H. R. 3723
One Hundred Fifth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twenty-seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight
An Act
To authorize funds for the payment of salaries and expenses of the Patent and
Trademark Office, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Patent and Trade-
mark Office Reauthorization Act, Fiscal Year 1999’’.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be made available for the payment
of salaries and necessary expenses of the Patent and Trademark
Office in fiscal year 1999, $66,000,000 from fees collected in fiscal
year 1998 and such fees as are collected in fiscal year 1999, pursu-
ant to title 35, United States Code, and the Trademark Act of
1946 (15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.). Amounts made available pursuant
to this section shall remain available until expended.
SEC. 3. LEVEL OF FEES FOR PATENT SERVICES.
(a) GENERAL PATENT FEES.—Section 41 of title 35, United
States Code, is amended by striking subsection (a) and inserting
the following:
‘‘(a) The Commissioner shall charge the following fees:
‘‘(1)(A) On filing each application for an original patent,
except in design or plant cases, $760.
‘‘(B) In addition, on filing or on presentation at any other
time, $78 for each claim in independent form which is in
excess of 3, $18 for each claim (whether independent or depend-
ent) which is in excess of 20, and $260 for each application
containing a multiple dependent claim.
‘‘(C) On filing each provisional application for an original
patent, $150.
‘‘(2) For issuing each original or reissue patent, except
in design or plant cases, $1,210.
‘‘(3) In design and plant cases—
‘‘(A) on filing each design application, $310;
‘‘(B) on filing each plant application, $480;
‘‘(C) on issuing each design patent, $430; and
‘‘(D) on issuing each plant patent, $580.
‘‘(4)(A) On filing each application for the reissue of a patent,
$760.
‘‘(B) In addition, on filing or on presentation at any other
time, $78 for each claim in independent form which is in
excess of the number of independent claims of the original
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patent, and $18 for each claim (whether independent or depend-
ent) which is in excess of 20 and also in excess of the number
of claims of the original patent.
‘‘(5) On filing each disclaimer, $110.
‘‘(6)(A) On filing an appeal from the examiner to the Board
of Patent Appeals and Interferences, $300.
‘‘(B) In addition, on filing a brief in support of the appeal,
$300, and on requesting an oral hearing in the appeal before
the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, $260.
‘‘(7) On filing each petition for the revival of an unintention-
ally abandoned application for a patent or for the unintention-
ally delayed payment of the fee for issuing each patent, $1,210,
unless the petition is filed under section 133 or 151 of this
title, in which case the fee shall be $110.
‘‘(8) For petitions for 1-month extensions of time to take
actions required by the Commissioner in an application—
‘‘(A) on filing a first petition, $110;
‘‘(B) on filing a second petition, $270; and
‘‘(C) on filing a third petition or subsequent petition,
$490.
‘‘(9) Basic national fee for an international application
where the Patent and Trademark Office was the International
Preliminary Examining Authority and the International
Searching Authority, $670.
‘‘(10) Basic national fee for an international application
where the Patent and Trademark Office was the International
Searching Authority but not the International Preliminary
Examining Authority, $760.
‘‘(11) Basic national fee for an international application
where the Patent and Trademark Office was neither the Inter-
national Searching Authority nor the International Preliminary
Examining Authority, $970.
‘‘(12) Basic national fee for an international application
where the international preliminary examination fee has been
paid to the Patent and Trademark Office, and the international
preliminary examination report states that the provisions of
Article 33(2), (3), and (4) of the Patent Cooperation Treaty
have been satisfied for all claims in the application entering
the national stage, $96.
‘‘(13) For filing or later presentation of each independent
claim in the national stage of an international application in
excess of 3, $78.
‘‘(14) For filing or later presentation of each claim (whether
independent or dependent) in a national stage of an inter-
national application in excess of 20, $18.
‘‘(15) For each national stage of an international application
containing a multiple dependent claim, $260.
For the purpose of computing fees, a multiple dependent claim
referred to in section 112 of this title or any claim depending
therefrom shall be considered as separate dependent claims in
accordance with the number of claims to which reference is made.
Errors in payment of the additional fees may be rectified in accord-
ance with regulations of the Commissioner.’’.
(b) PATENT MAINTENANCE FEES.—Section 41 of title 35, United
States Code, is amended by striking subsection (b) and inserting
the following:
H. R. 3723—3
‘‘(b) The Commissioner shall charge the following fees for
maintaining in force all patents based on applications filed on
or after December 12, 1980:
‘‘(1) 3 years and 6 months after grant, $940.
‘‘(2) 7 years and 6 months after grant, $1,900.
‘‘(3) 11 years and 6 months after grant, $2,910.
Unless payment of the applicable maintenance fee is received in
the Patent and Trademark Office on or before the date the fee
is due or within a grace period of 6 months thereafter, the patent
will expire as of the end of such grace period. The Commissioner
may require the payment of a surcharge as a condition of accepting
within such 6-month grace period the payment of an applicable
maintenance fee. No fee may be established for maintaining a
design or plant patent in force.’’.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF COLLECTION AND EXPENDITURE.
Section 42(c) of title 35, United States Code, is amended by
striking the first sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘To the
extent and in the amounts provided in advance in appropriations
Acts, fees authorized in this title or any other Act to be charged
or established by the Commissioner shall be collected by and shall
be available to the Commissioner to carry out the activities of
the Patent and Trademark Office.’’.
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take
effect on October 1, 1998.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.