Senate boosts Patent And Trademark Office appropriation

The Senate-passed version of a fiscal 2002 appropriations bill would benefit the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) more than its House counterpart by providing an additional $10 million in funding and outlining a new five-year plan.

The Senate approach seeks to bolster confidence in the PTO, which administers U.S. patent and trademark laws. House and Senate differences over the bill, H.R. 2500, to fund the departments of Commerce, Justice and State will be resolved in conference. House conferees could be named Thursday, a House Appropriations Committee spokesman said. Fifteen Senate conferees were named Sept. 13.

The Senate version of the bill would let PTO keep $10 million from fiscal 2001; the House version would not. The Senate also calls on the Commerce secretary to develop a five-year strategic plan for the PTO, with three core objectives: preparing the agency to handle a 21st-century workload, improving patent quality, and reducing the number of pending patent and trademark applications, according to the Senate conference report.

The Senate's report on the bill accuses PTO of moving at a "glacial" pace in addressing "the attrition problem" among its patent examiners. The report says the five-year plan should recommend ways to retain workers, improve productivity, hire employees in "high-growth" areas and improve e-government.

David Peyton, the director of technology policy at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), said, "The NAM is certainly pleased at the $10 million increase, but the Senate report language on the new five-year plan is even more significant. For the first time, we can see a path to creating increased congressional confidence in the PTO, plus the prospect that some of the previously withheld money might be released."

Peyton said the House is expected to consider a bill, H.R. 2047, to reauthorize the PTO in fiscal 2002 in the next two weeks, with good prospects for passage. The bill would call for the PTO to keep its fees--some of them typically are redistributed elsewhere--and would reserve $50 million for automation.

One other significant difference between the House and Senate versions of the Commerce-Justice-State spending bill is the proposed funding for the Advanced Technology Program under the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The Senate version would provide $204.2 million, including funds for new projects. The House voted to provide only the $12.99 million President Bush requested and zero out new funding.

On Thursday, the House Appropriations Committee hopes to complete action on spending bills for the District of Columbia and military construction, the spokesman said. The latter bill might get to the House floor Friday, he said.

A House Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday will consider the annual bill for funding the Labor and Health and Human Services departments. The full committee likely will consider the bill the first week of October, the spokesman said.

The Senate last week unanimously agreed to begin debate on the appropriations bill, S. 1398, for the Treasury Department, Postal Service and other agencies this week.