USPTO BECOMES PERFORMANCE BASED

PTO Director Q. Todd Dickinson title has been revised from commissioner to director of the PTO, and from assistant secretary of commerce to undersecretary of commerce. Two commissioner posts were also created by the legislation. Nicholas Godici was elevated from acting assistant commissioner for patents to commissioner, and Anne Chasser was elevated from assistant commissioner to commissioner for trademarks.

In a speech before the IPLA and in a separate interview, Dickinson emphasized that the PTO is in need of greater resources. Since about 1990, the PTO has been the only federal agency that receives all of its funding from fees. Over the years, the government has taken an increasing amount of revenue generated by the PTO to apply to other programs. While the money is given back in the following year's budget, Dickinson said money from that year's budget is taken away at the same time.

In the last two years, Congress has taken $200 million from the PTO and this year the figure will increase to $368 million. If this continues without a permanent fix, "it has the potential to permanently impair our operations," Dickinson said.

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