Stop the Tax on Innovation

Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini and United States Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) coauthored an Op-Ed, which appeared in the San Jose Mercury News, on the subject of ending diversion of Patent and Trademark Office user fees from the PTO user fee fund.

Since 1992, PTO accounts have been regularly “taxed” for the benefit of other government programs. The Op-Ed, which is attached, calls for ending this “tax on innovation”.

The diversion of fees was the result of measures adopted as part of the Omnibus Debt Reduction Act (’92) and over the years, it has had a damaging effect on PTO operations, as detailed here.