GAO: Loss of Patent Examiners Pending

Patents Not Pending: A shortage of patent examiners threatens to hinder U.S. business efforts to patent innovative products and processes. The U.S. General Accountability Office says in a new report that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is beset by rising attrition and “can’t hire its way out” of a massive backlog of newly applied-for patents. “Even with its increased hiring estimates of 1,200 patent examiners each year for the next 5 years, USPTO’s patent application backlog is expected to increase to over 1.3 million at the end of fiscal year 2011,” according to the GAO report. In fact, even if 2,000 new patent examiners were hired, it wouldn’t be enough to keep pace.

This condition naturally is triggering heightened turnover. “From 2002 through 2006, one patent examiner left USPTO for nearly every two the agency hired. Of those who left, 70 percent had been at the agency for less than 5 years.” And while management chalks up employee churn to the jobs “not being a good fit or [for] family reasons,” the opposite appears to be the case. The agency’s demanding production goals are cited by 67 percent of patent examiners as a chief reason for turnover, and 70 percent of remaining examiners had to work unpaid overtime to meet their production goals during the past year. The GAO suggests that the patent office redesign its jobs and alter the production quotas of individual examiners to boost retention. Improved compensation and enhanced work environments also could help stem the tide.