[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 27 (Thursday, March 4, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E304]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK FEE MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2003

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                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 4, 2004

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, yesterday this body passed the United States 
Patent and Trademark Fee Modernization Act (H.R. 1561).
  H.R. 1561 will begin outsourcing the U.S. Patent and Trademark 
Office's patent search function and it will increase the fees for 
inventors to obtain a patent or trademark. Yesterday's passage of H.R. 
1561 will also lead to decreased efficiency and accountability in the 
process of granting patents and trademarks.
  Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution grants the federal 
government the responsibility to ``promote the progress of science and 
useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the 
exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.'' H.R. 
1561 increasingly shifts this function out of the hands of the federal 
government and delegates more of it to private commercial entities. 
What's more, due to the ambiguous language of the bill, these jobs 
could end up overseas. Congress should defend the integrity of the U.S. 
Constitution and the employment prospects of American workers.
  As my colleagues may know, I hold a patent for a system to generate 
solar energy. That experience sensitized me to the reality that many of 
the most ground-breaking ideas and products that need patent or 
trademark protection come from small inventors or college or university 
laboratories. Therefore, it is vital that the financial hurdles for 
application and receipt of patents do not exceed the means of these 
inventors. H.R. 1561 would increase the fees that small entities must 
pay in order to obtain a patent or trademark, and the impending 
outsourcing will force the fees up again in the future. That burden 
will slow innovation. I recognize the need to pass meaningful 
legislation that will help the USPTO to alleviate their backlog of 
pending patent and trademark applications, in order to efficiently 
serve the innovators that keep this nation moving forward. Rather than 
achieving this worthy goal, this bill will make it more difficult for 
American inventors to obtain the legal protection that they and their 
products deserve. As much as I would like to see the work of the USPTO 
improved, I could not support H.R. 1561.

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