> Patent applications can be placed in the SAWS program for an extensive number of reasons, which Franklin and his associates call “astonishingly vague.” This i

> Patent applications can be placed in the SAWS program for an extensive number of reasons, which Franklin and his associates call “astonishingly vague.” This includes applications of “broad” or “pioneering scope,” “seemingly frivolous or silly subject matter,” or those “dealing with inventions, which, if issued, would potentially generate unwanted media coverage (i.e., news, blogs, forums).” They created a secret rule that gives individuals within the USPTO the power to hellban patents at their discretion. There is too much potential for abuse in this system.