Orrin Hatch: “let me just take a moment to discuss the important issue of the funding of the Patent and Trademark Office [PTO] that is…”

“let me just take a moment to discuss the important issue of the funding of the Patent and Trademark Office [PTO] that is contained in the Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary appropriations bill that the Senate will vote on later today. As my colleagues know, Mr. President, the PTO has been entirely funded by user fees for several years now. Not one cent of general taxpayer money goes to the operation of that vital office. Thus, it is my belief that all the money generated by the user fees should be available for use by the PTO. Unfortunately, in the last few years, increasingly large amounts of money have been diverted from the PTO. The patent surcharge, which was instituted to make the PTO self-funding, has been the target of this diversion. That is why I was very pleased when the surcharge, which is scheduled to expire after fiscal year 1998, was not renewed.”