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> The examiners don't get bonused on allowing patents. Yes, they do. They are paid based on how many patents they process, and it takes less hours to approve a

• binarymax 8y ago
  Citation please? I've never heard of any federal agency employee getting any kind of commission such as this.
  • fjsolwmv 8y ago
    They get promoted for processing faster. That's equivalent to get paid per patent. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/07/31/inside-the-stressed-out-time-crunched-patent-examiner-workforce https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/07/31...
  • hedora 8y ago
    Not the best article to cite to make this point, but: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/07/31/inside-the-stressed-out-time-crunched-patent-examiner-workforce/?noredirect=on https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/07/31... > "Our data finds that as examiners are given less time to review applications, the less prior art they cite, the less likely they are to make time-consuming prior art rejections, and the more likely they are to grant patents," the researchers report. ... > Patent examiners have an incentive to approve or reject a patent as quickly as they can. That's because every time they do, they get two "credits" that go toward a progression system that determines when they get promoted (and how much they make). One interesting feature of the progression system, though, is that as you rise in rank (from, say, a GS-7 to a GS-14) the amount of time you're expected to spend on each patent decreases.