Would I want to hire someone who didn't do their job well? Absolutely, if their incompetence was incompetence in my favor, which is something I'd want to rewar

Would I want to hire someone who didn't do their job well? Absolutely, if their incompetence was incompetence in my favor, which is something I'd want to reward. Alternately, if hiring them off freed up an opening for a friendlier regulator, I'd hire them that way too. Kind of like how donating to the political campaigns of the longest-lasting, most honorable, and least corruptible judges in your local area will ensure they'll always recuse themselves in litigation you find yourself involved in. To appear balanced, patent examiners must feel more than a little pressure to come down hard on the little guy.