NEWS: Patent Office Has Backlog of 700,000 Applications…3-Year Wait 20% of Our Genes are Already Patented by Private Companies Federal Court Rules against Patenting Human Genes Patent Office Loses $100 Million in Last-Minute Congressional Budget Change
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Overview  

In existence for more than 200 years, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the government agency responsible for processing patent and trademark applications and disseminating related information to the public. Patents are a type of constitutionally sanctioned property right granted to inventors for exclusive development and deployment of their discoveries. Located in the Department of Commerce, the agency has been fully fee-funded since 1991.

                                      
Not without its fair share of controversy, the USPTO has long been criticized for long waiting times, inefficiency, and granting patents for unjustifiably ridiculous “inventions.” Although the Office only grants patents and trademarks valid in the U.S., its issue of U.S.-company patents for genetic modifications of biotechnology in foreign countries makes it susceptible to criticism of facilitating biopiracy, and makes it part of a larger debate over international intellectual property. Recently the agency had its statutory wings clipped by a U.S. district court that ruled the agency had gone too far in changing rules to the patent applications process meant to prevent abuse and cut back on bureaucracy. Current Congressional reforms are on the table, some aiming at a major overhaul of the patent system, especially with regard to patent infringement litigation.
 
History  

USPTO history spans more than 200 years. In 1790, President George Washington established the first Patent Act, under which the Secretary of State and Executive signed off on patents. The responsibility was soon transferred to clerks in the State Department, and in 1802 given to the newly created role of clerk in the Department of State, which became the first patent office. Trademark registration was added to the Office’s functions in 1881.

 
The USPTO has issued more than 6.3 million patents since the Patent Act of 1790, and generally receives more than 326,000 patent applications and 232,000 trademark applications per year.
 
Statutory Authority
15 U.S.C. 1051-1127 contains provisions of the Trademark Act of 1946 that govern the administration of the trademark registration system of the Patent and trademark Office.
15 U.S.C. 1511 states that the Patent and Trademark Office is under the jurisdiction and supervision of the Department of Commerce.
35 U.S.C. contains basic authorities for administration of patent laws, derived from the Act of July 19, 1952, and subsequent enactment. Revenues from fees are available, to the extent provided for in appropriations acts, to the Commissioner to carry out the activities of the Office. The Patent and Trademark Office is authorized to charge international fees for activities undertaken pursuant to the Patent Cooperation Treaty. Deployment of automated search systems of the Office to the public is authorized.
44 U.S.C. 1337-1338 contains authority to print patents, trademarks, and other matters relating to the business of the Office.
 
 
What it Does