Bloomberg Law
Jan. 16, 2019, 3:55 PM UTC

Patent Office May Be Unable to Outlast Shutdown Past February

Malathi Nayak
Malathi Nayak
Reporter

The Patent and Trademark Office may run out of reserve funds and be forced to furlough thousands of examiners and other staff if the partial government shutdown continues into February, sources familiar with the agency’s operations told Bloomberg Law.

The agency has been using prior fee collections for patent and trademark registration applications to operate since the shutdown began Dec. 22. It can’t use fees it’s collected during the shutdown, the sources said. The PTO’s operating reserves will likely run out by early to mid-February, they said.

A PTO shutdown would delay the examination of tens of thousands of patent ...

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