There are rumors that after over 30 years the patent system could see an overhaul. Certainly it seems this is not the fault of the person in charge of running it. It is really not up to him to institute major changes to the system. Changes to the system have to be approved by the governing body in place to really get any major changes through. One issue has been said to be that the employees that check these patents are heavily overworked. It takes almost 3 years to get a patent through, and if you do not make it through for approval on the first go, then it could take longer after you re-submit.

It seems that the system has just been overloaded with work. It has been really tough to keep the employees motivated with their day in and day out endless work of looking through patent after patent. They have tried to motivate them as best as possible with incentives and such for how much work they put out.

These changes could more than likely be a good thing for anyone involved. It could help smooth out the process for the patent seekers and the employees of the system.