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Return to [[Innovation Policy]].<section begin=USPTO />The [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]] (USPTO) is the organization within the United States government that reviews and grants patents and trademarks. The USPTO is tasked with defining [[patent types]] and what each type covers and protects. Established under the Department of Commerce on July 19, 1952[https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/patent-and-trademark-office] by 35 U.S.C. §1[http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2013-title35/html/USCODE-2013-title35-partI-chap1-sec1.htm], the USPTO is intended to fulfill the mandate in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."[https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/United_States_of_America_1992]. Since 1790, the US has issued more than 6.5 million patents[http://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-updates/uspto-web-database-now-includes-all-patents-dating-1790]. The agency's main offices reside in Alexandria, Virginia, with several satellite offices around the country. <section end=USPTO /><section begin=HistoryUSPTO2 />In April 2016, the USPTO had an unexamined patent backlog of 549,896 and 352,573 application filings for review. The unexamined patent backlog is a record of how many [[Patent Types| UPR Patents]] are waiting for review by a patent examiner, and application filings are how many patents are being sent in for review. [http://www.uspto.gov/corda/dashboards/patents/main.dashxml?CTNAVID=1005] The USPTO reports that in 2016 the average total pendency time, the time between filing a patent application and issuing or dismissing a patent, has been 26 months. The USPTO stated in its Performance and Accountability Report for 2015 that it struggles to find and to maintain sustainable funding. The report shows that the funding is necessary to improve on both patent and trademark quality and timeliness. <ref name="USPTO report" /><section end=USPTO2 />

 The USPTO released its 2015-2018 People Plan, which outlines three pillars of focus for its workforce through the 2018 fiscal year.[http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USPTO%202015%20-%202018%20People%20Plan.pdf] The Office intends to use the three pillars of ''lead'', ''engage'', and ''enable'' for its strategic human capital planning, which is "the process by which an organization takes stock of how its people and people-management activities align with and support the agency’s strategic goals." Some human capital planning recommendations include The primary results consist of diversifying and developing its workforce, connecting its employees with the core vision of the USPTO, and maximizing its internal leadership capabilities.

Classification Numbers can ==Funding== The USPTO receives its operating funds through application fees, officially designated as "offsetting collections" to be found [http://wwwplaced in the Patent and Trademark Office Appropriations Account.usptoHowever, the office must publish annal reports to Congress on its expected level of revenue and expenditure.gov/web/patents/classification/selectnumwithtitleFrom there, Congress appropriates a certain level of funding that the USPTO may keep form its fee collection in order to run the office.htm here]Essentially, the USPTO must request permission to keep and use the money it receives from the application fees. No additional appropriation through Congress is usually approved. The net appropriation for the past three years has been $0.

The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) created a reserve fund for the USPTO, where all excess fees are to be deposited. Further, the AIA granted the USPTO authority "to set or adjust by rule any fee established or charged by the Office". This provision increased the office's flexibility on fee setting and helped pave the way for a new visual database, PatentsView, can be found class of fees for "micro entities."[http://www.patentsviewuspto.orggov/webcustom-page/ hereinventors-eye-advice].

Google's helpful article on downloading USPTO PAIR (Patent Application Information Retrieval) data can be found For FY 2016, the office requested $3.2 billion of allowed expenditure from its fee collections, which with funds from other income and the Operating reserve balance, is expected to fund the necessary operating budget of $3.5 billion.[httpshttp://www.googleuspto.comgov/googlebookssites/uspto-patents-pairdefault/files/documents/fy16pbr.html#AvailableApplications herepdf].

===Patent TypesReserve Fund===

Section 22 of the America Invents Act (AIA) created a Patent and Trademark Fee Reserve Fund, where excess fees collected by the USPTO are to be deposited.[http://www.uspto.gov/webpatent/officeslaws-and-regulations/acamerica-invents-act-aia/idofees-and-budgetary-issues] The reserve fund is meant to reduce uncertainty in financial stability for the office, especially during government shutdown. The reserve should be able to sustain the operations of the USPTO for three months of its patent operations and four-to-six months of its trademark operations. The office projects the reserve fund to hold $1.9 billion through FY 2019, which will allow the office "to propose reducing trademark fees in FY 2015."[http:/oeip/tafwww.uspto.gov/blog/director/entry/h_counts.htman_update_on_sustainable_funding]

====Utility However, the USPTO must still petition Congress annually for permission to spend the money deposited in the reserve fund. The [[Innovation Protection Act]] and the [[Patent====Fee Integrity Act]] have been proposed to monitor and regulate the USPTO funding.

====Design The USPTO's funding process through congressional appropriations left the Office subject to "fee diversions," a process of taking excess funds accumulated by the USPTO but not requested in the annual budget and appropriating them to the general Treasury fund. All fees collected by the USPTO must be credited to the Patent====and Trademark Office Appropriations Account, from which the USPTO may take money that has been appropriated by Congress and see all excess funds appropriated elsewhere.

Design patents protect a "new, original, This practice of fee diversion helped other sectors of the federal government cover additional expenses without exceeding appropriation limits. The USPTO reacted to this practice by closely estimating expected revenue and ornamental design matching this estimate with its annual appropriations proposal for an article of manufacture"[http://wwwCongress.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/glossary]

Plant patents protect The Leahy-Smith Act America Invents Act created a USPTO reserve fund to hold excess fees collected in a "distinct and new variety given fiscal year. Although the reserve fund balance may only be appropriated to USPTO activities, the director of plant that can be asexually reproduced"[http://www.usptothe USPTO must still petition Congress to use these funds in its annual budget request.gov/learning-and-resources/glossary]

*'''Denver, CO''': :Rocky Mountain Regional Office (USPTO):1961 Stout Street:Denver, CO 80294 *'''Silicon Valley, CA''': :Silicon Valley USPTO:26 S. Fourth Street:San Jose, CA 95113 *'''Dallas, TX''': :Texas Regional Office (USPTO):207 South Houston St.:Dallas, TX 75202 ===Online Locationsand Helpful Links===