USPTO Would Benefit from Proposed Budget

Under President Obama's proposed fiscal 2012 budget, the patent system would be improved by giving the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) "full access to its fee collections" and would "strengthen USPTO's efforts to improve the speed and quality of patent examinations through a temporary fee surcharge and regulatory and legislative reforms." The budget also "supports strengthened intellectual property enforcement domestically and overseas." The budget would provide the USPTO with $2.7 billion in 2012, an increase of about one-third over 2010 levels. The $3.73 trillion budget calls for over $1 trillion in total spending cuts and must go through numerous Congressional hearings and committees prior to final approval. Click here to read the proposed budget in its entirety.