Patent Examiners are overworked
Weber, Law associate at Crowell and Moring, ‘21
[Emily N, Summer 2021, Missouri Law Review, “Balancing Purpose, Power, and Discretion Between Article III Courts and the Patent Office”, https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr/vol86/iss3/13/, Accessed July 08 2024, AMH]
Roughly eight million patents have issued since 1963.150 The harsh reality of the U.S. patent system is that many of these were later found invalid and never should have been granted.151 This reality will assuredly continue to apply to patents that have yet to issue. Examiners are overworked, have little time allotted for patent examination, and are underpaid.152 These conditions allow invalid patents to slip through the cracks. Invalid patents hinder “the progress of science and useful arts” as outlined in the Constitution.153 Post-grant proceedings are useful tools to protect American interests from invalid patents.154 However, what is considered an “American interest” to protect is subject to interpretation.155