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The Administration appreciates the Judiciary Committee's consideration of its
proposal to establish the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) as a performance
based organization. The Administration supports the substantive patent law
provisions of the bill.
The Administration supports House passage of the floor manager's en bloc
amendments to H.R. 400, which include some of the Administration's proposals to
improve the performance of the PTO. The Administration will seek further
improvements as the legislation continues through the legislative process.
Amendment by Representative Rohrabacher
The Administration strongly opposes House passage of H.R. 811, which may be
offered as a substitute for H.R. 400. H.R. 811 would undermine the
internationally agreed upon rule for a patent term of 20 years from the filing
of the patent application. It would have the practical effect of allowing
applicants to delay the patenting of an invention, thereby enabling the
eventual patentee to extract large royalties from businesses using the
invention or to threaten the viability of those businesses.
Pay-As-You-Go Scoring
H.R. 400 would affect direct spending and receipts; therefore, it is subject to
the pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) requirement of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
of 1990. OMB is developing its preliminary PAYGO estimate.
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