Patent Law

One Forward, Two Back

By Gary Odom and Jordan Kuhn

The US patent system is unraveling as the USPTO desperately clings to the telework thread as a last hope for reducing pendency. POPA reports that "management has proposed legislation which would allow the agency to permit employees to telework from anywhere in the United States". Yet POPA laments that this latest effort "would not require the agency to pay for employees' travel when the agency requires them to report to USPTO headquarters" and that "management also wants to pay telework employees according to the locality in which the employees actually live and work".

The proposal.

POPA, generally prone to excess drama, has legitimate concerns, as examiners will be presented with the dilemma of weighing the value of escaping the DC-hell-swamp versus a possibly significant reduction in pay with increased expense. Although it is unclear exactly how pay would be calculated, since examiners are paid based on a special pay rate and not based on DC locality pay, the PTO is often less than generous.

Admittedly, the USPTO has made many necessary advances in telework, even while other government agencies lag behind. Yet it appears that for every one step forward, they take two steps back. Telework participation at the levels necessary to avoid overcrowding at PTO headquarters and to significantly reduce backlog will only come with PTO compromise. Buck up, before it is too late.

Previous Patent Prospector telework coverage: I Swear Tele-Works; If I Were the Dude....

Full post as published by The Patent Prospector on June 16, 2008 (boomark / email).