U.S. lawmakers push patent office to tighten rules for examiners who cheat

By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has tightened supervision of its 8,600 patent examiners, many of whom work from home, because of allegations that some claimed time when they were not working, an official said Tuesday. But both Republicans and Democrats in Congress pressed the agency to do more. The biggest reason that fraud was not worse was because most were generally honest, even though managers generally do not punish those who are not, said Todd Zinser, inspector general at the U.S. Commerce Department, which oversees the agency also known as the USPTO. "I do not think that time and telework abuse at the PTO has reached systemic levels," Zinser said at a joint hearing of the House of Representatives Judiciary and Oversight committees. "It would be easy for a large number of workers to cheat if they wanted to." Among the changes at the patent office, the estimated 5,000 patent examiners who work from home full-time must now be available electronically when they are on duty, said Margaret Focarino, commissioner for patents at the USPTO. U.S. Representative Darrell Issa, the Republican chairman of the Oversight committee and a tough critic of the Obama administration, said agency efforts were inadequate. Examiners have been accused of "end-loading," or turning in most of their work just before a quarter ends to satisfy what is essentially a quota. Critics say examiners also practice "mortgaging," or turning in unfinished work to get credit for the quarter. Issa called the two practices "scams against fee-paying applicants." Representative John Conyers, a Democrat, agreed. "It appears that some patent examiners were paid for not working, which is a fraud against taxpayers," he said. "(It) will not be tolerated." The patent office has long been under fire for taking more than two years to approve patent applications. It also has been criticized for approving what some say are weak patents, which critics say spawned frivolous litigation. The patent office has been without a permanent director since February 2013. The White House nominated former Google executive Michelle Lee to be the new director last month. She currently is running the office on an acting basis. That nomination is subject to approval by the U.S. Senate. The patent office, which is part of the Commerce Department, awards patents and registers trademarks. (Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by David Gregorio and Jonathan Oatis)