Patent Office Boss Scraps ‘Unacceptable’ Examination Initiative

The US Patent and Trademark Office’s top official told a group of managers he’s ready to immerse himself in day-to-day operational issues to address flagging morale at the agency.

PTO Director John Squires told a large group of supervisory patent examiners May 9 that he was responding to their feedback by suspending “with immediate effect” a pilot program from October that added an extra layer of review for the work product of some of the agency’s most seasoned patent examiners.

The announcement was made the day after a conference call in an accompanying Microsoft Teams chat log obtained by Bloomberg ...