Funding easy
Cohen et al 17 (Lauren Cohen et al, Lauren Cohen is the L.E. Simmons Professor in the Finance & Entrepreneurial Management Units at Harvard Business School and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He is an Editor of the Review of Financial Studies, along with being a past Editor of Management Science, and serving on the editorial board of the Review of Asset Pricing Studies, October 2017, “"TROLL" CHECK? A PROPOSAL FOR ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW OF PATENT LITIGATION”, 97 B. U. L. Rev. 1775, Lexis Nexis //pa-nme)
How would the PLRB obtain funding to cover its administrative costs? Generally speaking, complainants who initiate the relevant suits in district court would pay for the PLRB's preliminary review through administrative fees determined by rule. 237 As with various USPTO fees, there would be substantially reduced fees for small entities and micro-entities that are not stand-ins for better-monetized entities. 238 Further, by request, parties, including business entities, might qualify for in forma pauperis treatment, under which the PLRB would waive fees and cover relevant costs through surplus from PLRB fees collected from others or through a "patent system cost" added to USPTO patent issuance and maintenance fees. If there remains concern that the fees required to pay for PLRB review would be too high to serve interests in access to justice, PLRB review could be supported more generally through increases to preexisting fees associated with the obtaining and maintenance of patent rights. If USPTO fees for post-issuance review proceedings are a reasonable guide, administrative costs associated with the operation of the PLRB might be expected to be in the nature of $ 10,000 to $ 30,000 per case, or about $ 50 million to $ 150 million per [*1830] year if we assume approximately five thousand lawsuits per year. 239 Consequently, given that the USPTO grants about three hundred thousand new patents each year, 240 an increase of about $ 500 in total fees associated with patent issuance would likely suffice to cover PLRB administrative costs. 241