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→Criticisms
In recent years, there has been an increase in patent reform legislation presented and reviewed in Congress. This increase is due to wide range criticisms on current patent institutions and practices, which demand stricter reform.
USPTO: As of January 2016, the The USPTO's current unexamined patent backlog for May 2016 is 561upwards of 549,585 [http://www.uspto.gov/dashboards/patents/main896.dashxml (USPTO)], leading to more cases being referred to lower, random courts. '''A patent backlog is the number of patent applications still waiting for review or approval.''' These courts increase the cost of processing a patent application and rely on juries without technical or procedural expertise to decide whether high level technology or processes satisfy the requirements for protection [https://hbr.org/2015/03/why-congress-needs-to-pass-the-innovation-act-this-time]. '''The USPTO continues to grant patents without the necessary time or resources to search all relevant references. '''
Patent Litigation: Critics at Wired believe that the amount of patent litigation and patent infringement claimed has created a "disastrous environment for innovation." [http://www.wired.com/2012/11/ff-steven-levy-the-patent-problem/ (Wired)] Litigation and lawsuits may result in a significant decrease in product development. In 2015, Google and Apple invested more in supporting patent purchases and litigation than in R&D.[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/08/technology/patent-wars-among-tech-giants-can-stifle-competition.html?_r=0 (NYT-PW)]
Government Policy: patents slowing down or even preventing the government from enacting necessary policy reform
*Many patents are approved because [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]] examiners don’t have time or resources to search all the relevant references
**The current patent backlog, as of January 2016, is 561,585. [http://www.uspto.gov/dashboards/patents/main.dashxml (USPTO)]
**Total Pendency, time between patent filing and patent action, is 26.1 months, as of January 2016. [http://www.uspto.gov/corda/dashboards/patents/main.dashxml?CTNAVID=1004 (USPTO)]
***Total Pendency goal time is 20 months by FY2019. [http://www.uspto.gov/corda/dashboards/patents/main.dashxml?CTNAVID=1004 (USPTO)]
* “The past three decades of wanton patent-granting have created a disastrous environment for innovation. Today it’s practically impossible to build anything without violating a patent of some kind—and risking a multimillion-dollar lawsuit for your troubles.” [http://www.wired.com/2012/11/ff-steven-levy-the-patent-problem/ (Wired)]
*Technology industry has too many overly broad patents, leading to incredibly silly patent litigation cases
**Amazon “owns” the process that allows people to buy things with a single click.
**Apple now claims the exclusive right to sell rounded-edged, rectangular-shaped communication devices on which icons are arranged in a grid with a row of persistent icons at the bottom
**A small company in Tyler, Texas, once demanded more than $600 million from Google because of the design of the borders around its display ads.
*‘’’Patent Trolls’’’ are nonpracticing entities that don’t make products but exist solely on the revenue of its patents
**Costs a few thousand dollars to secure a patent, which can bring in millions through litigation
**It is usually more expensive to win a case against a troll than to just settle
*Last year, for the first time, spending by Apple and Google on patent lawsuits and unusually big-dollar patent purchases exceeded spending on research and development of new products, according to public filings. [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/08/technology/patent-wars-among-tech-giants-can-stifle-competition.html?_r=0 (NYT-PW)]
*Me-too drugs: a drug that is approved after a pioneering drug and is the 'same'; it is not clinically superior to the original drug [http://www.who.int/intellectualproperty/topics/ip/Me-tooDrugs_Hollis1.pdf (WHO)]
==Patent Pools==
