§5 Patent and Trademark Office Public Advisory Committees

Summary

The Patent and Trademark Office must have two public advisory committees: one for patents and one for trademarks. Each committee must have nine voting members. The Secretary of Commerce appoints them and they serve at the Secretary’s pleasure. Each year the Secretary appoints 3 members to start 3-year terms on December 1. Any vacancy must be filled within 90 days, and a person appointed to a vacancy serves the rest of that term. The Secretary, with the Director’s input, picks a Chair and Vice Chair from the members. If the Chair cannot serve, the Vice Chair steps in. Members must be U.S. citizens and represent a variety of USPTO users. The committees must include small and large applicant representatives in proportion to filings, with at least 25 percent representing small entity patent applicants and at least one independent inventor. Members should have strong backgrounds in areas like finance, management, labor relations, science, technology, and office automation. The Chair calls meetings and sets the agenda. Each committee reviews policies, goals, performance, budget, and user fees for patents or trademarks and advises the Director. Within 60 days after each fiscal year ends, the committee must write a report, send it to the Secretary, the President, and the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, and publish it in the Official Gazette. Members are paid per meeting day at the daily rate equal to Executive Schedule level III (section 5314 of title 5) and get travel expenses as allowed by section 5703 of title 5. Members get access to PTO records except for personnel, privileged, or patent application information kept confidential under section 122. Members are special Government employees under section 202 of title 18. Chapter 10 of title 5 does not apply to the committees. Their meetings are open to the public unless a majority votes to meet in private for personnel, privileged, or confidential matters. Voting members are not subject to section 4.