Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

US Patent Office To Hire 500 New Examiners

Posted by Hemos on from the get-them-in-there dept.

ddillman writes to us with a story from EEtimes that is reporting that the US Government, specifically the PTO, is hiring up to 500 electrical engineers to help assess the validity of new patent claims on technical gadgets. Good - and with the downturn in the high tech industry you can get them cheap.

3 of 144 comments (clear)

  1. Open Source People : Apply! by Jeppe+Salvesen · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is a good chance to inject some open source talent into an important public body. It really sounds like they could use some talent, and most importantly a broader knowledge base!

    --

    Stop the brainwash

  2. They need to change the revenue model. by IGnatius+T+Foobar · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The real problem with the PTO is that they make money when a patent is awarded. Therefore they are motivated to award as many patents as possible. This needs to change before the "patent everything" mindset will stop getting its way every time.

    --
    Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!
  3. New Hires vs. Policy by HiThere · · Score: 4, Interesting

    New hires don't set policy. The policy appears to be to grant as many patents as feasible. So more new hires will just let them grant more patents quickly.

    I may misunderstand this, but my understanding is that the funding for the patent office is somewhat dependant on the number of patents granted. Possibly that was the performance evaluation of the patent examiner. I'm sure that many of the people there try to do the best job feasible under the circumstances. But with those circumstances...

    --

    I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.