In one of his final posts on the USPTO Director’s Forum Blog, departing director David Kappos presented some eye-opening statistics about patent quality. The post discussed a study of over 22,000 patent applications in the past five years that assessed whether Examiner interviews help improve the quality of the resulting patent. The conclusion: a resounding yes. According to the post: ”The data shows that interviews help decrease both improper allowances and improper rejections by approximately 40 percent compared to applications without interviews prior to the final disposition.”
This post followed a flurry of recent USPTO activity directed to improving patent quality.
For example, the post coincided with the publication of a Federal Register notice in which the USPTO sought comments on a proposal for new patent application drafting practices that would help improve patent quality. The proposal considers Continue reading
