Patent Overload

Increasingly, patents of various ‘states of quality’ are ending up at the center of legal disputes. And when those disputes turn ugly, the results can hurt everyone, making all of us pay more for technology products and wasting our time through increased inconvenience.

Even IBM, which receives far and away the most patents, acknowledges the problems. As a result of patent fights, consumers have to pay more for software and hardware--"and ultimately there are fewer products in the market because companies decide not to make [them]," says David Kappos, IBM's vice president and assistant general counsel for intellectual property.

Patent Backlog

According to USPTO commissioner John Doll, the greatest number of new patent applications are for business processes or computer hardware and software innovations. And the former is one of the most difficult types of patent to evaluate. The USPTO started 2005 with a backlog of 500,000 new patent applications, and ended the year with a backlog of nearly 600,000.
Examiners are supposed to evaluate applications against "prior art"--similar, earlier inventions.

Patent examiners have a set amount of time--an average of 20 to 30 hours for computer software and hardware--to review a patent, handling any appeals and updates from the applicants as well, before issuing a final approval or rejection. To help alleviate the patent backlog, the USPTO plans to hire 1000 new examiners every year for the next five years, training each examiner for eight months before they're put on the job.

Other long-term solutions under discussion include shifting more of the burden of proving that an invention is unique onto patent applicants.