A Tip Of The Hat To The USPTO

Even as the number of applications continues to grow every year, the Office is whittling away at the backlog, now down to about 615,000 from 764,000 in 2009. Moreover, following the dot.com boom at the turn of the century, there were significant improvements in operations, including a conversion to electronic records. That was a big improvement over a long period when it was notorious for mishandling files, which were all but “stored in shoes,” maintains Fenwick & West attorney Daniel R. Brownstone, in a piece that paints a picture of an office on the mend. It turned a corner with the appointment of IBM’s former IP counsel David Kappos in 2009, he writes, and it has continued to improve under Acting Director Michelle Lee, formerly in charge of IP at Google. Few things “are more enjoyable than complaining about the government,” writes Brownstone, but  “occasionally a tip of the hat is called for.”