Overview

• Commerce and USPTO officials are reviewing draft proposals and financial models for a supplemental value-based patent tax without initiating formal rulemaking
• Under the proposal, patent holders would pay an additional 1–5% annual levy on the assessed value of issued patents alongside fixed maintenance fees at 3.5, 7.5 and 11.5 years
• The administration projects the tax could generate hundreds of billions of dollars for deficit reduction by tapping into the trillions in value held by U.S. patents
• Critics warn the tax could dampen innovation, complicate USPTO operations with complex valuation processes and undermine the agency’s self-funding model
• No other major patent system imposes a percentage-based levy on patent value, raising concerns over U.S. competitiveness and potential international treaty conflicts