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Patent and Trademark Office (posted 8/20/01)
The American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 requires the
Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to examine various fee structure
alternatives. A legislative goal is to encourage maximum participation
by the inventor community in the United States. PTO has been
developing possible fee design alternatives based on ongoing
interactions with various customers, but no clear consensus
for change emerged. Consequently, senior management at PTO
assembled a team in early 2001 to examine the alternatives
in greater detail. This team is also examining such items
as aligning fees with the cost of services, and continuing
to generate sufficient revenue to finance current and future
patent operations. PTO has engaged the Academy to provide
a Panel and associated staff to assist the PTO team in completing
the effort.
The study would be conducted over a 7-month period with completion
in February 2002. Optional tasks could extend the contract
period an additional three to four months. The Academy's role
would be to review and comment on several written products
prepared by PTO, help prepare PTO for consultations it plans
to conduct with various industry organizations and stakeholders,
and assist with a legislative proposal. More specifically,
the Academy would review and comment on two draft reports
and a decision paper resulting from PTO's internal study.
This review would encompass the adequacy of the principles,
assumptions and methodology for developing the new fee structure
as well as the adequacy of the accounting and financial data
systems supporting both the new structure proposed by PTO
and any modifications recommended by the Panel.
Management Studies
Albert Kliman
Ongoing
The Academy has appointed the following
individuals to a Panel to direct and oversee this study.
(Chair) - Fellow, Center for the Study of American Government,
Johns Hopkins University; Financial and Legal Policy Consultant.
Former Partner, Wellford, Wegman and Hoff; Associate General
Counsel, Federal National Mortgage Association; Acting Director
and Deputy Director, Office of Policy and Planning, U.S. Federal
Trade Commission; Director, Housing Research Group; Director,
Tax Reform Research Group.
- Economic and Public Policy Consultant. Former Vice President
and Director of Business and Government Policy, Committee
for Economic Development; Former Chief of Staff to three U.S.
Congressmen. Former Senior Staff Economist, Deputy Staff Director,
and Executive Staff Director, Committee on the Budget, U.S.
House of Representatives; Adjunct Professor, Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University; Fellow, Johns Hopkins University.
- Henry L. and Grace M. Doherty Professor of Government
and Foreign Affairs, University of Virginia. Former Commissioner,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Professor, Political
Science/Public Policy and Administration, University of Wisconsin.
- Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School;
Positions with the National Bureau of Economic Research, including
Faculty Research Fellow, Corporate Finance and Productivity
Programs, and Co-Organizer, Innovation Policy and the Economy
Group. Former Member, Research Committee, White House Conference
on Small Business; Positions with the Brookings Institution,
a public-private task force in Chicago, and on Capitol Hill.
* Non-Fellow. Recommended by PTO.
To Be Announced
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