all fees accumulated within a fiscal year. Critics of this approach argued that because agency operations are supported by payments for services, all fees were necessary to fund these services in the year they were provided. Some experts claimed that a portion of the patent and trademark collections were used to offset the cost of other, non-related programs. Proponents of limiting use of funds collected maintained that the fees appropriated back to the USPTO were sufficient to cover the agency\u2019s operating budget.\nOn September 29, 2016, President Obama signed into law the Continuing Appropriations and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017, and Zika Response and Preparedness Act (P.L. 114-223). This act, among other provisions, continues USPTO\u2019s budget supported by patent by patent fees at $3.231 billion. For FY2017, the Administration\u2019s request for a fee-based budget authority is $3.244 billion. \nP.L. 112-29, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, keeps the use of fees collected within the congressional appropriations process, but requires that fees generated above the budget authority provided by the Committee on Appropriations be placed in a separate fund within the Department of the Treasury. While use of these \u201cexcess\u201d funds still remains under the control of the appropriators, they may only be used for the work of the USPTO.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RS20906", "sha1": "2f1d89ef7f7156af9bbfb66ec4b30a7d1eddbf4a", "filename": "files/20161005_RS20906_2f1d89ef7f7156af9bbfb66ec4b30a7d1eddbf4a.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RS20906", "sha1": "4accb4eee1f9abbb66b7a050c7a7c3eb21d5658a", "filename": "files/20161005_RS20906_4accb4eee1f9abbb66b7a050c7a7c3eb21d5658a.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4744, "name": "Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4754, "name": "Intellectual Property" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 450075, "date": "2016-02-22", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T17:05:56.555513", "title": "U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Appropriations Process: A Brief Explanation", "summary": "The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) examines and approves applications for patents on claimed inventions and administers the registration of trademarks. It also assists other federal departments and agencies protect American intellectual property in the international marketplace. The USPTO is funded by user fees paid by customers that are designated as \u201coffsetting collections\u201d and subject to spending limits established by the Committee on Appropriations. \nUntil recently, appropriation measures limited USPTO use of all fees accumulated within a fiscal year. Critics of this approach argued that because agency operations are supported by payments for services, all fees were necessary to fund these services in the year they were provided. Some experts claimed that a portion of the patent and trademark collections were used to offset the cost of other, non-related programs. Proponents of limiting use of funds collected maintained that the fees appropriated back to the USPTO were sufficient to cover the agency\u2019s operating budget.\nOn December 18, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016. Among its provisions, the law set USPTO\u2019s budget supported by patent fees at $3.231 billion. For FY2017, the Administration\u2019s request for a fee-based budget authority is $3.244 billion. \nP.L. 112-29, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, keeps the use of fees collected within the congressional appropriations process, but requires that fees generated above the budget authority provided by the Committee on Appropriations be placed in a separate fund within the Department of the Treasury. 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