USPTO Performance and Accountability Report - U.S. Patent and ...

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
security weakness requiring remediation is tracked
using POA&M. Our goal is to bring total number of
open POA&Ms as low as possible by remediating
security weaknesses in the systems.
FIGURE 27 Total Number of Open
Plan of Actions and Milestones
OBJECTIVE 2: Implement a sustainable
funding model for operations
Section 10 of the AIA authorizes the Director of the
USPTO to set or adjust by rule all patent and trademark
fees established, authorized, or charged under Title
35 of the U.S. Code and the Trademark Act of 1946
(15 U.S.C. § 1051 et seq.), respectively. When fees are
set, the aggregate revenue from the patent fees may
only recover the aggregate estimated cost of the
patent operations, including administrative costs of
the USPTO. Likewise, the aggregate revenue from the
trademark fees may only recover the aggregate
estimated cost of the trademark operations, also
including administrative costs to the USPTO.
Fee setting is an important initiative of the agency’s
Strategic Goal Objective to implement a sustainable
funding model for its operations. In fact, of the six
initiatives articulated within the Sustainable Funding
Model Objective (Objective 2 of the USPTO 2010-2015
Strategic Plan), it remains the USPTO’s sole remaining
outstanding initiative. In FY 2012, the agency began
PERFORMANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT: FISCAL YEAR 2012
to implement its newly conferred fee-setting authority
through the publication of a draft fee schedule.
The agency consulted with its public advisory committees,
stakeholders, and the public in reformulating the
fee structure for its new fee setting authority.
Specifically, the USPTO published a proposed
rulemaking that is essential to a establishing a sustainable
funding model by focusing on reducing the
current patent application backlog, decreasing
patent pendency, improving patent quality, and
upgrading the agency’s patent business IT capability
and infrastructure. The proposed rule also aims to
reduce fees for micro entities under section 10(b) of
the Act (75 percent discount),and will further key
policy considerations. For example, the proposal
includes multipart and staged fees for requests for
continued examination and appeals, both of which
aim to increase patent prosecution options for applicants.
The proposed rule was published on
September 6, 2012. The final rule is expected to be
issued next fiscal year.
The FY 2012 President’s Budget highlighted the
agency’s activities toward achieving a sustainable
funding model, including:
(1) The conduct of regular historical cost analyses of
activities supporting fees to provide sufficient
trending information to inform fee changes.
(2) Ensuring access to fee collections to support the
agency’s objectives.
(3) Instituting an interim patent fee increase.
(4) Pursuing the authority to adjust our fee structure
by regulation to better align fees with the cost of
providing services.
(5) Funding an operating reserve to manage operations
on a multi-year basis and thereby protect
the agency against unforeseen disruptions in
revenue.
These activities support all aspects of budget formulation,
performance reporting, and strategic planning,
thus ensuring the USPTO meets reporting requirements,
such as this PAR, strategic planning updates,
and budget submissions.