European Patent Agents Go On Strike To Complain About Pressure To Approve Bad Patents
from the killing-innovation dept
One of the causes of so many bad patents getting approved lately is screwed up incentives in the patent system. For a while, the US had a de facto system where agents were pushed to approve a patent when in doubt. That's because they were judged on how many patents they went through -- and if they rejected a patent, the applicant could complain and ask for a review -- meaning that the examiner would have to spend more time reviewing that same patent again, decreasing the number of patents they had gotten through, potentially harming their "stats." Thus, it's often easier to just "approve." And, of course, the Patent Office itself is usually fine with this, because that means more patent applications and more fees. The Patent Office has an inherent conflict of interest in that the more patent applications applied for, the more money it brings in. In the US, after this problem was brought to light, some changes were made to decrease the incentives to simply approve so many patents, though one could argue how effective it's been.However, it looks like there are similar pressures in Europe, and Slashdot points out that a bunch of EU Patent Office staffers have gone on strike, complaining about the same thing: that there's pressure on them to simply approve as many patents as possible, in order to bring in more money for the patent office. The staffers are complaining that this is harming innovation. It's great to see workers in the patent office recognize how much harm approving bad patents can do to innovation -- and actually standing up and protesting the pressures to approve bad patents.
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Filed Under: eu, europe, innovation, patents, strike
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Please think about the annoyance factor for your readers before accepting various types of advertising! Just like the stupid, misdirected advertising hyperlinks buried behind key words in a story, this is a really, really bad idea that needs to die a quick death.
And if I ever meet Graham Hill...grrr!! At the very least, I'm going to mess his marketing-boy hair up. ;-)
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Re: Advertising on techdirt
Ad Block Plus
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Patently Ridiculous
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The below doc gives an overview of the process by which examiner performance is determined. Suggest you read it and then reconsider your comment.
http://www.oig.doc.gov/oig/reports/2004/USPTO-IPE-15722-09-04.pdf
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Oh yes, because you know, ALL corporations and ALL government agencies follow what's written in their rules, bylaws, specifications, etc. There is NEVER any type of shenanigans if there is some sort of financial gain. That's why we NEVER had any type of options backdating scandals (since backdating is not allowed). Get a grip on reality.
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I keep meaning to do a spoof YouTube video but haven't gotten around to it yet... His head bob is hilarious! I wonder if he knows he looks like a jackass... It's a nice ad so you think the ad guys would have told him he looked like a jackass...
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Of course, if you are a lawyer who regularly deals with the USPTO then perhaps your experience is not congruent with mine.
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Another measure of their incompetence would be the number of patents that get reversed when they're forced to be reviewed via lawsuit.
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