US Patent Office, Meet Social Networking

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has decided that in order to meet the public outcry against frivolous patent filings and keep their tradition of making patent applications public and available for the scrutiny of everyone, they're going to get into the business of social networking. They've announced a pilot project to open up the patent filing process to the internet, subscribing members who can provide insight into the patents being filed and allowing everyone to view and comment on the filings. The USPTO is excited about the prospect, claiming that it offers them a world of technical expertise that they simply may not have at the office in its patent examiners, but the new project marks a significant change in the policy of the office. In the past, even thought patent applications have been growing significantly over the past several years, examiners have been swamped with technical applications for which they have limited time and resources to research.


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