House panel lets Patent Office keep fees

Bipartisan legislation that would reauthorize the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office won quick approval from the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday.

The one-page bill, H.R. 4034, which the committee approved by unanimous consent without any amendments, would modify current law to help prevent PTO fees from being spent on other government programs.

The bill would require the fees to be channeled directly to a new account in the U.S. Treasury, eliminating the role of congressional appropriators in deciding how the fees would be used.

The legislation also would allow the PTO commissioner to collect all fees and use them until they are expended, without congressional appropriators' consent.