Patent Law

Tele-Cost

By Gary Odom and Jordan Kuhn

In their June newsletter/sobfest, POPA reiterates concerns over proposed changes to the PTO telework program. The proposed changes would eliminate the one-hour-per-week in office requirement for examiners, but would require examiners to cover all costs when traveling to the PTO headquarters on an "as needed" basis. POPA's concern: malicious supervisors interpreting "as needed" as "as wanted".

From the June newsletter:

The USPTO is lobbying Congress to approve legislation, currently part of Senate bill S.1000, which would extend the authority for the General Services Administration to approve experimental travel expenses test programs for six years. This legislation, while only appearing to directly affect the General Services Administration, would allow the USPTO to change hotelers' duty stations to their home offices, thereby negating the weekly required in office hour, yet not reimburse them for their travel expenses -transportation, lodging and meals-when they are required to come to the USPTO headquarters on an "as needed" basis.

On the surface, this appears reasonable, although not necessarily the best course of action considering current pendency issues. But now for the kicker:

If a supervisor doesn't like an employee, all he or she has to do is require the examiner to repeatedly return to USPTO headquarters for "training" or "counseling" or "review," etc. The examiner will be left facing a Hobson's choice of paying considerable travel expenses or finding a new job. Hoteling examiners will find themselves with a financial sword hanging constantly over their heads.

Previous Patent Prospector telework coverage: One Forward, Two Back; I Swear Tele-Works; If I Were the Dude....

Full post as published by The Patent Prospector on June 24, 2008 (boomark / email).