Crise budgétaire aux USA, l’office américain des brevets n’est pas (encore) fermé

La crise politique sur le vote du budget que traverse le gouvernement fédéral nord-américain, risque-t-elle d’affecter la situation des déposants de brevets aux USA ?

L’USPTO se veut rassurant…

During the general government shutdown that began October 1, 2013, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will remain open, using prior year reserve fee collections to operate as usual for approximately four weeks. We continue to assess our fee collections compared to our operating requirements to determine how long we will be able to operate in this capacity during a general government shutdown. We will provide an update as more definitive information becomes available.

Should we exhaust these reserve funds before the general government shutdown comes to an end, USPTO would 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. (Should it become necessary for USPTO to shut down, details of the agency’s plan for an orderly shutdown are available on page 78 of the United States Department of Commerce’s shutdown plan, available here.)

Des informations réactualisées sont accessibles sur le site de l’office