Intellectual Property: Patent Office Should Strengthen Search Capabilities and Better Monitor Examiners' Work
GAO (2016) Intellectual Property: Patent Office Should Strengthen Search Capabilities and Better Monitor Examiners' Work, Report No. GAO-16-479, Jun 2016
Experts and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) examiners described a variety of challenges in identifying information relevant to a claimed invention—or “prior art”—that can affect examiners' ability to complete a thorough prior art search in the time allotted and their confidence in their search efforts. These challenges include, among others, the quantity and availability of prior art, the clarity of patent applications, and USPTO's policies and search tools.
Publication type:
project report
Publication language:
English
Publication date:
2016
Publication URL:
https://www.gao.gov/assets/680/678149.pdf
Institute:
Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics team of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) (STAA)
Country:
United States of America
Project:
Intellectual Property: Patent Office Should Strengthen Search Capabilities and Better Monitor Examiners' Work (STAA)

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