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PTO Calls Former Examiners to Return to the Office

The Patent Office is taking some interesting measures in an effort to reduce the backlog. Last week, the corps received an email detailing plans to offer ex-examiners the opportunity to return to the patent office. From the email:

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Faced with a growing backlog and long patent pendency periods in a difficult fiscal environment, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is reaching out to former patent examiners, inviting them to return to the agency. ?Because of their prior experience, returning examiners will need little training and will be able to hit the ground running,? said USPTO Director David Kappos. ?These examiners can have an immediate impact on the patent examination backlog and reducing the backlog is our top priority.?

Former examiners who have passed their probationary requirement and who have resigned less than three years ago or have more than three years experience examining patents are invited to apply. The USPTO estimates that a few hundred former examiners are eligible to be rehired. Of that number, less than 100 are expected to accept the offer. Vacancy announcements for the positions have been posted at www.USAJobs.gov. The openings are for GS-9 through GS-14.

The initiative to rehire examiners will not increase the size of the agency?s workforce, but it will hopefully help the agency keep pace with the attrition rate. Currently 30 to 40 examiners per month leave the USPTO.

The rehire initiative is another example of the USPTO?s efforts recently to implement creative approaches to addressing the backlog and pendency. During the last several months, the USPTO has revamped the patent examiner count system to improve the examination process. It has also expanded the petition to make special option to green technologies and applicants who agree to abandon applications they deem less important.

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This is another example of the 'out-of-the-box' thinking that the new director has brought to the Office. I'm curious about how many examiners will actually take this offer to return to the Office.

Full post as published by Just a Patent Examiner on December 23, 2009 (boomark / email).