[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 17756-17757]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



       PATENT FEE INTEGRITY AND INNOVATION PROTECTION ACT OF 1999

  Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
Senate bill (S. 1258) to authorize funds for the payment of salaries 
and expenses of the Patent and Trademark Office, and for other 
purposes.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                S. 1258

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Patent Fee Integrity and 
     Innovation Protection Act of 1999''.

     SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There are authorized to be made available for the payment 
     of salaries and necessary expenses of the Patent and 
     Trademark Office in fiscal year 2000, $116,000,000 from fees 
     collected in fiscal year 1999 and such fees as are collected 
     in fiscal year 2000 pursuant to title 35, United States Code, 
     and the Trademark Act of 1946 (15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.), 
     except that the Commissioner is not authorized to charge and 
     collect fees to cover the accrued indirect personnel costs 
     associated with post-retirement health and life insurance of 
     officers and employees of the Patent and Trademark Office 
     other than those charged and collected pursuant to title 35, 
     United States Code, and the Trademark Act of 1946.

     SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       This Act shall take effect on October 1, 1999.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Coble) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. 
Cummings) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble).

                              {time}  1500


                             General Leave

  Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the bill 
under consideration and to insert extraneous material in the Record.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pease). Is there objection to the 
request of the gentleman from North Carolina?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise today, Mr. Speaker, in support of S. 1258, the Patent Fee 
Integrity and Innovation Protection Act, and urge the House to adopt 
the measure.
  This bill is identical to H.R. 1225, the Patent and Trademark Office 
Reauthorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000, which the House Committee on 
the Judiciary favorably reported on June 9. This legislation is 
premised on the same policy goal as last year's version, namely, to 
prevent the diversion of revenue generated by special surcharges from 
the Patent and Trademark Office. The point of S. 1258 is 
straightforward and necessary, to allow the agency to keep all the 
revenue it raises in user fees to benefit American inventors and 
trademark holders. The Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property 
and the Committee on the Judiciary support S. 1258 in a bipartisan 
manner, and I urge its adoption today.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the minority, I am happy to rise in support 
of S. 1258, a bill to reauthorize the Patent and Trademark Office.
  S. 1258, like H.R. 1225, reflects bipartisan opposition to surcharges 
on patent applications and support for fees

[[Page 17757]]

that will fully fund the PTO and its obligations to its retirees. The 
bill explicitly authorizes the use of carryover funds to pay for the 
expense of the Employees Health Benefits and Life Insurance Funds.
  The Patent and Trademark Office is 100 percent funded through 
application and user fees which all too often in the past have been 
diverted to other agencies and programs to the detriment of the 
efficient function of our patent and trademark systems. S. 1258, like 
Public Law 105-358 from the last Congress, reflects our resolve that 
this practice be firmly a matter of past history.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. 
Not unlike S. 1260 regarding the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Berman), the gentleman from California has also worked very closely 
with us on this bill and the previous bill and concurs in its passage.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 1258.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________