GAO Report Suggests Improving Patent Quality

The Government Accountability Office issued a report on August 22, 2013 – mandated by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act¹ – recommending that the Secretary of Commerce direct the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to "consider examining trends in patent infringement litigation, including the types of patent and issues in dispute, and to consider linking this information to internal data on patent examination to improve the quality of issued patents and the patent examination process."²

Additionally, the report stated that the number of patent infringement lawsuits has gone up since enactment of the America Invents Act, that software-related patents are often overly broad or have unclear claims, and that patents are "a more valuable asset than once assumed."³. The GAO report concluded that "the focus on the identity of the litigant—rather than the type of patent—may be misplaced."⁴