The comments discuss the practical concerns regarding software patents, including the rising application and allowance rates, the “positive feedback loop” of increased applications with increased allowances, and constraints including budget and backlog that lead the PTO to issue poor quality patents. Most of the patent office’s constituents are applicants themselves, for whom PTO quality control is not a priority. These constituents are paid to prosecute patents, even at the expense of diverting resources and quality control.
In support of CCIA’s argument, the comments raised several compelling statistics, including the rising number of software patents themselves (last year saw an all-time record of 68,711 software patents allowed); the rising allowance rate of utility, plant and reissue patents generally; and the rising backlog, which pressures the PTO to issue patents rather than allow them to remain in its queue.
