A business process reengineering review effort took place in both Patents and Trademarks. The second purpose of the sessions was to seek customer input and suggestions on the fee structure and factors that may impact fees. The PTO is committed to seeking customer input, and taking it into consideration for decision making purposes. Successful applicants pay a larger share - Patent applicants who are successful subsidize those applicants whose applications are not successful. This subsidization is a result of the back-end fee recovery aspect of the patent fee structure.
Fees charged are the same regardless of the invention type or complexity.
In addition to the issues raised by the GAO, three additional topics were discussed at all sessions. Electronic filing - Suggestions for incentives that the PTO could offer that would encourage applicants to file electronically. New products or services - Suggestions for new products or services that customers would like to see offered. Other miscellaneous topics were discussed at sessions when they arose. A complete listing of these topics and their responses will be made available through documentation being published on the Internet.