A group of Democratic senators told Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires they have “serious concerns” about a reported proposal to impose a value-based fee on US patents.
The plan, which was reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier this year and would place a 1% to 5% fee on the value of US patents, is an overreach of the PTO’s authorities and “serves to undermine policy efforts to promote innovation,” four senators said in a letter sent Monday.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s intellectual ...