Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District

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Inslee Urges Congress to Support Patent Bill

10 February 2004

U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) sent a letter to all Members of Congress today, urging them to support the current version of the Patent and Trademark Fee Modernization Act of 2003 during tomorrow’s vote.This legislation would increase patent application fees charged to inventors, and use the increased funding to improve patent quality and expedite patent processing. Inslee and Rohrabacher are concerned about the possibility of lawmakers changing the legislation to permit the patent fees to be used for funding projects unrelated to the Patent and Trademark Office.

The text of the letter is below:

February 10, 2004

Dear Colleague:

We urge you to strongly support the reported version of the United States Patent and Trademark Fee Modernization Act of 2003 (H.R. 1561), which is scheduled for a vote tomorrow. This important legislation is crucial to maintaining America's intellectual property protections and preserving our competitive technological edge.

We also urge you to oppose any potential amendments to H.R. 1561 that do not end the twelve year practice of diverting patent fees away from the USPTO. Currently, the USPTO is in serious need of additional resources to avert a dire crisis. Significant increases in patent pendency and decreases in patent quality have serious consequences for America's inventors and the American economy at large.

In its current form, H.R. 1561 averts this crisis by ensuring the USPTO has the means to issue effective, high-quality patents and trademarks, and keep up with today's fast-paced technology sector, the heart of America's competitive economy.

Even though H.R. 1561 raises USPTO fees by an average of 15 percent, America's inventors - including the computer, biotech, and Internet industries - strongly support it. Their support is predicated, however, on the condition that the USPTO actually receives all the fees collected. Since 1992, America's inventors and small businesses have seen more than $650 million of the fees they paid the PTO diverted to unrelated programs. By ending this fee diversion, H.R. 1561 would end what has become a significant tax on innovation. Congress should stop this annual innovation tax by passing H.R. 1561 as reported. America's inventors shoulder their fair share of taxes already, and should receive the services for which they have paid.

We thank the House leadership for recognizing the importance of this legislation and scheduling it for a vote. H.R. 1561 is a very common-sense, bipartisan bill that has public support of over 100 companies and 28 industry associations.

America must maintain our distinguished legacy of encouraging and promoting the entrepreneurial spirit. Congress should seize this unique opportunity to support innovation and job creation by allowing the USPTO to do its job effectively.

Sincerely,

Jay Inslee
Member of Congress

Dana Rohrabacher
Member of Congress