Now it's time to address the root cause of this mess. Make the patent examination system better at vetting claims and looking for prior art. It's too easy to get patents issued. (Said he, who has a few patents to his name.)

I don't suppose it's feasible for the Patent Office to crowdsource the examination process: patent applications aren't public. But they could surely hire some people, or a company or two, to use the 'toobz to look for prior art.