CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS – LEGAL AFFAIRS
June 16, 2011 – 5:27 p.m.
Fattah Hints Compromise Near on Patent Bill
By Keith Perine, CQ Staff
As House Republicans scrambled to strike a deal on a dispute over fee provisions that is holding up a patent overhaul bill, a Democratic appropriator sketched out the potential contours of a compromise.
Several top Republicans are opposed to a central feature of the bill (
The fate of the bill depends on whether its sponsor, Judiciary Chairman
Pennsylvania Democrat
Fattah, who has also signaled concern with the fee provisions, said negotiators have developed a proposal whereby the patent office would estimate how much money it would need in advance, and then receive those funds through an appropriation. Fattah said any additional revenue the patent office generated would go to a reserve fund that would be available to the patent office after it submitted a spending plan to appropriators.
But it is unclear whether House negotiators will agree to that kind of approach. Smith declined to discuss specifics, but said negotiators were passing around language and hoped to strike a deal Thursday.
A Tough Sell
House Majority Leader
The patent office, which is struggling under a years-long backlog of applications, generates much more money in fees every year than it receives in appropriations. And the office would be assigned new duties under other provisions of the legislation.
“We cannot successfully implement patent reform legislation without full access to the fees we collect each year,” a spokesman for the patent office said. “It’s just that simple.”
Sen.
Coburn also made clear that some form of fee language was an essential element of the legislation.
“If fee diversion isn’t in there, there isn’t going to be a patent bill,” Coburn said.
Fattah Hints Compromise Near on Patent Bill
The Senate passed a similar bill (