Patent Office Backlog Overwhelming

from the bombarded-with-silly-patents dept

There are a ton of problems with our current patent system, as evidenced by the number of ridiculous patents that keep showing up. The patent office has always responded by saying that they're overworked and understaffed - and now they're providing proof. Apparently, if you submit a patent today prepare to wait two years... and that number is expected to increase to four years in the very near future. The patent office is being inundated with more and more patents - and they're more involved for examiners to review. Of course, as more ridiculous patents get approved, it only encourages more people and companies to submit ridiculous patents and hope they get approved, increasing the overload. So, unless the whole process is reformed, it doesn't seem likely to get any better. Right now, though, the patent office just wants to raise fees so they can hire more people to approve bad patents.