‘‘(bb) productivity of the Patent 
and Trademark Office; 
‘‘(cc) costs to the Patent and 
Trademark Office; 
‘‘(dd) costs to patent applicants; 
and 
‘‘(ee) other relevant factors; 
‘‘(iii) the Patent Public Advisory Com-
mittee reviews and analyzes the Director’s re-
port under clause (ii) and the results of the 
pilot program and submits a separate report on 
its analysis to the Director and the Congress 
that includes— 
‘‘(I) an independent evaluation of the 
effects that the pilot program, as compared 
to searches conducted by the Patent and 
Trademark Office, had and will have on 
the factors set forth in clause (ii)(IV); and 
‘‘(II) an analysis of the reasonable-
ness, appropriateness, and effectiveness of 
the methods used in the pilot program to 
make the evaluations required under clause 
(ii)(IV); and 
‘‘(iv) the Congress does not, during the 1- 
year period beginning on the date on which the
Patent Public Advisory Committee submits its 
report to the Congress under clause (iii), enact 
a law prohibiting searches by commercial enti-
ties of the available prior art relating to the 
subject matter of inventions claimed in patent 
applications. 
‘‘(F) The Director shall require that any search 
by a qualified search authority that is a commercial 
entity is conducted in the United States by persons 
that— 
‘‘(i) if individuals, are United States citi-
zens; and 
‘‘(ii) if business concerns, are organized 
under the laws of the United States or any 
State and employ United States citizens to per-
form the searches. 
‘‘(G) A search of an application that is the sub-
ject of a secrecy order under section 181 or other-
wise involves classified information may only be con-
ducted by Office personnel. 
‘‘(H) A qualified search authority that is a 
commercial entity may not conduct a search of a 
patent application if the entity has any direct or in-
direct financial interest in any patent or in any
pending or imminent application for patent filed or 
to be filed in the Patent and Trademark Office. 
‘‘(2) OTHER FEES.—The Director shall estab-
lish fees for all other processing, services, or mate-
rials relating to patents not specified in this section 
to recover the estimated average cost to the Office 
of such processing, services, or materials, except that 
the Director shall charge the following fees for the 
following services: 
‘‘(A) For recording a document affecting 
title, $40 per property. 
‘‘(B) For each photocopy, $.25 per page. 
‘‘(C) For each black and white copy of a 
patent, $3. 
The yearly fee for providing a library specified in 
section 12 of this title with uncertified printed copies 
of the specifications and drawings for all patents in 
that year shall be $50.’’. 
(d) ADJUSTMENTS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 41(f) of title 35, 
United States Code, shall apply to the fees estab-
lished under the amendments made by this section, 
beginning in fiscal year 2006. 
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Effective De-
cember 8, 2004, section 41(f) of title 35, United
States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘(a) and (b)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘(a), (b), and (d)’’. 
(e) FEES FOR SMALL ENTITIES.—Section 41(h) of 
title 35, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Fees charged 
under subsection (a) or (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject 
to paragraph (3), fees charged under subsections 
(a), (b), and (d)(1)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(3) The fee charged under subsection (a)(1)(A) shall 
be reduced by 75 percent with respect to its application 
to any entity to which paragraph (1) applies, if the appli-
cation is filed by electronic means as prescribed by the 
Director.’’. 
(f) SIZE STANDARDS FOR SMALL ENTITIES.— 
(1) STUDY.—The Director, in conjunction with 
the Administrator of the Small Business Administra-
tion and the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 
Small Business Administration, shall conduct a 
study on the effect of patent fees on the ability of 
small entity inventors to file patent applications. 
Such study shall examine whether a separate cat-
egory of reduced patent fees is necessary to ensure
adequate development of new technology by small 
entity inventors. 
(2) REPORT.—The Director shall, not later 
than 6 months after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, submit a report on the results of the study 
under paragraph (1) to the Committee on the Judi-
ciary and the Committee on Small Business of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on the 
Judiciary and the Committee on Small Business and 
Entrepreneurship of the Senate. 
(g) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 41 of title 35, United States Code, 
is amended— 
(A) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘(c)(1)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘(c) LATE PAYMENT OF FEES.— 
(1)’’; 
(B) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘(e)’’ and 
inserting ‘‘(e) WAIVERS OF CERTAIN FEES.—’’; 
(C) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘(f)’’ and 
inserting ‘‘(f) ADJUSTMENTS IN FEES.—’’; 
(D) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘(g)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘(g) EFFECTIVE
DATES
OF 
FEES.—’’;
(E) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘(h)(1)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘(h) REDUCTIONS IN FEES FOR 
CERTAIN ENTITIES.—(1)’’; and 
(F) in subsection (i), by striking ‘‘(i)(1)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘(i) SEARCH SYSTEMS.—(1)’’. 
(2) Section 119(e)(2) of title 35, United States 
Code, is amended by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A) or 
(C) of’’. 
SEC. 3. ADJUSTMENT OF TRADEMARK FEES. 
(a) FEE FOR FILING APPLICATION.—The fee under 
section 31(a) of the Trademark Act of 1946 (15 U.S.C. 
1113(a)) for filing an electronic application for the reg-
istration of a trademark shall be $325. If the trademark 
application is filed on paper, the fee shall be $375. The 
Director may reduce the fee for filing an electronic appli-
cation for the registration of a trademark to $275 for any 
applicant who prosecutes the application through elec-
tronic means under such conditions as may be prescribed 
by the Director. Beginning in fiscal year 2006, the provi-
sions of the second and third sentences of section 31(a) 
of the Trademark Act of 1946 shall apply to the fees es-
tablished under this section. 
(b) REFERENCE TO TRADEMARK ACT OF 1946.—For 
purposes of this section, the ‘‘Trademark Act of 1946’’ 
refers to the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the reg-
istration and protection of trademarks used in commerce, 
to carry out the provisions of certain international conven-
tions, and for other purposes.’’, approved July 5, 1946 (15 
U.S.C. 1051 et seq.). 
SEC. 4. CORRECTION OF ERRONEOUS NAMING OF OFFICER. 
(a) CORRECTION.—Section 13203(a) of the 21st Cen-
tury Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization 
Act (Public Law 107–273; 116 Stat. 1902) is amended— 
(1) in the subsection heading, by striking 
‘‘COMMISSIONER’’ and inserting ‘‘DIRECTOR’’; and 
(2) in paragraphs (1) and (2), by striking 
‘‘Commissioner’’ each place it appears and inserting 
‘‘Director’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) shall be effective as of the date of the enact-
ment of Public Law 107–273. 
SEC. 5. PATENT AND TRADEMARK FUNDING. 
Section 42(c) of title 35, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘(c)(1)’’; 
and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(2) There is established in the Treasury a Patent 
and Trademark Fee Reserve Fund. If fee collections by
the Patent and Trademark Office for a fiscal year exceed 
the amount appropriated to the Office for that fiscal year, 
fees collected in excess of the appropriated amount shall 
be deposited in the Patent and Trademark Fee Reserve 
Fund. After the end of each fiscal year, the Director shall 
make a finding as to whether the fees collected for that 
fiscal year exceed the amount appropriated to the Patent 
and Trademark Office for that fiscal year. If the amount 
collected exceeds the amount appropriated, the Director 
shall, if the Director determines that there are sufficient 
funds in the Reserve Fund, make payments from the Re-
serve Fund to persons who paid patent or trademark fees 
during that fiscal year. The Director shall by regulation 
determine which persons receive such payments and the 
amount of such payments, except that such payments in 
the aggregate shall equal the amount of funds deposited 
in the Reserve Fund during that fiscal year, less the cost 
of administering the provisions of this paragraph.’’ 
SEC. 6. REPEAL OF PATENT AND TRADEMARK FEE PROVI-
SIONS OF THE CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIA-
TIONS ACT, 2005. 
Title VIII of division B of the Consolidated Appro-
priations Act, 2005 (35 U.S.C. 41 note; Public Law 108– 
447; 118 Stat. 2924) is repealed.
SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE, APPLICABILITY, AND TRANSI-
TIONAL PROVISION. 
(a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as otherwise provided 
in this Act and this section, this Act and the amendments 
made by this Act shall take effect as of December 8, 2004. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.— 
(1)(A) Except as provided in subparagraphs 
(B) and (C), the amendments made by section 2 
shall apply to all patents, whenever granted, and to 
all patent applications pending on or filed after the 
effective date set forth in subsection (a) of this sec-
tion. 
(B)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), sections 
41(a)(1), 41(a)(3), and 41(d)(1) of title 35, United 
States Code, as amended by this Act, shall apply 
only to— 
(I) applications for patents filed under sec-
tion 111(a) of title 35, United States Code, on 
or after the effective date set forth in sub-
section (a) of this section, and 
(II) international applications entering the 
national stage under section 371 of title 35, 
United States Code, for which the basic na-
tional fee specified in section 41 of title 35, 
United States Code, was not paid before the ef-
fective date set forth in subsection (a) of this 
section. 
(ii) Section 41(a)(1)(D) of title 35, United 
States Code as amended by this Act, shall apply only 
to applications for patent filed under section 111(b) 
of title 35, United States Code, before, on, or after 
the effective date set forth in subsection (a) of this 
section in which the filing fee specified in section 41 
of title 35, United States Code, was not paid before 
the effective date set forth in subsection (a) of this 
section. 
(C) Section 41(a)(2) of title 35, United States 
Code, as amended by this Act, shall apply only to 
the extent that the number of excess claims, after 
giving effect to any cancellation of claims, is in ex-
cess of the number of claims for which the excess 
claims fee specified in section 41 of title 35, United 
States Code, was paid before the effective date set 
forth in subsection (a) of this section. 
(2) The amendments made by section 3 shall 
apply to all applications for the registration of a 
trademark filed or amended on or after the effective 
date set forth in subsection (a) of this section. 
(c) TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS.—
(1) SEARCH FEES.—During the period begin-
ning on the effective date set forth in subsection (a) 
of this section and ending on the date on which the 
Director establishes search fees under the authority 
provided in section 41(d)(1) of title 35, United 
States Code, the Director shall charge— 
(A) for the search of each application for 
an original patent, except for design, plant, pro-
visional, or international application, $500; 
(B) for the search of each application for 
an original design patent, $100; 
(C) for the search of each application for 
an original plant patent, $300; 
(D) for the search of the national stage of 
each international application, $500; and 
(E) for the search of each application for 
the reissue of a patent, $500. 
(2) TIMING OF FEES.—The provisions of sec-
tion 111(a)(3) of title 35, United States Code, relat-
ing to the payment of the fee for filing the applica-
tion shall apply to the payment of the fee specified 
in paragraph (1) with respect to an application filed 
under section 111(a) of title 35, United States Code. 
The provisions of section 371(d) of title 35, United 
States Code, relating to the payment of the national
fee shall apply to the payment of the fee specified 
in paragraph (1) with respect to an international ap-
plication. 
(3) REFUNDS.—The Director may by regula-
tion provide for a refund of any part of the fee spec-
ified in paragraph (1) for any applicant who files a 
written declaration of express abandonment as pre-
scribed by the Director before an examination has 
been made of the application under section 131 of 
title 35, United States Code, and for any applicant 
who provides a search report that meets the condi-
tions prescribed by the Director. 
SEC. 8. DEFINITION. 
In this Act, the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Under 
Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Di-
rector of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. 
SEC. 9. CLERICAL AMENDMENT. 
Subsection (c) of section 311 of title 35, United 
States Code, is amended by aligning the text with the text 
of subsection (a) of such section. 
Æ