President Barack Obama signed the United States Patent and Trademark Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010 into law on August 10, 2010. This legislation was signed into law a mere 14 days after it was introduced to Congress. It was sponsored by Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV1).
The Act gives an additional $129 million to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to spend in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010. The USPTO projects that it will collect nearly $200 million more than its FY 2010 appropriation of $1.887 billion.
This additional funding will allow the USPTO and its director, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office David Kappos, to continue to improve the efficiency of both the USPTO and the patenting process.
The president said on July 12, when he requested Congress to provide the USPTO with these funds “the money would support efforts to reduce backlogs in processing patent applications-by spurring innovation and reforming the US Patent and Trademark to make them more effective.”
According to the USPTO website, the total average time for patent pendency is 35 months and the total average time for trademark pendency is 13.5 months. This additional funding will greatly help the efforts of the USPTO in becoming more efficient while being thorough.
About Lambert & Lambert:Lambert & Lambert is a contingency-fee based invention marketing and patent licensing firm that specializes in consumer products. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Lambert & Lambert provides services to inventors, product developers and small companies throughout the world and currently has products selling in numerous retailers.
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Tim Sherman, director of customer service
Lambert & Lambert, Inc.
Tel: 651-552-0080
