Changes

: USPTO: In April 2016, the USPTO had an unexamined patent backlog of 549,896 and 352,573 application filings for review. The unexamined patent backlog is a record of how many [[Patent Types| UPR Patents]] are waiting for review by a patent examiner,and application filings are how many patents are being sent in for review. [http://www.uspto.gov/corda/dashboards/patents/main.dashxml?CTNAVID=1005] The USPTO reports that in 2016 the average total pendency time, the time between filing a patent application and issuing or dismissing a patent, has been 26 months. [https://hbr.org/2015/03/why-congress-needs-to-pass-the-innovation-act-this-time| Harvard Business Review] reports that the increase in cases being referred to lower, random courts raises the cost of processing a patent application and causes the patent system to rely on juries often without requisite technical or procedural expertise. These juries are expected to decide whether high level technology or processes satisfy the requirements for protection.

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)] Additionally, "junk patents" are a source of contention as HBR suggests they lead to pointless trials. The technology industry often suffers of overly broad patents, which also may lead to pointless litigation. Amazon has successfully patented buying things with one-click in the United States, and Apply has claimed ownership of rounded-edged, rectangular-shaped communication devices on which icons are arranged in a grid with a row of persistent icons at the bottom.

New Rapidly Growing Industries: The biotechnology industry as a whole provides new ethical challenges to the patent system and introduces new competitive threats such as me-too drugs. Me-too drugs are approved after a pioneering drug and function as substitutes [http://www.who.int/intellectualproperty/topics/ip/Me-tooDrugs_Hollis1.pdf (WHO)].  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)]