GENERAL STATEMENT

Mr. PRESTON. We are glad to have with us the Commissioner of Patents, Mr. Watson, and I will ask you, Mr. Commissioner, how you wish to handle your statement. Would you like to read it, sir, or would you prefer to file it.

Mr. WATSON. I would prefer to file it, Mr. Chairman, and I take it that a copy of the statement has been given to each member of the committee.

(The statement above referred to is as follows:)

STATEMENT OF ROBERT C. WATSON, COMMISSIONER OF PATENTS

For the fiscal year 1957 an appropriation of $17 million has been requested, an increase of $2.5 million over the amount for 1956. This increased sum is requested in order to enable the Patent Office to conduct a systematic 8-year program, the effect of which will be to reduce the backlog of pending applications to a more reasonable level.

The number of applications pending before the Patent Office was, on July 1, 1955, approximately 222,000 of which approximately 140,000 were awaiting action by the Patent Office. The majority of patent examining divisions of the Patent Office were more than 8 months in arrears in examining newly submitted applications, with 5 divisions having cases with pendency exceeding 12 months. All divisions were more than 10 months behind in their consideration of amended applications, with a majority over 15 months and 8 divisions having applications with pendency exceeding 20 months.

The more reasonable backlog level thought to be desirable will be reached when the number of applications pending will be, in relation to the number of examiners who are processing these applications, such that each examiner will have on his desk a sufficient number of applications to insure that he will be continuously busy, but not so many that a period of more than 2 or 3 months must necessarily elapse before he can reach and act upon either a new application submitted by an inventor or an application upon which he has previously acted and which has been submitted for reconsideration. The public interest, it is believed, will best be served when an inventor may be informed within a brief period after having filed his application for patent of the views of the Patent Office as to the patentability of the invention in which he is interested; investors will be encouraged by such prompt processing and manufacturers will ascertain more promptly, by the issuance of patents after reduced pendency periods, the nature of the claims granted to competitors. The public generally will benefit by the more prompt disclosure of inventions in issued patents.

It is estimated that the more desirable backlog level sought will have been attained when the number of applications pending before the Patent Office has been reduced to approximately 100,000, of which approximately one-third will be awaiting action by the Patent Office and the remainder on the desks of inventors or their attorneys-and when the examining corps is sufficiently large to dispose of applications at approximately the rate at which they are being filed so that this desirable level will be maintained.

The present staff is insufficient in size to accomplish this objective, even though it be increased during the fiscal year 1956 by the addition of 240 examiners, as authorized by the Congress by its grant of an increased appropriation for this fiscal year. A further increase in the size of the examining staff is necessary. It is therefore planned to temporarily increase the size of the examining staff, to maintain such enlarged staff active for several years until the number of pending applications has been greatly reduced, and then to effect its gradual reduction through attrition until it is of such size as to be able to dispose of applications at the rate at which they are received, the backlog then being only sufficiently large to insure flexibility of operation and a proper workload for each examiner. Assuming the receipt of applications continues in the immediate future at the annual rate of approximately 80,000 currently realized, this backlog reduction effort can best be carried out over a period of 8 years, fiscal year 1957 being the first year of this 8-year period and fiscal year 1964 the last year of that period. It is contemplated that the backlog will be reduced by 10,000 applications in fiscal 1957, 20,000 applications in each of the following 4 years, and by decreasing amounts in 1962 and 1963, the desired level of approximately 100,000 being real

ized by the end of 1964. Thereafter, with a staff of 850 examiner assistants, receipt of new applications at a rate of 80,000 per year, and disposals at a rate of 80,000 per year, the desired current operation will, it is believed, be realized. It is appreciated that conditions affecting the filing of applications may vary substantially from those anticipated during the years immediately before us but presently there is no reason to expect that the filing of applications will decrease and substantially more reason to believe that the filings may increase. Should, however, there be an unexpected decrease in the rate of filing, or an unanticipated increase in that rate, the plan may be easily modified to take care of any reasonable fluctuation in these filing rates, without either throwing an impossible recruitment burden upon the Patent Office or requiring the separation of skilled men who wish to remain members of our staff. The increase in size of the examining staff to a maximum of 1,050 during fiscal years 1956 and 1957 was thought to be possible when the plan was laid down, and is still thought to be possible despite the tremendous difficulties met with in the recruitment of examiners due to the intense competition of industry and Government for the services of young engineers.

We do not minimize the difficulties of the situation which involves an increase in the examining corps of over 500 during a 2-year period, thus making it necessary to recruit substantially more, perhaps as many as 800 all told, in order to compensate for separations which occur during this period. For the 9-month period ending February 1956 some 270 examiners were recruited, while 112 were lost to the Patent Office through separations, making the net increase only 158. We are continuing our intensive recruitment program, representatives of the Patent Office visiting colleges and universities throughout the country for the purpose of interesting qualified young men and influencing as many as possible to become members of our staff. Much assistance is being received from nongovernmental organizations, particularly the numerous patent law associations of the country, which are most anxious to see the recruitment effort succeed. It will be recalled that, until May of last year (1955), there was no prospect that funds to permit enlargement of the Patent Office staff would become available. Consequently no reason existed prior to that time to undertake the extensive program of interviews, inquiries, and contact making which must be carried on several months ahead of the time when engineers customarily graduate from their respective colleges if satisfactory results are to be obtained. Despite this fact, however, the Patent Office was able to engage 270 examiners in the period June through February and much groundwork done during these months will unquestionably bear fruit when the colleges release their graduates in June.

The plan contemplates the gradual reduction in size of the examining staff during its 6th, 7th, and 8th years, this reduction to be effected wholly by attrition and not by involuntary separation. It is clear that drastic curtailment of the staff during these years would effect injury and the rate of decrease is such as to insure that injury will not result.

The plan assumes that each staff member engaged in the examing effort shall be able to dispose of 95 applications during each of the years of the plan. Naturally no young engineer can, upon becoming a member of the Patent Office staff, dispose of applications at this rate or at any rate approaching it since he must be educated, trained, and acquire experience over a number of years before reaching full effectiveness. It is believed to be possible, however, to maintain the average rate of disposal of 95 throughout the backlog reduction effort, despite the addition of large numbers of untrained examiners, by having those examiners who have acquired long experience increase their output by working overtime. So far during the fiscal year 1956 between 300 and 400 examiners have worked on Saturday, when their disposal rates are higher than during weekdays due to the absence of interruptions, and by this means the proposed office rate of disposal of 95 applications per year for the whole examining corps has not only been reached but exceeded. By this expedient the gap between the productive capacities of the many new recruits, during the early years of their training and development, and the rate of 95 disposals per year upon which the plan is based, has been closed. During the current fiscal year the overtime effort is expected to dispose of some 8,000 applications more than will be disposed of in the absence of this effort and over the contemplated 8-year period of backlog reduction some 50,000 applications may be expected to be disposed of as the result of this additional effort.

Examiners selected for Saturday overtime work are drawn from grades GS-11 and above, these being the levels of examiners with greatest experience and capabilities. Because the law limits overtime pay to an amount which is 11⁄2 times