The shell game called the federal budget added another nut recently as media reports revealed that during the last 20 years, approximately $1 billion in fees paid by patent applicants has been diverted from its proper use at the United States Patent Office (USPTO).

Critics argue that, as a self-funded agency, USPTO should not be impacted by the “sequester” game of chicken both sides of the aisle are playing.

The Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA) slammed the USPTO fund shift in a May 31, 2013, letter to lawmakers charging, “This unwarranted diversion of fees has resulted in more than 600,000 unexamined patent applications and more than 31 months in the average patent pendency time—the wait time from a patent application’s filing until final action on the application by the USPTO.”

MDMA praised former USPTO Director David Kappos for making significant progress toward fixing this mess, but worried that those steps in the right direction would be blocked if, “once again USPTO fees do not remain at the USPTO.”

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