Fees will decrease patent applications now

These patent critics have called for new policies to change the behavior of inventors. The USPTO recently announced substantial fee increases and new “rules” that many argue actually amount to legislation to force behavior changes and decrease the number of patent applications that have historically been available to inventors. If implemented, these changes will significantly increase the cost and complexity of obtaining patents, but they will not address the perceived deficiencies in the patent system. Improving the operations of the USPTO, however, is the best opportunity to improve the patent system.