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According the USPTO, an examiner is measured entirely by his own performance, without regard to the performance of others.<ref>"''[http://www.uspto.gov/go/ac/ahrpa/ohr/jobs/exam.htm What makes the USPTO a great place to work?]''", USPTO Patent Examiner Recruitment, United States Patent and Trademark Office, retrieved on June 12, 2006.{{Dead link|date=July 2010}}</ref> [[Legal]], [[Vocational education|technical]] and [[automation]] training is provided to examiners at the USPTO. Experienced examiners have an option of working primarily from home through a hoteling program implemented in 2006 by the USPTO.<ref>[http://www.uspto.gov/go/com/advisory/reports/ppac_2007annualrpt.pdf#page=10 USPTO Patent Public Advisory Committee 2007 Annual Report]</ref>
According the USPTO, an examiner is measured entirely by his own performance, without regard to the performance of others.<ref>"''[http://www.uspto.gov/go/ac/ahrpa/ohr/jobs/exam.htm What makes the USPTO a great place to work?]''", USPTO Patent Examiner Recruitment, United States Patent and Trademark Office, retrieved on June 12, 2006.{{Dead link|date=July 2010}}</ref> [[Legal]], [[Vocational education|technical]] and [[automation]] training is provided to examiners at the USPTO. Experienced examiners have an option of working primarily from home through a hoteling program implemented in 2006 by the USPTO.<ref>[http://www.uspto.gov/go/com/advisory/reports/ppac_2007annualrpt.pdf#page=10 USPTO Patent Public Advisory Committee 2007 Annual Report]</ref>


To work as an examiner with the USPTO, a person must be a [[U.S. citizen]].<ref name="dillon">Tamara Dillon, [http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2009/fall/art03.pdf "Patent work: The other side of invention"], Occupational Outlook Quarterly, Fall 2009, page 21.</ref> Most patent examiners working at the USPTO have a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or a PHD in engineering or science. Additionally, it is not uncommon for a patent examiner and/or a supervisory patent examiner to have a Juris Doctorate law degree. At various times over the years the USPTO has offered 100% tuition reimbursment for non-probationary examiners (2 years and in good standing) to attend any law school on part-time basis. However, this provision was suspended due to weak economic conditions in 2009 and has not been reinstated as of 2012. Primarly, the law school reimbursment provision has been used to attract and retain qualified candidates in a hot job market. <ref name="dillon"/>
To work as an examiner with the USPTO, a person must be a [[U.S. citizen]].<ref name="dillon">Tamara Dillon, [http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2009/fall/art03.pdf "Patent work: The other side of invention"], Occupational Outlook Quarterly, Fall 2009, page 21.</ref> Most patent examiners working at the USPTO have a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or a PHD in engineering or science. Additionally, it is not uncommon for a patent examiner and/or a supervisory patent examiner to have a Juris Doctorate law degree. At various times, the USPTO, has offered 100% tuition reimbursment for non-probationary examiners (2 years and in good standing) to attend any law school on part-time basis. However, this provision was suspended due to weak economic conditions in 2009 and has not been reinstated as of 2012. Primarly, the law school reimbursment provision has been used to attract and retain qualified candidates in a hot job market. <ref name="dillon"/> In the U.S., Patent Examiners have a fairly high attrition rate as they are often prime candidates in various industries of their expertise.


== Notable patent examiners ==
== Notable patent examiners ==

Revision as of 17:21, 13 November 2012

A patent examiner is an employee, usually a civil servant, working at a patent office. Major employers of patent examiners are the European Patent Office (EPO), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Japan Patent Office.

Duties

Patent examiners review patent applications to determine whether the claimed invention should be granted a patent. The work of a patent examiner usually includes searching patents and scientific literature databases for prior art, and examining patent applications substantively by examining whether the claimed invention meets the patentability requirements such as novelty, "inventive step" or "non-obviousness", "industrial application" (or "utility") and sufficiency of disclosure.

In most countries, Examiners are high level employees with clerical staff working under their supervision in supporting roles. For example, in the Indian Patent Office, an entry level Examiner (official designation: Examiner of Patents & Designs) is a Group A (Class 1) gazetted officer. This is the highest post in the set-up of the Indian Government service.

On April 13, 2007, a "Coalition of Patent Examiner Representatives" expressed concern that

in many patent offices, the pressures on examiners to produce and methods of allocating work have reduced the capacity of examiners to provide the quality of examination the peoples of the world deserve [and that] the combined pressures of higher productivity demands, increasingly complex patent applications and an ever-expanding body of relevant patent and non-patent literature have reached such a level that, unless serious measures are taken, meaningful protection of intellectual property throughout the world may, itself, become history.[1]

According to Indian newspaper Mint, Indian patent examiners have the world's highest workload and lowest pay. While a patent examiner in the European Patent Office would handle less than seven patent applications per month and a USPTO examiner would handle eight applications per month, an Indian examiner reportedly handles at least 20 applications a month. However an Indian examiner’s monthly salary is less than a third of his/her counterparts in other foreign patent offices.[2]

Offices

European Patent Office

Patent examiners at the European Patent Office (EPO) carry out examination and opposition procedures for patent applications originating anywhere in the world and seeking protection in any of the member states of the European Patent Organisation. The process involves a search for existing documentation in the technical area of the application (prior art) and communication with the applicant in order to bring the application in line with the legal requirements of the European Patent Convention. For every patent application, a division formed by three examiners must decide whether the application is granted or not, and in which scope.

EPO examiners are organized in a branched structured by their technical field of expertise and examine patent applications in three official languages, English, French, and German. They are recruited among nationals of the member states and work in one of the EPO offices in Munich, The Hague and Berlin.

Candidates for examiner positions must meet certain minimum requirements:

  • EPO member state nationality;
  • degree in engineering or in science;
  • good knowledge of two languages out of German, English and French with a willingness to learn the third.[3]

Some examiners have work experience in industry, but such experience is not required.[3] EPO examiners are also reportedly required to speak three languages fluently.[4][5]

Examiners may be represented by trade unions, FFPE-EPO and SUEPO.[citation needed]

United States Patent and Trademark Office

Patent examiners at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) prosecute applications for patents. Examiners make determinations based on federal codes, rules, and judicial precedents. These determinations are appealable through the U.S. Courts. An appeal of these determinations is three steps away from the U.S. Supreme Court. Responsibilities for a patent examiner at the USPTO include:

  • reviewing patent applications to determine if they comply with basic format, rules and legal requirements;
  • determining the scope of the invention claimed by the inventor;
  • searching for relevant technologies to compare similar prior inventions with the invention claimed in the patent application; and
  • communicating findings as to the patentability of an applicant's invention via a written action to inventors/patent practitioners.
Biweekly Production Report

Examiners are hired at the GS-5, GS-7, GS-9 or GS-11 grade levels[6][7] and are currently eligible for two accelerated promotions after six and twelve months of service when they meet the performance of a new examiner. As of July 2007, new examiners are granted a recruitment bonus of $20,000 to $39,600 spread out over four consecutive years of fully successful service.[8] Subsequent promotions are yearly and noncompetitive up to the GS-14 level, provided satisfactory performance is maintained.[citation needed]

Patent examiners in the US have responsibilities that are commensurate with their GS level. Promotions from GS-7 to GS-14 are non-competitive. At GS 11 or 12 they are expected to take a test equivalent to the Patent Bar in order to be eligible for promotion to GS-13. At GS-13 they are eligible to start the signatory program, a testing phase to see if an examiner can apply patent concepts (e.g. obviousness and novelty) laws (35 USC). When a patent examiner has passed program and been given signatory authority, that examiner has earned the title Primary Examiner and can sign their own office actions (e.g. allowances, rejections) without review and approval by a supervisor and is able to review and sign actions of junior examiners (patent examiners without signatory authority).

Supervisors at the USPTO are GS-15 employees who are necessarily primary examiners called Supervisory Primary Examiners (SPE colloquially called "spee"). They apply for positions competitively and receive management training inside the office. They are responsible for an Art Unit of patent examiners, typically 8-15 examiners who examine cases in the same area of technology (e.g. GPS devices and aircraft are handled by different art units). Responsibilities include training new examiners, reviewing and signing office actions of junior examiners and acting as an advocate of the examiners they are responsible for to a variety of parties (e.g. other managers in the office, patent applicants and their attorneys). They are the lowest rung of the USPTO's management chain of command, and the only part of management that is paid as part of the general schedule (GS). Higher paid managers are part of the Senior Executive Service and are technically political appointees. For example, a primary examiner (GS-14) and her SPE (GS-15) are part of the general schedule and cannot be fired as part of an administration change, but the SPE's boss (a technology center director paid at SES-1), can be asked to resign by the president, at his pleasure.

According the USPTO, an examiner is measured entirely by his own performance, without regard to the performance of others.[9] Legal, technical and automation training is provided to examiners at the USPTO. Experienced examiners have an option of working primarily from home through a hoteling program implemented in 2006 by the USPTO.[10]

To work as an examiner with the USPTO, a person must be a U.S. citizen.[11] Most patent examiners working at the USPTO have a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or a PHD in engineering or science. Additionally, it is not uncommon for a patent examiner and/or a supervisory patent examiner to have a Juris Doctorate law degree. At various times, the USPTO, has offered 100% tuition reimbursment for non-probationary examiners (2 years and in good standing) to attend any law school on part-time basis. However, this provision was suspended due to weak economic conditions in 2009 and has not been reinstated as of 2012. Primarly, the law school reimbursment provision has been used to attract and retain qualified candidates in a hot job market. [11] In the U.S., Patent Examiners have a fairly high attrition rate as they are often prime candidates in various industries of their expertise.

Notable patent examiners

Name Birth year Death year Description
Genrich Altshuller[12][13] 1926 1998 a Soviet engineer, inventor, scientist, journalist and writer.
Clara Barton[14][15][16] 1821 1912 worked at the United States Patent Office (Currently the USPTO)
Albert Einstein[17] 1879 1955 worked at the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property
Thomas Jefferson[18] 1743 1826 first patent examiner of the U.S. Patent Office
Arthur Paul Pedrick[19] ? (>1918) 1976 UK Patent Office examiner and, subsequently, prolific inventor
R S Praveen Raj[20] 1979 Indian patent examiner and subsequently scientist and social activist

References and notes

  1. ^ Open Letter From a Coalition of Patent Examiner Representatives (To: Mr. Jon Dudas, Director, United States Patent and Trademark Office, Prof. Alain Pompidou, President, European Patent Office, Dr. Jürgen Schade, President, Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt, Mr. David Tobin, Commissioner of Patents, Registrar of Trademarks and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Dr. Friedrich Rödler, President, Österreichisches Patentamt) - Re: The Future of the Patent System, April 13, 2007.
  2. ^ C.H. Unnikrishnan, "Indian IP examiners have world’s highest workload, lowest pay", Mint, September 14, 2010. Consulted on December 6, 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Required profile for an EPO patent examiner". European Patent Office (EPO), retrieved on June 28, 2010.
  4. ^ Better Patents, Better Medicines: Recommendations on How to Improve The European Patent System, European Generic medicines Association, Position Paper, October 2008, p.3.
  5. ^ David Pressman, "Patent it yourself", Nolo, Thirtheen edition, 2008, p. 313. ISBN 1-4133-0854-6.
  6. ^ GS-5, GS-7, or GS-9 grade levels are part of the General Schedule employee classification scheme within the US government.
  7. ^ See the examiner salary table as of January 1, 2007
  8. ^ USPTO Recruitment Incentive
  9. ^ "What makes the USPTO a great place to work?", USPTO Patent Examiner Recruitment, United States Patent and Trademark Office, retrieved on June 12, 2006.[dead link]
  10. ^ USPTO Patent Public Advisory Committee 2007 Annual Report
  11. ^ a b Tamara Dillon, "Patent work: The other side of invention", Occupational Outlook Quarterly, Fall 2009, page 21.
  12. ^ "TRIZ was invented and structured by Genrich Altshuller, a patent examiner for the Russian navy." in Praveen Gupta, The Six Sigma Performance Handbook: A Statistical Guide to Optimizing Results, McGraw-Hill Professional, 2004, page 278, ISBN 0-07-143764-9
  13. ^ "In 1946, a 20-year-old Soviet patent clerk in Russia named Genrich Altshuller..." in Peter Middleton, James Sutton, Lean Software Strategies: proven techniques for managers and developers, Productivity Press, 2005, page 159, ISBN 1-56327-305-5
  14. ^ "Clara Barton, the founder of the Red Cross, held a regular civil service appointment as a patent clerk as early as 1854." in B. Zorina Khan, The Democratization of Invention: patents and copyrights in American economic development, 1790-1920, Cambridge University Press, 2005, page 136, note 25. ISBN 0-521-81135-X
  15. ^ "Called the “Angel of the Battlefield,” Clara Barton was a former teacher and patent clerk..." in Alan Axelrod, The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Civil War, Alpha Books, 2003, page 147, ISBN 1-59257-132-8
  16. ^ "Clara Barton, a former teacher and patent clerk, ..." in Fred D. Cavinder, More Amazing Tales from Indiana, Indiana University Press, 2003, page 79, ISBN 0-253-21653-2
  17. ^ Thomas P. Hugues, Einstein, Inventors, and Invention in R. S. (Robert Sonne) Cohen, Mara Beller, Jürgen Renn, Einstein in Context: A Special Issue of Science in Context, Cambridge University Press, 1993, page 25, ISBN 0-521-44834-4
  18. ^ Thomas T. Gordon, Arthur S. Cookfair, Patent Fundamentals for Scientists and Engineers, CRC Press, 2000, page 13, ISBN 1-56670-517-7
  19. ^ Healey, Tim (1983). Extraordinary Inventions. Reader's Digest Association Limited. pp. 44–46.
  20. ^ [1]

See also

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