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PublishedMay 22, 2018

Chabot, Johnson Introduce House Fee-Setting Reauthorization Bill

Just a bill

Back in March, Senator Coons and Senator Hatch introduced a bill to renew the USPTO’s authorization to set its own fees, the “BIG Data for IP” Act (S. 2601).  This week, Reps. Chabot (OH) and Johnson (GA) introduced a House companion bill (H.R. 5887).  

As I wrote back in March, fee-setting authority is critical to USPTO operations and it expires this September.  This authority ensures that the Office is properly funded, and helps ensure that the Office isn’t financially incentivized to grant patents that would not otherwise have been granted.  The Chabot-Johnson companion bill would renew this authority, providing the Office with the ability to continue to recover the costs of examination. Without their bill, PTO operations will be less efficient and we’ll likely see more bad patents issue.

These problems can be avoided if the House and Senate pass BIG Data for IP into law before the September expiration date.

Josh Landau

Patent Counsel, CCIA

Joshua Landau is the Patent Counsel at the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), where he represents and advises the association regarding patent issues.  Mr. Landau joined CCIA from WilmerHale in 2017, where he represented clients in patent litigation, counseling, and prosecution, including trials in both district courts and before the PTAB.

Prior to his time at WilmerHale, Mr. Landau was a Legal Fellow on Senator Al Franken’s Judiciary staff, focusing on privacy and technology issues.  Mr. Landau received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and his B.S.E.E. from the University of Michigan.  Before law school, he spent several years as an automotive engineer, during which time he co-invented technology leading to U.S. Patent No. 6,934,140.

Follow @PatentJosh on Twitter.

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