Budgetary Resources and Requirements
The USPTO was provided appropriation authority
to spend all estimated fee collections in FY 2007. When spending authority
is less than fee collections, the additional fee collections are temporarily
unavailable. During FY 2007, the USPTO collected an additional $12.2 million
in fees that are unavailable for spending.
The following table presents the source of funds made available to the
USPTO, and the use of such funds.
Source and Status of USPTO Funds (Dollars in millions)
Source of Funds: |
|
|
|
|
| Unobligated
Beginning Balance |
$ 3.5 |
$ 2.3 |
$ 5.7 |
$ 5.7 |
| Recovery
of Prior Year Obligations |
10.4 |
7.6 |
9.1 |
9.9 |
| Spending
Authority from Offsetting Collections |
1,321.7 |
1,504.2 |
1,665.4 |
1,791.1 |
| Non-Expenditure
Transfer |
– |
– |
(0.1) |
– |
| Net
Increase in Unavailable Fees |
(99.9) |
– |
– |
(12.2) |
 |
| Total
Source of Funds |
$1,235.7 |
$1,514.1 |
$1,680.1 |
$1,794.5 |
 |
Status of Funds: |
|
|
|
|
| Obligations
Incurred |
$1,233.4 |
$1,508.4 |
$1,674.4 |
$1,766.5 |
| Unobligated
Balance, Available |
1.8 |
2.7 |
5.7 |
28.0 |
| Unobligated
Balance, Unavailable |
0.5 |
3.0 |
– |
– |
|
| Total
Status of Funds |
$1,235.7 |
$1,514.1 |
$1,680.1 |
$1,794.5 |
|
|
During FY 2007, total budgetary resources available for spend-ing increased
6.8 percent over the amount available in the preceding year. This significant
increase in budgetary resources available for use is depicted by the graph
below.
 D
In FY 2007, the USPTO was provided with use of all of its estimated fee
collections. This allowed the USPTO continued flexibility towards meeting
the goals of the 2007-2012 Strategic Plan, including
transitioning to a fully electronic operating environment, improving the
quality of its services and products, addressing patent and trademark
pendency, and improving intellectual property protection and enforcement.
The additional funding has enabled the USPTO to substantially increase
the number of patent examiners to assist in addressing the growing average
complexity of patent applications and increasing workloads and to allocate
additional resources towards protecting intellectual property in the United
States and abroad. As a result, the USPTO was able to meet virtually all
of the performance goals and continue reforms that assure intellectual
property relevancy in a highly competitive, global marketplace.
|
