H.R. 2655 would require the Small Business Administration (SBA) and United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to develop training materials for small businesses on domestic and international protections of intellectual property. Under the bill, that training could be provided by PTO, the SBA, or a Small Business Development Center either electronically or at a physical location. The SBA funds a portion of the operations of Small Business Development Centers, which provide counseling, training, and technical assistance to small businesses.
Using information from PTO and the SBA about the resources needed to conduct such training, CBO estimates that the costs to implement H.R. 2655 would not be significant. Enacting H.R. 2655 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2655 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029.
H.R. 2655 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
On April 18, 2018, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 791, the Small Business Innovation Protection Act of 2017, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship on March 14, 2018. The bills are similar, and CBO’s estimates of their budgetary effects are the same.
