The U.S. Patent Office’s Radical Overhaul Sabotages Innovation and Public Trust

Alex Moss | April 2, 2025

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)—America’s guardian of innovation—is gutting its own mission through reckless policy changes that prioritize speed over scrutiny. Recent decisions to slash examiner resources, dismantle training programs, and fast-track patent approvals threaten to flood the system with low-quality patents, eroding public trust and handing monopolies to corporations at the expense of genuine inventors, entrepreneurs, and patients.

Slashing Access to Critical Prior Art Tools

The USPTO has abruptly axed access to non-patent literature (NPL) databases like SciFinder, the Scientific Technology Network (STN), and ProQuest—tools essential for vetting breakthroughs in fields like pharmaceuticals and chemistry. One examiner warned:

“A large portion of TC1600 [chemical patents] and TC1700 [pharmaceuticals] are about to grind to a halt because STN has not been renewed.”  

Without these databases, examiners cannot uncover prior art hidden in academic journals or clinical studies. Blocking examiners’ access to this information fuels abusive practices like “evergreening,” where companies patent trivial tweaks to old drugs—like Ozempic’s dubious patents—to block generics and gouge prices. By crippling examiners’ ability to detect unoriginal claims, the USPTO is effectively rubber-stamping monopolies that harm patients and stifle competition.

Dismantling Training and Expertise

The Office has also scrapped mentorship programs, abandoning junior examiners to navigate complex legal and technical minefields alone. A new examiner starkly put it:

 "I’m a new junior: I can't even get enough time with my SPE to review the cases I need them to sign, much less get any training or advice. My production has tanked since I left academy.”

Patent examination demands years of nuanced judgment to distinguish true innovation from legal loopholes. Yet the USPTO is silencing seasoned experts while greenlighting rushed reviews by untrained staff. The result? A surge in error-riddled patents that later implode in costly litigation, where over 40% of patents claims are invalidated due to shoddy examination.

Sacrificing Scrutiny for Speed

The USPTO is hacking away at examiner time allotments, boasting plummeting pendency rates while examiners sound alarms:

"The Office eliminated virtually all of the other time [available for examination] across the board. Of course production will go up.”

“New approach to examining is allowing everything.”

In fields like AI and biotech, where applications demand meticulous analysis, this “approve now, litigate later” approach is a recipe for disaster. Rushed reviews let invalid patents slip through, emboldening patent trolls and monopolists. For patients, it means delayed generics and drugs priced beyond reach—like Humira, which blocked U.S. competitors for decades by stockpiling dubious patents.

A Crisis for American Innovation

High-quality patents are the lifeblood of progress, rewarding inventors while safeguarding them –and all Americans—from predatory patent claims. But the USPTO’s race to approve patents at any cost invites chaos: small businesses drown in litigation, drug prices soar, and trust in the system crumbles. With prescription drugs already costing more than twice as much in the U.S. as abroad, the Office’s failures aren’t just bureaucratic—they’re lethal.

Urgent Fixes Before the Damage Is Irreversible

The USPTO must reverse course—immediately. Restore NPL access, resurrect mentorship, and grant examiners time to scrutinize, not rubber-stamp. If necessary, Congress must step in to ensure the USPTO follows the law by granting patents only to genuine inventions instead of handing out monopolies like Halloween candy.

For centuries, the U.S. patent system fueled global innovation by balancing corporate interests with public good. Today, that legacy is being auctioned off to the highest bidder. If the USPTO won’t defend its mission, lawmakers and the public must demand accountability—before America’s innovation engine grinds to a halt.