AIPLA 2016: USPTO is well-functioning despite criticism, says Michelle Lee
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is healthy, well-functioning and poised to successfully handle the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, its director Michelle Lee has claimed.
Lee was speaking at the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s (AIPLA) 2016 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC on Friday, October 28.
“Our issues are important, complex and nuanced, and while not everyone will always agree with all that the agency does, we are well-prepared to work together to accomplish our top priorities and successfully address the challenges ahead,” she said.
Lee explained that in January 2009, the USPTO backlog was at an all-time high, but now it is lower than in more than a decade.
During this administration, the backlog of unexamined patent applications has been reduced by 30% despite a 4% increase of year-on-year of filings.
“This is hardly the only success story but it is emblematic of how much the USPTO has charged forward in these eight years,” she said.
Greater financial security, increased customer service orientation, and better relationship of all stakeholders has enabled the USPTO to make “real progress” on its priorities, and positions the office for “greater success going forward”.
According to Lee, the office has taken an “unprecedented” focus on patent quality.
“There’s a cost to society if the USPTO issues a patent that it should not issue, just as there’s a cost to society if we don’t issue a patent that we should issue,” said Lee.
She added that there is also a cost to society when there’s a patent in the system that may have been properly granted at the time it was issued but is no longer valid in light of changes to case law.
“With over 5,000 Patent Trial and Appeal Board petitions filed, we have one of the busiest dockets in the country,” Lee added.
“With extensive input from all of you, we have worked hard to implement and conduct these proceedings as fairly and as efficiently as possible.”
Lee said the USPTO has engaged practitioners in a series of listening tours, which led to a set of quick fixes in 2015 and then more substantive revisions to the rules in April.
The USPTO also assessed the frequency of motions to amend and the reasons for grants and denials.
She added: “We are applying the input from all of you to identify how and why we can do better.”
The AIPLA 2016 Annual Meeting finished on October 28.
