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Does the USPTO have a looming cash crunch?

By Stephen M. Nipper

We all know that allowance rates are down, way down. Matt Buchanan, after analyzing weekly USPTO utility patent grants, states that decreasing allowance rates: …will have both an immediate and a delayed impact on Office income - Twenty thousand fewer issues fees have been paid so far this year as compared to 2006. If all of those ‘lost patents’ would have been large entity patents (which, of course, is not the case), the lost issue fees would be more that $28 million dollars ($14M if all would have been granted to small entities). That’s real money, even in Washington. The impact will be felt again in 3 to 4 years when the first maintenance fees are due on this year’s crop (assuming similar maintenance rates)...continue to full post

Full post as published by Invent Blog on November 13, 2008 (boomark / email).