IB
Union Calendar No. 112
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2047
[Report No. 107–190]
To authorize appropriations for the United States Patent and Trademark
Office for fiscal year 2002, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 5, 2001
Mr. COBLE (for himself, Mr. BERMAN, and Mr. CONYERS) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
AUGUST 2, 2001
Additional sponsors: Mr. ISAKSON and Mr. SMITH of Texas
AUGUST 2, 2001
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 5, 2001]
A BILL
To authorize appropriations for the United States Patent
and Trademark Office for fiscal year 2002, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Patent and Trademark
Office Authorization Act of 2002’’.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF AMOUNTS AVAILABLE TO THE
PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the United
States Patent and Trademark Office for salaries and nec-
essary expenses for fiscal year 2002 an amount equal to
the fees collected in fiscal year 2002 under title 35, United
States Code, and the Trademark Act of 1946 (15 U.S.C.
1051 et seq.).
SEC. 3. ELECTRONIC FILING AND PROCESSING OF PATENT
AND TRADEMARK APPLICATIONS.
(a) ELECTRONIC
FILING
AND
PROCESSING.—The
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and
Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
(in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Director’’) shall, during the
3-year period beginning October 1, 2001, develop an elec-
tronic system for the filing and processing of patent and
trademark applications, that—
(1) is user friendly; and
(2) includes the necessary infrastructure—
(A) to allow examiners and applicants to
send all communications electronically; and
(B) to allow the Office to process, maintain,
and search electronically the contents and his-
tory of each application.
(b) 
AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—Of
amounts authorized under section 2, there is authorized to
be appropriated to carry out subsection (a) of this section
not more than $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2002. Amounts
made available pursuant to this subsection shall remain
available until expended.
SEC. 4. STRATEGIC PLAN.
(a) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN.—The Director shall, in
close consultation with the Patent Public Advisory Com-
mittee and the Trademark Public Advisory Committee, de-
velop a strategic plan that sets forth the goals and methods
by which the United States Patent and Trademark Office
will, during the 5-year period beginning on October 1,
2002—
(1) enhance patent and trademark quality;
(2) reduce patent and trademark pendency; and
(3) develop and implement an effective electronic
system for use by the Patent and Trademark Office
and the public for all aspects of the patent and trade-
mark processes, including, in addition to the elements
set forth in section 3, searching, examining, commu-