

Ask HN: What incentivizes patent clerks to verify claims? - niels_olson

It would seem to me these government workers, no matter how bright, would still be most fundamentally rewarded for number of patents reviewed, and challenging a claim seems like it must be more difficult than accepting it, as a challenge requires the patent clerk to 1) claim understanding and 2) possibly cause more strain in the office if the applicant fires back. And I suspect most of these clerks have moved on and are well clear of any repercussions by the time their decisions get invalidated in court.&#60;p&#62;Is there any way to validate their decision-making outside the courts? Preferably much earlier?
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btilly
You'd be better off asking what incentivizes the Patent Office to do careful
review. The answer, when they get paid by the patent seekers, is that every
incentive aligns with giving out patents freely.

Is it any wonder that they have settled for being generous in handing out
patents, and are content to let the courts do the bulk of the real review?
(Ignoring the costs to society of having so many invalid patents available as
threats.)

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niels_olson
Makes me think of the rating agencies that facilitated the latest bubble: paid
by the applicants. What sorts of inflation could exist within the patent
market and how could one burst the respective bubbles?

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imp
I have a friend who works for the patent office reviewing patents, and I've
asked her a bit about the process. Overall, they are incentivized to verify
claims because they want to do a good job. Same as any other employee at any
other job. I don't think they're penalized for rejecting claims and rewarded
for letting things through. Their goal is to act appropriately to each case.

Where any problems occur due to bad patents being approved seems to be due to
time constraints in reviewing patents. My friend didn't think that the patent
system is "broken" by any means. Her opinion was that they just need more
qualified reviewers. They are hiring like crazy, or at least they were a few
years ago.

