This section of our statement discusses the following three areas: (1) patent pendency—the amount of time that PTO spends in examining an application to determine whether an invention should receive a patent; (2) PTO’s resources committed to the patent process, the trademark process, the dissemination of information, and executive direction and administration; and (3) PTO’s workload and examination process in comparison with those of other industrialized countries. Current Patent Pendency Statistics Do Not Provide Information Needed

In analyzing patent pendency, we found that the overall pendency statistics being reported by PTO do not provide inventors and decisionmakers with enough information. We found that calculating pendency by using the parent filing date rather than the current filing date raises pendency significantly. In fiscal year 1995, about three-fourths of PTO’s funding—all of which now is generated by fees—and staff were devoted to the patent process. PTO’s annual obligations have increased steadily in recent years. In the 10-year period from fiscal year 1986 to fiscal year 1995, PTO’s annual obligations increased from $212 million to $589 million, an average annual increase of nearly 20 percent. Methods for computing pendency also differ between the three patent offices. Among the issues that Booz-Allen addressed in its review that the Senate Committee on the Judiciary expressed interest in were: (1) the potential for the Copyright Office to be transferred from the Library of Congress to another organization; (2) the possible additional revenues that the Copyright Office could charge if it recovered all costs; and (3) the impact on the Library, including the Copyright Office, from revisions to its competitive selection process as a result of the settlement of a class-action discrimination suit. Within this context, Booz-Allen looked at various aspects of the Library’s organizational components and the Library’s fee structure.
Why GAO Did This Study

GAO discussed: (1) patent examination issues at the Department of Commerce's Patent and Trademark Office (PTO); and (2) examined the fees that PTO and the Library of Congress's Copyright Office charge for their services.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) PTO patent pendency statistics do not provide inventors and decisionmakers with enough information; (2) reported pendency depend on the computation method used, type of invention, filing date, and the amount of time it takes for applicants to answer additional requests for information; (3) calculating pendency using the patent filing date significantly increases pendency; (4) three-fourths of PTO funding and staff were devoted to the patent process in 1995; (5) since 1986, PTO annual obligations have increased from $212 million to $589 million, an average annual increase of 20 percent; and (6) PTO examines patent applications and computes pendency differently from its counterparts in other industrialized countries. GAO also noted that: (1) the Library's fees do not fully recover the cost of copyright registrations; (2) the Library could generate additional revenue by increasing the copyright registration fee; (3) the Library's hiring process has been adversely affected by a settlement that requires it to revise its competitive selection process; and (4) the Library's actions in response to the settlement have resulted in prospective employees taking other jobs and added additional costs to Library operations.