[DMCA-Activists] Re: Fwd: POPA Press Release on USPTO Fee Modernization Act (H.R. 1561)

[Seth Johnson]

The concern that arises in my mind is the way this leads to the ability for
the USPTO to behave the way the patent establishment has been behaving in
Europe, making the vapid argument, persuasive in some quarters (the ones
that tend to count most on an everyday basis), that reducing patentability
will reduce their funding and have the consequences of causing them
additional hardship in a time when every patent application is so
*confusing* -- while also forcing them to raise their fees for other patent
applications.

It's handing authority over the fee structure to the agency, which, like a
lot of agencies in America already, already contains within itself all three
governmental powers: regulatory, executive/enforcement, and judicial.

Seth

Richard Stallman wrote:
> 
> For software developers, minor changes in patent application
> procedures are a side issue; an increase in price might slightly
> reduce the number of patents that threaten us, but that won't
> be a big improvement in the situation.

-- 

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