NOTE 4. Liabilities
The USPTO records liabilities for amounts that are likely to be paid as the direct result of events that have already occurred. The USPTO considers liabilities covered by three types of resources: realized budgetary resources; unrealized budgetary resources that become available without further Congressional action; and cash and Fund Balance with Treasury. Realized budgetary resources include obligated balances funding existing liabilities and unobligated balances as of September 30, 2003. In addition, cash and Fund Balance with Treasury cover liabilities that will never require the use of a budgetary resource. These liabilities consist of deposit accounts, refunds payable to customers for fee overpayments, undeposited collections, and amounts collected by the USPTO on behalf of other organizations.
Due to the USPTO's funding structure, budgetary resources do not cover a portion of unearned fees. The USPTO's fees that were withheld and deposited into a restricted special fund receipt account are not considered a resource until appropriated and made available by the issuance of a Treasury warrant, although the USPTO incurred costs to generate these fees. Therefore, budgetary resources from current operations that normally would be used to cover a portion of unearned fees have been used to cover prior year costs associated with restricted fees. In addition, the current patent fee structure sets low initial application fees that are followed by income from maintenance fees as a supplement in later years to cover the full cost of the patent examination and issuance process. The combination of these funding circumstances requires the USPTO to obtain additional budgetary resources to cover its liability for unearned revenue.
As of September 30, 2003 and 2002, liabilities covered and not covered by budgetary resources were as follows:
| 2003 | 2002 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Liabilities Covered by Resources
|
||
|
Intragovernmental:
|
||
|
Accounts Payable
|
$ 3,514 | $ 3,721 |
|
Accrued Payroll and Benefits
|
2,892 | 2,446 |
|
Customer Deposit Accounts
|
3,266 | 3,749 |
 |
||
|
Total Intragovernmental
|
$ 9,672 | $ 9,916 |
|
Accounts Payable
|
76,610 | 71,037 |
|
Accrued Payroll and Benefits
|
14,694 | 12,865 |
|
Customer Deposit Accounts
|
71,141 | 61,002 |
|
Deferred Revenue
|
14,192 | 14,700 |
|
Patent Cooperation Treaty Account
|
6,109 | 4,810 |
|
||
|
Total Liabilities Covered by Resources
|
$192,418 | $174,330 |
|
||
|
Liabilities Not Covered by Resources
|
||
|
Intragovernmental:
|
||
|
Accrued Postemployment Compensation
|
$ 1,569 | $ 1,180 |
|
||
|
Total Intragovernmental
|
$ 1,569 | $ 1,180 |
|
Accrued Payroll and Benefits
|
19,821 | 18,270 |
|
Accrued Leave
|
38,046 | 34,461 |
|
Deferred Revenue
|
490,001 | 451,274 |
|
Actuarial Liability
|
6,494 | 5,332 |
|
||
|
Total Liabilities Not Covered by Resources
|
$555,931 | $510,517 |
|
||
|
Total Liabilities
|
$748,349 | $684,847 |
 |
||
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