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Article
The U.S. Patent Office’s Proposed Fees Under the America Invents Act—Part I: The Scope of the Office’s Fee-Setting Authority
Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal (2012)
  • Ron D Katznelson, Bi-Level Technologies
Abstract
This two-part article discusses the Patent and Trademark Office’s recent proposed rulemaking setting new patent user fees. In Part I the author argues that the PTO can raise fees in accordance with its aggregate costs but lacks authority to set national patent policies, or to skew certain fees to discourage or encourage a particular service. The author also asserts that the America Invents Act does not vest with the PTO discretion to set the level of its operating reserve – a determination reserved solely for congressional appropriations. In an upcoming Part II, the author will discuss specific fees and their public policy implications, will critique the PTO costing methodology used to set fees, and will propose a simple legally compliant approach for setting fees by increasing fees to match the aggregate costs while maintaining their relative magnitudes so as to preserve the salient congressional patent policy goals.
Keywords
  • patent,
  • user fees,
  • America Invents Act,
  • Independent Offices Appropriations Act
Publication Date
Winter December 7, 2012
Citation Information
Ron D. Katznelson. "The U.S. Patent Office’s Proposed Fees Under the America Invents Act—Part I: The Scope of the Office’s Fee-Setting Authority," Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal, Vol. 85, pp. 206-216, (Dec. 7, 2012) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/rkatznelson/70