Congress is hoping to wrap things up soon, and the appropriations bills are clearly the focus of the lame-duck 108th. The appropriations bill for Commerce, Justice and State (CJS) includes funding for operations of the Patent and Trademark Office, but recent versions do not include the anti-fee diversion provisions that the Office was hoping to get passed this year and with this Congress.
Perhaps now, with the anti-fee diversion provisions seemingly off the table, the most interesting aspect of the fabled Patent and Trademark Fee Modernization Act of 2003 (and 2004, and…) is the fate of various procedural provisions. For example, the Act originally established a multi-track examination process for patent applications, and also allowed for outsourcing of patent prior art searches.
Will these and other provisions remain in the final bill? Time will tell. Perhaps we’ll know today…
If they do, they’re likely to become law because inclusion in an appropriations bill makes amendment of specific provisions difficult.
