2 ms·
> patent clerks aren’t actually subject matter experts in the field This is sometimes true, but also isn't super relevant. The patent office contracts out to
by jedberg 3y ago
> patent clerks aren’t actually subject matter experts in the field
This is sometimes true, but also isn't super relevant. The patent office contracts out to experts to help them evaluate a patent. My friend worked as one of these contractors. He would get patents in his field of expertise in which he holds a PhD and had 15 years of work experience, and then write a report and do the prior art searches. He would then send his report back to the patent clerk.
The reason you get BS patents is because they only give the clerk a small amount of time to make a decision, so they have to work with whatever info they have -- they don't have time to seek out additional information.
The patent office needs a lot more funding if you want it to be effective.
- btrettel 3y ago> The reason you get BS patents is because they only give the clerk a small amount of time to make a decision, so they have to work with whatever info they have -- they don't have time to seek out additional information. As a former USPTO patent examiner, I can confirm that this is the main reason for low patent quality. > This is sometimes true, but also isn't super relevant. The patent office contracts out to experts to help them evaluate a patent. My friend worked as one of these contractors. He would get patents in his field of expertise in which he holds a PhD and had 15 years of work experience, and then write a report and do the prior art searches. He would then send his report back to the patent clerk. I never found the contract search help to be useful. ("STIC search" is what I'm thinking of. Your friend may have been on a different contract as I'm not familiar with specific contract subject matter experts providing search help.) I'd guess that the problem is that those folks get even less time than I did!