Lamar Smith responds to Rogers and Ryan on Section 22 of HR 1249

PatentDocs posted the letter of Lamar Smith responding to Chairmen Rogers and Ryan on Section 22 of HR 1249. Within, Smith writes:

The USPTO is completely funded by user fees imposed on inventors and trademark filers - not the taxpayers-
who are entitled to receive services in return. It's entirely reasonable for these men and women
to expect that the fees they pay should remain within the agency to recover the costs of its
operations.

Note, however, that the two previous House Judiciary chairmen oppose HR 1249, EXCEPT for Section 22 and Section 31.
See letter of June 13
See also America Invents Act Could Go To House Floor Today – UPDATED

Comment to TheHill:

Of "the 1 billion," Lamar Smith places the number at an estimated $874 million "diverted" from agency coffers since 1991.

To be clear, I would end fee diversion, which is simply a tax on innovation. But, Dr. Kelly, in suggesting HR 1249 is a free lunch, is wrong.

Apart from making up the fee diversion money, the taxpayer (or patent applicant) is being asked to underwrite a previously non-existent post-grant review mechanism.