Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) David Kappos has announced that President Obama is seeking a budget of USD2.32bn in fiscal year 2011 for the USPTO, enabling it to carry through its 5-year improvement plan.
The five-year plan is designed to enable the USPTO to achieve the strategic objectives laid out by Kappos and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, which include a significant reduction in patent pendency periods and the existing patent inventory backlog; improvement in patent quality; enhanced intellectual property protection and enforcement; global IP policy leadership; and investment in information technology infrastructure.
As of August 2009, the USPTO had a patent application backlog of more than 770,000. Moreover, there are long waiting periods for patent review, and the office has information technology systems that are regarded as outdated and an application process in need of modernization.
The USPTO is proposing to achieve 3% annual efficiency gains in patents processing by changing management processes and intends to carry out a hiring surge to bring 1,000 patent examiners to the Office annually during fiscal years 2011 and 2012. This effort will target former patent examiners and IP professionals who will require minimal training and can be productive virtually from the start of their employment.
“The USPTO’s 2011 budget represents a significant investment in American innovation,” Locke said. “We must reduce the unacceptably long time it takes to patent a new idea or technology and improve our enforcement of intellectual property. Doing so will help create jobs and enhance the long-term competitiveness of the US economy.”
The President's 2011 budget request projects fee collections of more than USD2bn. In addition, the administration is proposing an interim fee increase on certain patent fees which is estimated to generate USD224m.
“The USPTO’s work in fostering innovation and bringing patented goods and services to market is a crucial driver of job creation and economic recovery,” said Kappos. “Intellectual property is America’s competitive advantage in the 21st Century global economy and will play a central role in our long-term economic growth. We will continue to take steps to make the USPTO more efficient, and drive to reduce the unacceptably long pendency periods that hinder the creation of new businesses and new jobs.”
.
Network Tweets Archive
| Resources | Partners
| Site Map | Links
| Newsletter
Archive | Contact
| RSS Feeds
About | Syndication |
Advertising & Marketing |
Recruitment |
Terms & Conditions |
Privacy
Copyright © 2012 - All Rights Reserved - Tax-News.com
All content provided by BSI Media
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Tax-News.com has taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information contained on this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial or other loss or damage that may result from its use. In particular, users of the site are advised to take appropriate professional advice before committing themselves to involvement in offshore jurisdictions, offshore trusts or offshore investments.
Write a comment