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Washington, D.C.—A House resolution to cut funding for federal agencies to fiscal 2008 levels would have a devastating impact on the job-creating capabilities of the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), the leader of the nation’s largest independent union of federal employees told a House subcommittee chairman today.

President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) underscored the pending problems in a letter to Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property. The subcommittee is holding a hearing today on how an improved PTO can create jobs.

The cutback in PTO funding—as proposed by House Republicans and headed for a House vote today—could lead to a 20 percent cut in PTO staffing levels, potentially resulting in an extended employee furlough and preventing the agency from addressing a backlog of more than 700,000 files.

“This could delay American inventions and ideas from getting to market, creating jobs and offering consumers better products,” the NTEU leader wrote.

Last year, NTEU joined with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers in seeking additional funding for the PTO, and in warning that stalled applications hinder the ability of business to innovate and create quality jobs.

In calling for a vote against the resolution to reduce funding for appropriated government agencies to the 2008 level, President Kelley warned that PTO would suffer “terrible consequences,” adding that “I cannot think of a more ill-considered, economically-destructive and irresponsible action.”

She called the impact on PTO of the funding cutback a stark and real-world example of the damage to our nation such an action would have. “It could harm our economic recovery, restrict the flow of new products to the marketplace and deprive unemployed Americans of the work these new inventions could create.”

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing more than 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.