Former USPTO Director Jon Dudas coauthors article which blames the USPTO's Funding Woes on the Economy
Former USPTO Director Jon Dudas, is a co-author in an October 26, 2009 article entitled, "Let the PTO Pay It's Own Way", which appeared in the National Law Journal. The article appears to deny any role of mismanagement under the Dudas regime, in causing the USPTO's funding shortfalls. The article with Mr. Dudas as a coauthor, even attributes comments to the new USPTO Director to support the assertion that the economy was responsible for the $200 million shortfall that exists at the beginning of fiscal year 2010, stating:
"Kappos warned that the economic crisis has caused a downturn in patent application filings, issuances and maintenance fee payments that will cause a $200 million shortfall for the PTO in Fiscal year 2010, which will hamstring the agency's ability to uphold its
mission."
However, the article fails to mention that the new USPTO Director, unlike the former USPTO Director Jon Dudas, made a clear connection between the dysfunction of the USPTO and the stifling of innovation.
For example, in his remarks to the AIPLA, Director Kappos stated: "The backlog of nearly 800,000 patent applications is unacceptable; it stifles innovation and restricts the growth of our economy."
I explored in a previous blog entry how the former USPTO Commissioner of Patents, John Doll, in my opinion, also seemed to adopt the viewpoint, that the economy, and not a dysfunctional USPTO, was responsible for the USPTO's funding crisis.
Mismanaged quality initiatives initiated under the former USPTO Director Jon Dudas, exacerbated the patent backlog, depressed allowance rates to below the 50%, and contributed to a drop in maintenance fees.
When allowance rates dropped to below the 50% level well before the start of the current recession, as illustrated by the USPTO's own graph, one would expect, that this precipitous drop in allowance rates would contribute to a drop in future maintenance fee collections.
Yet the article, "Let the PTO Pay It's Own Way", ignores the connection between the precipitous drop in allowance rates and declines in maintenance fees.
Several USPTO official emails provided to the public through FOIA, show that patent applications undergoing the dysfunctional quality review programs during the Dudas era, were permitted to languish as a result of mismanagement. Click here to read of an email, wherein patent applications reviewed under quality initiatives during the Dudas era were permitted to languish as a result of mismanagement.
Posted by FederalWorker at 11/2/2009 11:32 PM 
Categories: USPTO's Budget Crisis
Tags: US Patent and Trademark Office Jon Dudas USPTO Budget Woes
Categories: USPTO's Budget Crisis
Tags: US Patent and Trademark Office Jon Dudas USPTO Budget Woes
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