We all know the Patent Office is a mess. "If the agency could shut its doors to catch up on its work, its 5,500 patent examiners would take at least two years to clear the backlog of pending applications link here." Compounding the problem. it has high employee turnover.

But then the story goes off track, when it says, "Keeping up with the demand for patents is critical to the nation's health." Patents are in the constitution to encourage innovation. Perhaps put into practice once, they are now too often used to extend monopoly indefinitely by foreclosing further developments, and using charges of infringement to silence competition. This also ignores the fact that the office depend on the fees paid on applications, and thus has an interest in accepting poorly-based applications.

Instead of real reform, the agency proposes new production quotas for hard-pressed examiners and requiring simplified patent applications. Because examiner turnover is a problem, it already offers "special pay rates" above regular federal scales, recruitment and retention bonuses, flexible work schedules, a telecommuting program and reimbursement for law school. Rearranging the chairs.