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22 January 2018Patents

USPTO keeps running despite government shutdown

As the US government continues into its third day of shutdown, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has continued to operate.

Lawmakers in the US Senate had failed to agree on a spending bill on Friday, January 19.

The Senate then failed to reach an agreement yesterday, January 21, with immigration reportedly being one of the sticking points.

US President Donald Trump tweeted yesterday: “Great to see how hard Republicans are fighting for our military and safety at the border. The Dems just want illegal immigrants to pour into our nation unchecked. If stalemate continues, Republicans should go to 51% (nuclear option) and vote on real, long term budget, … ”

But the USPTO has managed to continue operating because the agency has access to fee collections from previous years. The agency said that it can continue normal operations for a few weeks.

“Should the USPTO exhaust these funds before a government shutdown comes to an end, the agency would have to shut down at that time, although a very small staff would continue to work to accept new applications and maintain IT infrastructure, among other functions,” it added.

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