Patents granted at highest rate ever at USPTO

patentlyo.com

11 pointskljensen6 comments

Actually, I consider this to be a good thing. The situation right now is terrible but still livable. If it becomes even worse, it will have to be changed, or the technology economy will collapse.

Yep, I agree. This Reddit story pissed me off: http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/c6e49

Basically some guy was able to trademark "Power Hour" and is sending legal threats to hundreds of sites that use the drinking game.

Patents are completely separate from trademarks though.

In fact, it appears they may be granted at a rate exceeding submissions. (But, there is a publication & grant timelag, so it's not as clear as that.) See also:

* Article: http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2010/05/patent-grants-2010.h...

* Charts (top left): http://news.priorsmart.com/

Maybe that's an indicator that bad patents are being granted?

Could be. My guess is mix of new examiner incentives plus economic crisis.

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