News Item
Patent Office funding increased
(08/13/10)
President Obama signed the United States Patent and Trademark Office Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010 (H.R. 5874) on August 10, 2010 and it became law as Public Law 111-224 (124 Stat. 385). The new law allows the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to keep and spend an additional $129 million of the fees it will collect from patent and trademark applicants in fiscal year 2010, rather than diverting those funds to the U.S. treasury to be spent on other government programs. This is good news for patent applicants because, according to Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property David Kappos, the additional money will be spent to improve the USPTO and the patent process. The Office will be able to hire more new patent examiners, pay for more examiner overtime, and improve its information technology services.
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