Did you feel it? Something just shifted in the cosmos. Perhaps Jupiter aligned with Mars, and it’s the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.
Umm, no.
But something has changed. The Administration has recognized that some Federal employees are important: namely, patent examiners. After six months of relentless pressure on patent examiners to quit or retire, the USPTO is hiring new patent examiners. But, of course, there are strings. The new hires will not be subject to the examiner’s collective bargaining agreement, allowing every examiner below the management level to work remotely. Whether prohibiting a new employee from joining an existing union comports with labor laws is beyond this author’s expertise. All of the new examiners must work in the USPTO’s offices in Alexandria, VA. That requirement will certainly reduce the candidate pool and discourage more experienced, less mobile applicants. Nonetheless, the USPTO is hiring new examiners!
Why Is the USPTO Hiring Patent Examiners in 2025?
Why now? Perhaps it’s the fact that the USPTO has a backlog of 826,000 unexamined patent applications, the most in at least a decade, even though patent filings are almost flat over the last ten years. Perhaps it’s the fact that the USPTO has an average pendency of 23.2 months to a first office action, also the highest in at least a decade. Perhaps it’s the fact that the President owns valuable intellectual property in the form of his trademarks. Perhaps it’s the fact that Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick (who has overall oversight of the USPTO) is listed as an inventor on hundreds of patents and patent applications.
Perhaps it’s all of those reasons. Regardless of the reason, one lesson we can take away – the USPTO and the U.S. patent are not dead. This author believes that we will see stronger U.S. patents over the next few years.
— Robert Yarbrough, Esq.