Former Google Lawyer Michelle Lee To Run US Patent Office

First time accepted submitter Tigger's Pet writes "The BBC report that 'Google's former top patent lawyer has been put in charge of America's patent and trademark office (USPTO). Michelle Lee was made deputy director of the USPTO this week and will run the agency while it seeks a new boss. Ms Lee joined the patent office after leaving Google in June 2012 but said the opinions of her former employer would not guide her work.' Maybe she will use her knowledge from some of the insanity she has seen to actually tackle the current situation of patents, patent-trolling and lawsuits, so that companies can concentrate on true development which benefits all their users, not just the lawyers."

Comments

Re:Not likely to help

[Trepidity]

Huh, I didn't realize that. Looks like, for large companies at least (there are some discounts for individual inventors), the fees break down roughly like this:

• Filing/search/examination fees: $1600
• Issuance of an approved patent: $1780
• Maintenance of an approved patent over its full lifespan: $12,600

So basically the USPTO gets $1600 if the patent is rejected, or $15,980 if it's approved.