§5 Patent and Trademark Office Public Advisory Committees

Summary

The United States Patent and Trademark Office must have two advisory boards: a Patent Public Advisory Committee and a Trademark Public Advisory Committee. Each board has nine voting members chosen by the Secretary of Commerce. Three members are appointed each year for three-year terms that start on December 1. Vacancies must be filled within 90 days, and replacements serve the rest of the term. The Secretary, with the Director, picks a Chair and Vice Chair from the members. If the Chair can’t serve, the Vice Chair fills in. Members must be U.S. citizens and must represent a mix of users, including both small and large applicants; for the Patent board at least 25% must represent small entity applicants and at least one must be an independent inventor. Members should include people with backgrounds in finance, management, labor relations, science, technology, and office automation. The chair calls meetings and sets the agenda. Each board reviews policies, goals, performance, budget, and user fees and advises the Director. Within 60 days after each fiscal year, the board must write a report, send it to the Secretary of Commerce, the President, and the Judiciary Committees of the Senate and House, and publish it in the Official Gazette. Members are paid each day they work at the daily rate that matches Executive Schedule level III (section 5314, title 5) and get travel pay under section 5703. They get access to PTO records except for personnel, privileged, or confidential patent-application information (section 122). Members are special Government employees (section 202, title 18). Chapter 10 of title 5 and section 4 do not apply to these committees. Meetings are open to the public but can be closed by majority vote for personnel or other confidential matters.