[Ecommerce] Patent Examiners Flee USPTO

[Jeff Williams]

All,

 Soaring numbers of patent applications for software and business
processes is not only leading to the ludicrous patents for the likes of
Amazon and Microsoft. The stress of dealing with vast numbers of
applications is leading to an exodus of patent examiners from the
USPTO, reports FCW.com. A US Government Accountability Office
report (PDF) says that the USPTO has made progress in hiring examiners,
'but challenges to retention remain'. The IP Kat blog quotes Jason
Schulz of the EFF, who comments that 'The incredible surge of patent
applications, especially in the software and internet business method
arena, is just crushing them, and the management problems are rising
to the surface with greater visibility for those reasons.  Where
anything under the sun is patentable, it puts an unbelievable amount
of pressure on the patent office'.

See:  http://www.fcw.com/article89658-07-25-05-Print
 http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05720.pdf
 http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2005/07/long-time-to-wait.html

Regards,

--
Jeffrey A. Williams
Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 134k members/stakeholders strong!)
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