{
  "id": "RL31438",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL31438",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 101265,
      "date": "2002-06-06",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:09:24.949941",
      "title": "Patent Administration: Current Issues and Possibilities for Reform",
      "summary": "The United States Patent and Trademark Office (\"USPTO\") examines patent applications to\ndetermine whether the subject matter claimed within those applications is sufficiently inventive to\nmerit the award of a patent. The environment in which patent examination occurs has become\nincreasingly challenging. The USPTO is facing an escalating rate of patent application filings as\nwell as applications of increasing technical complexity. Other potential concerns include budgetary\nconstraints and the retention of personnel with appropriate technical and legal qualifications to\nperform patent examination tasks.\n  Out of recognition of these challenges, the administrative procedures through which the USPTO\nconducts patent examination have been subject to renewed public dialogue and congressional\ninterest. Legislation pending before the 107th Congress would introduce reforms to patent\nadministration. Should Congress further consider this issue, USPTO practices may be reviewed with\nan eye towards their capability for maintaining acceptable levels of patent quality within current\nresource constraints. \n  Congress may conclude that current USPTO practices provide an appropriate level of scrutiny\nof patent applications. In the event that reform is contemplated, however, widely circulated\nproposals and the practices of other leading patent-granting agencies, notably the European Patent\nOffice (\"EPO\") and the Japanese Patent Office (\"JPO\"), suggest the latest thinking on patent\nadministration reform. One set of reform proposals involves augmenting the responsibilities of\npatent applicants. Although inventors who seek patent protection are responsible for preparing an\napplication, they are currently not required to perform a search of public domain information to\ndetermine if their technology is sufficiently inventive to merit a patent. Some proposals would\nmandate that applicants perform such a search, or at least state whether they have done so. Others\nwould require applicants to distinguish more carefully their inventions from the state of the art.\n  A second group of reform proposals involves an assessment of the contributions members of\nthe general public might make within an optimal patent examination regime. Interested third parties\nmight be invited to comment upon pending patent applications. Alternatively, they could invoke\nadministrative patent revocation proceedings at the USPTO known as \"oppositions.\"\n  Finally, Congress may wish to consider more general workload reduction proposals. Currently\nthe USPTO automatically subjects each submitted application to a detailed substantive examination. \nOther possibilities include deferral of examination or the automatic registration of every submitted\napplication. The USPTO might also rely upon the results of foreign patent offices in reaching its\nown patentability decisions.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL31438",
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "American Law",
    "Economic Policy"
  ]
}