IP Law Daily, AGENCY NEWS: Copyright Office, USITC back in business as government shutdown ends, (Nov 13, 2025)

By Thomas Long, J.D.

USPTO Director John Squires touted the agency’s careful management of its fee-funded reserves as the reason the agency remained operational throughout the budget battle.

The longest government shutdown in U.S. history ended on November 12 when President Donald Trump signed a continuing resolution funding the government through January 30, 2026. The House of Representatives passed the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026 (H.R. 5371) earlier in the day with a vote of 222-209, largely on party lines, after the Senate’s 60 to 40 vote on November 10. Although the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had largely been unaffected by the shutdown, some agencies concerned with IP matters had been operating under reduced capacity, if at all, and are now back in business.

The Library of Congress announced on social media and its website that it had resumed operations as of November 13. This includes the Copyright Office, which is part of the Library of Congress. According to a summary sheet for the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2026 (Division C of H.R. 5371), provides $852.2 million for the Library of Congress and $592.4 million for salaries and expenses. $57.5 million is specifically earmarked for the Copyright Office. The Copyright Office, while closed, had continued to accept filings for purposes of establishing the date of receipt.

The U.S. International Trade Commission—which investigates claims of IP infringement related to imported goods and provides rights owners with a means of excluding those goods—also announced that it has resumed operations. The USITC said, however, that it will not be accepting document filings until November 17. “In general, the Commission has tolled all statutory and other investigative deadlines pending before it for 47 days to account for the shutdown and resumption of activities,” the agency said. “However, specific schedules for each investigative proceeding, including those pending before an Administrative Law Judge, may be revised and new schedules posted as necessary. We anticipate that it may take a week or more for revised schedules to be finalized, and a temporary webpage has been created to assist parties and the public to track rescheduling notices.”

The USPTO largely remained operational because its funding primarily derives from user fees, rather than congressional appropriations. In an email directed to “our USPTO family,” Director John Squires thanked the agency’s workers, stating, “Through your extraordinary efforts, our agency remained not only operational but exemplary—virtually the only federal agency that continued to function at full capacity.” He credited careful fiscal management and the agency’s fee-funded reserves for the USPTO’s success during the shutdown. “We began the fiscal year with just over $1 billion in reserve funds and ended the shutdown period with approximately $600 million, ensuring continued operations through December 24 and, if necessary, beyond,” Squires said.

News: IndustryNewsTrends Copyright USPTO FedTracker IP