Chipmaking industry pushes back on U.S. Patent Office considering imposing annual fee based on assessed value — “tax on innovation” draws strong opposition from Semiconductor Industry Association

Image: A glass-based photonic chip being developed by the company Ephos. Image courtesy of Ephos. Article by Jowi Morales. Tom’s Hardware – November 8, 2025.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) just released an open letter addressed to John A. Squires, the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), urging him to reconsider the proposal of imposing periodic patent fees to maintain the validity of a patent based on a government-assigned value instead of the current fixed price. According to the document (PDF), patents in the semiconductor industry are interconnected, making it difficult, if not impossible, to determine the exact value of any single patent. […]

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