What is the penalty for the USPTO if they grant patents that shouldn't have been granted? The answer, of course, is absolutely nothing at all. If someone wants

What is the penalty for the USPTO if they grant patents that shouldn't have been granted? The answer, of course, is absolutely nothing at all. If someone wants to force a review, the USPTO actually charges to give a patent a second, more thorough look, effectively double dipping. It is a profoundly broken system, and people do just push tonnes and tonnes of nonsense patents. This includes the major companies (Apple, Microsoft, Google) who start shoveling patents in the notion that they'll have a warchest of bullshit if push comes to shove.