Exempt PTO From Hiring Freeze, IP Owners Tell Trump

The Patent and Trademark Office should be exempt from President Donald Trump’s hiring freeze, according to a letter sent to the president April 5.

The Biotechnology Innovation Organization and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers were among the 20 companies, organizations and individuals urging the president to consider that general taxpayers pay nothing to support the PTO’s operations.

The office covers its costs using only the fees paid by patent and trademark applicants and owners. If those fees are not applied to maintaining the workforce necessary to examine applications, they will effectively be diverted by the government to other ...