House passes bill eliminating diversion of patent fees
A Wednesday afternoon deal between the chairmen of the House Judiciary and Small Business committees helped win House passage for landmark legislation that would eliminate the diversion of patent fees to other federal programs.
The House passed the bill on a 379-28 vote.
Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., acceded to one core demand by Small Business Chairman Donald Manzullo, R-Ill., who wanted independent and small-business inventors to retain the traditional 50 percent discount on patent filing fees.
The deal eliminated obstacles to bringing the bill, H.R. 1561, to the floor. Originally, the bill would have raised patent fees by an average of 15 percent and authorized the Patent and Trademark Office to make additional reforms to expedite the patent-granting process.
One of those reforms that has proven somewhat controversial would split filing fees into three components: fees for filing, for researching evidence of prior inventions and for examinations. Currently, the base fee is $750; under the proposal, it would become $300 for filing, $500 for researching and $200 for examination.
But an amendment approved last July by the Judiciary Committee would take the PTO off budget by eliminating congressional appropriators' ability to divert patent fees for general revenues.
Technology and other business leaders strongly supported that amendment, which they regarded as crucial to securing their support for patent-fee increases. But House appropriators -- including Frank Wolf, R-Va., chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Commerce Department and PTO -- objected to such a precedent.
In January, Sensenbrenner brokered an agreement that appears to have quelled appropriators' vocal objections. The amendment drafted by Sensenbrenner would create a "refund" program to "eliminate the potential incentive for diverting PTO revenue to non-PTO programs," according to a House leadership summary of the amendment.
On Tuesday, the House Rules Committee ruled that amendment in order, as well as a Manzullo amendment to establish inflation-adjusted fees and to keep all filing fees for small business at 50 percent of the base level.
The panel also agreed to permit an amendment by Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas, that would require that PTO contracts for researching patent applicants be awarded to U.S. and minority businesses.