Patent Office Weighs Ways To Cut Growing Backlog

In a move designed to improve employee morale and to help reduce a growing backlog, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office proposed changes Wednesday to its way of determining how long a patent examiner has to complete a patent examination and the incentives that examiners earn.

The modifications, which must be approved by agency employees in the coming weeks, would be the first major change to the agency’s “count system” since 1976.

The office has grappled wi...