GAO Report: USPTO’s Backlog Reduction Goals Unsustainable if Workforce Strain, Examiner Attrition Continue

Today, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report on efforts at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to reduce the current backlog of unexamined U.S. patent applications at the agency, which announced its intention to reduce the backlog to fewer than 599,000 patent applications last September. The GAO’s report casts a pall on those efforts, which have been contributing to patent examiner attrition that, left unchecked, could prevent the USPTO from reaching its backlog red