House negotiators nearing consensus on Patent Office user-fee structure

An Appropriations panel spokesman said Monday that a compromise is "imminent" but declined to provide details.

As approved by the Judiciary Committee, the bill would increase PTO user fees by an average of 15 percent.

It also includes provisions to prevent appropriators from diverting PTO fee revenues to other programs, and to take the PTO off-budget by authorizing the PTO director to collect all fees and use them for agency operations. Those provisions would have the effect of bypassing appropriators, who oppose the legisation.

The two committees have had "productive" meetings on the bill and plan to meet again this week, the Appropriations Committee spokesman said. "We think we can get an acceptable bill," he said. "We're sympathetic to the Judiciary Committee's concerns, and we think there's a way to make everybody happy."