I fall into the camp that believes that patents shouldn't exist at all, but if we could at least stop granting vague and abusable patents for software and business processes, I'll take it.
I know nothing about Michelle Lee, but if she spent time at Google, there's no way she doesn't have some understanding of how bad the patent ecosystem has become. The only question is whether the bad publicity around patent trolls has created enough political will to push back against bad patents, given that granting as many patents as possible is effectively the business model of the USPTO.
"...given that granting as many patents as possible is effectively the business model of the USPTO."
and the one that companies exploit a lot knowing they have backlog of cases. Each case should be examined carefully by the office. See how crowd validation can come in handy: http://patents.stackexchange.com/
I do not know the success rate but they have helped invalidate some patents in initial stage itself. A similar official and easy to participate program will be even more helpful.
PS: I would recommend watching the movie "Flash of a genius". It is regarding invention of time delayed windshield wipers, and how bigger car companies stole idea from a guy after he pitched them.
I know nothing about Michelle Lee, but if she spent time at Google, there's no way she doesn't have some understanding of how bad the patent ecosystem has become. The only question is whether the bad publicity around patent trolls has created enough political will to push back against bad patents, given that granting as many patents as possible is effectively the business model of the USPTO.