Patent office increases preserved in Bush budget

Technology industry groups were heartened this week by news that President Bush's leaner federal budget does not appear to cut into what they see as necessary steep funding increases for the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).

Sensing that shortfalls in funding are leading to problems in the PTO's ability to retain talented employees, technology industry groups are increasing their efforts to ensure that the Bush administration does not divert the revenue generated by patent fees to other governmental functions.

An array of technology concerns are scheduled to launch a new group dedicated to that cause in March. Members that have committed to join include the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the National Association of Manufacturers, Citicorp and Hewlett-Packard, said Brian Adkins, director of government relations for ITI.

The Information Technology Association of America also supports the concept. In letters sent this week to President Bush and Commerce Secretary Donald Evans, who has authority over PTO, ITAA President Harris Miller said the patent office "should keep more of the fees it generates every year to hire and train additional staff, as well as keep its best and brightest in order to ensure the intellectual property rights of America's entrepreneurs."

The letter follows a bipartisan chorus of support for the concept from some on Capitol Hill. Among those who have sent letters urging full funding include: Senate Minority Whip Harry Reid, D-Nev.; Senate Judiciary Committee Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Robert Bennett, R-Utah, Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and George Allen, R-Va.; House Judiciary Committee ranking Democrat John Conyers, Mich.; and Rep. Howard Berman, Calif., the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property.

But not everyone backs the idea. In fiscal 2001, the patent office estimated a revenue of $1.2 billion. The Clinton administration budget proposal reduced the number by $117 million, and House appropriators cut the number to $900 million. Under pressure from the Senate, however, funding was restored to Clinton administration levels.

The Bush budget outline does not indicate specific funding levels for the patent office or address the question about whether the agency may keep its revenues. But it said, "The program level of the Patent and Trademark Office will increase by almost 10 percent to help address its growing workload."

"Whatever the increase in budget, I hope it is in line with workload" increases, said Adkins. "The workload at the PTO has been increasing at much faster rates than the budget."

"Part of the problem is that appropriators often feel that fees and tax revenues are fungible," said Q. Todd Dickinson, the Clinton's last PTO commissioner. "They don't make the same linkage between fees and the services for which the fees were paid."

Last year, North Carolina Republican Howard Coble, chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property, bluntly told House Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky., and the Clinton administration to "keep their grubby paws out of the PTO's coffers."