That would mean that the USPTO tacitly admits the fact that the patent system is broken and they need hacks to work around it. I think that would be strange com

That would mean that the USPTO tacitly admits the fact that the patent system is broken and they need hacks to work around it. I think that would be strange coming from them. If the patent system was working correctly there would be no need such a thing, either something is patented or it isn't. If it isn't it shouldn't be possible for a third party to patent it post-facto since there's already prior art. At least, that's the spirit of it as far as I'm aware.