They're not called PAID LOBBYISTS for nothing. But I want to believe that the PTO is pretty well insulated from these types...at least at the examiner level...on the other hand they are so overworked and under paid for their skills and knowledge that it's one reason that many are foreign nationals and many more leave for much higher paying jobs with anti-patent legal firms and other companies involved with patent infringement.

the USPTO will tell you they are there for the assistance of the patent holder/filer...but sometimes you just have ot wonder.

Their own stated mission is as follows but again I often wonder????

Maybe the director and some of these GAU heads need to read this once a day to remind them.

For over 200 years, the basic role of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has remained the same: to promote the progress of science and the useful arts by securing for limited times to inventors the exclusive right to their respective discoveries (Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution). Under this system of protection, American industry has flourished. New products have been invented, new uses for old ones discovered, and employment opportunities created for millions of Americans. The strength and vitality of the U.S. economy depends directly on effective mechanisms that protect new ideas and investments in innovation and creativity. The continued demand for patents and trademarks underscores the ingenuity of American inventors and entrepreneurs. The USPTO is at the cutting edge of the Nation’s technological progress and achievement.