An amendment to the Patent Reform Act of 2009 is expected soon from
Senator Coburn that would establish a "revolving fund" for the PTO.
Such a fund would make diversion of fees from the PTO more difficult.

The Section of Intellectual Property Law of the American Bar Association
established policy in opposition to the fee diversion practice and
persuaded the Association to adopt that policy. The Section's efforts
resulted a letter confirming Association's support of the revolving
fund. A link to the letter the Association sent to Senator Leahy and Senator
Specter can be found at the following link:

ABA Letter in Support of Coburn Amendment