USPTO Budget Problems Confirmed by Doll

Due to the current economic recession, many have speculated that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will face significant budget problems for the remainder of this year. Yesterday, the acting director of the USPTO, John Doll, confirmed that the Office is currently facing budget problems as they are currently projecting a 2% drop in applications, reported Reuters.

Doll stated that the projected 2% drop stems from the early trends of 2009.  But some have told the USPTO that the decrease in applications could actually reach 10% for the year, as well as a similar drop in fees for other services that the USPTO provides.

The budget problems are particularly troubling for the USPTO, since the government agency has had to announce a hiring freeze and stop recruiting examiners.  These budgest problems complicate the USPTO’s current effort to clear a tremendous backlog of patent applications.

“We’ve stopped hiring at this time.  If we closed our doors today, it would take us almost two years to clear out our backlog,” said Doll.