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That's the theory. In practice it works as was described above - they look for existing patents. Looking for prior work to any degree would presumably make the
by Tor3 5y ago
That's the theory. In practice it works as was described above - they look for existing patents. Looking for prior work to any degree would presumably make the cost (and time) astronomical (or at least not covering what they're paid), as a general rule. The world is very different from when the patent system was established.
- gnicholas 5y agoIt's possible that in some fields, the PTO focuses on patents because so many of the innovations are patented. But this doesn't fit my experience, having worked for well over a decade in Silicon Valley (first as a lawyer, and then as a founder). I could be wrong — this is just the sense I've gotten from talking with patent prosecutors at my old firm, and from talking with my outside counsel about our prosecution strategy.