Message Board
Will higher patent fees kill American innovation?
Fred Chen1/31/2013 12:00 PM EST
Higher patent office fees are effective March 19. It's a burden on small and large parties alike, with examination fees almost tripling, as well as substantial maintenance fee increases. It means new innovations will clearly have a larger entry barrier starting this year. It appears to be the final nail in the coffin, after lack of STEM enthusiasm, outsourcing, and simple increasing technological difficulty.
Ref: http://www.uspto.gov/about/offices/cfo/finance/fees.jsp
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dthayden
2/4/2013 2:29 PM EST
The addition of the micro entity is interesting. http://www.uspto.gov/aia_implementation/fees.jsp#heading-2
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resistion
2/5/2013 2:40 AM EST
It's a limitation on the poorest inventors they cannot be involved in more than 5 patent applications.
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dthayden
2/5/2013 10:30 AM EST
I would say it is encouraging patent applications by those new to the system. The limit of 5 existing patent applications excludes maybe 1% of the worldwide population, leaving the other 99% to qualify as a micro entity.
The thinking probably goes, if you are submitting patents of value, and making money off the ideas, you can afford the higher fees of a small or large entity. The same way the maintenance fees become progressively higher over time.
Although the micro entity does not apply to me, I like the concept.
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resistion
2/6/2013 12:37 AM EST
The rule does not allow more than 5 patent applications for micro entity; the applications may not all be allowed, and it's a question if 5 is even adequate for a value-added portfolio. The micro entity under time pressure will likely become small entity anyway.
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