Leahy-Smith America Invents Act
Section 21. Travel expenses and payment of administrative judges
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A patent reform act passed by Congress on September 16, 2011.
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SEC. 21. TRAVEL EXPENSES AND PAYMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGES.
(a) AUTHORITY TO COVER CERTAIN TRAVEL RELATED EXPENSES.--Section 2(b)(11) of title 35, United States Code, is amended by inserting “, and the Office is authorized to expend funds to cover the subsistence expenses and travel-related expenses, including per diem, lodging costs, and transportation costs, of persons attending such programs who are not Federal employees” after “world”.
(b) PAYMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGES.--Section 3(b) of title 35, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(6) ADMINISTRATIVE PATENT JUDGES AND ADMINISTRATIVE TRADEMARK JUDGES.--The Director may fix the rate of basic pay for the administrative patent judges appointed pursuant to section 6 and the administrative trademark judges appointed pursuant to section 17 of the Trademark Act of 1946 (15 U.S.C. 1067) at not greater than the rate of basic pay payable for level III of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of title 5. The payment of a rate of basic pay under this paragraph shall not be subject to the pay limitation under section 5306(e) or 5373 of title 5.”.