USPTO Submits its Fiscal Year 2015 Congressional Budget Justification
Guest Blog by Chief Financial Officer Tony Scardino
I’m pleased to announce that the USPTO has published its fiscal year 2015 Congressional Budget Justification. The USPTO budget is formulated every year to gain access to our agency’s operational funds. Each year the USPTO submits a budget justification to Congress, through the Department of Commerce.
Our FY 2015 budget documents our requirements to aggressively continue reducing patent application pendency and backlog in order to help bring innovations to the marketplace and create jobs for the American people. It also enables us to continue maintaining trademark application pendency; implementing the America Invents Act (AIA); providing domestic and global intellectual property leadership; and modernizing our information technology (IT).
In FY 2015, the USPTO expects to collect $3.4 billion in fee revenue, which is derived primarily from patent and trademark fee collections. These collections will cover our total spending requirements and allow us to grow our operating reserve.
Our FY 2015 projected spending of $3.2 billion will support 13,203 full-time-equivalent patent, trademark, and related support positions, including 9,013 patent examiners.
Here is what we will be able to do in FY 2015 under this budget:
- With additional patent examiner hiring in FY 2014 and FY 2015, we will continue on our path of reducing patent application pendency to achieve our goals of first action pendency to 10.9 months and total pendency to 19.8 months in FY 2019—and aligning the backlog of unexamined applications with increased manpower by FY 2018.
- The budget also supports administrative efforts to address abusive patent litigation practices and repeats the president's call for Congress to enact legislation that promotes greater transparency in the U.S. patent system and prevents frivolous lawsuits that stifle innovation.
- In Trademarks, the budget supports hiring additional trademark examining attorneys to maintain first action pendency at 2.5-3.5 months and total pendency at 12.0 months or less.
- The budget assumes continued substantial capital improvement investments in critically-needed IT modernization including Patent End-to-End and Trademark Next Generation systems, and related infrastructure.
- This budget also supports USPTO domestic and global leadership to improve IP policy, protection, and enforcement.
The FY 2015 Congressional Budget Justification proposes how the USPTO wishes to expend its funds in the upcoming fiscal year. I hope you find value in the purpose of this document, and that it allows you to glean greater insights into the agency’s activities and achievements.
Posted at 01:01PM Mar 13, 2014 in USPTO |