Patent backlog hitting firms

Journal Sentinel: On a campus of boxy office buildings nine miles outside Washington DC, some 6,300 patent examiners hold the nation's economic future in their hands. The federal system of granting patents to businesses and entrepreneurs has become overwhelmed by the growing volume and complexity of the applications it receives, creating a massive backlog that by its own reckoning could take at least six years to get under control, the Journal Sentinel has found. The agency took 3.5 years, on average, for each patent it issued in 2008, an analysis of patent data shows. That's more than twice the agency's benchmark of 18 months to deal with a patent request. The total number of applications waiting for approval, more than 1.2 million, nearly tripled from 10 years earlier.