Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, the issue here has to be addressed in terms of priorities. The operation of the Patent Office is one of the few constitutional functions to which this body addresses itself. It is nice to have these cultural exchanges. As a member of the Committee on International Relations, we took a look at those several years ago and tried to pare down some money, saved a little money. But we really have to weigh whether or not we are going to have a lot of money spent on the cultural exchanges, or whether or not we are going to undergo a constitutional function, and that is to run the Patent Office. But somewhere in between, the person who gets lost is the small inventor. Patent fees have gone up over the course of the last several years. In discussing this with patent attorneys, I have discovered that many people who would wish to prosecute a patent application have been stymied because of the tremendous cost used in filing for that application. Yet, the application fees have been based upon essentially what it costs to run the Patent Office.”