Patent Office Director David Kappos Proposes Major Changes to Patent Examination System

October 1, 2009 - David Kappos - whose full title is the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) - has worked with the USPTO's Joint Labor-Management Task Force to develop a series of proposals that would both reduce the amount of time it takes to complete a patent examination and improve morale among USPTO employees.

According to the Washington Post, the USPTO's staff of more than 6,300 patent examiners completed just under 450,000 patent applications in 2008. The high ratio of applications to examiners often means inventors are frustrated, having to wait more than three years until patents issue, and examiners suffer from overwork and low morale.

Kappos' proposal therefore includes changes (quoted from the USPTO's press release) designed to:
* Set the foundation for long-term pendency improvements.
* Increase customer satisfaction by incentivizing quality work at the beginning of the examination process.
* Encourage examiners to identify allowable subject matter earlier in the examination process.
* Rebalance incentives both internally and externally to decrease rework.
* Increase examiner morale and reduce attrition.

The changes will encourage examiners to put more effort into the examination process on the front end - which will, in turn, lead to a decrease in requests for continued examination (RCEs).

"These proposed changes will lead to earlier identification of patentable subject matter, which will benefit both the USPTO and applicants," said Deputy Commissioner for Patents Peggy Focarino. "Over the long term, we believe these changes will promote quality examination and set a foundation for pendency improvements."

The full text of the proposal is available on the USPTO website.