Obama Proposes Increased USPTO Budget

President Barack Obama's proposed 2011 fiscal year budget includes $2.322 billion for the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This represents a 23 percent increase from 2010. According to White House budget documents (pages 226-27), "Requested increases in funding for 2011 will be used to hire additional patent examiners, continue improvements to USPTO's information technology infrastructure, and improve intellectual property protections worldwide." The White House also says that this budget would "provide the USPTO full access to its fee collections, including additional resources provided through a 15 percent fee increase on patent services, to strengthen USPTO’s efforts to improve the speed and quality of patent examinations."