“If the American patent system was a factory, 68% of the products we put out are found defective in a later proceeding.” – John Squires

Earlier today, John Squires, who is President Trump’s pick to become the next Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), had his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. For better or worse, the panel today also included nominees Stanley Woodward, Jr. for Associate Attorney General; T. Elliott Gaiser for Assistant Attorney General; and Joseph Edlow for Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, all of whom attracted more attention and questions than did Squires.

During the hearing, Squires said his focus will be on making sure patents are “born strong” in light of the fact that—according to his remarks—inter partes reviews (IPRs) at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) show there is a 68% error rate. In other words, nearly 7 in 10 patents issued by the Office are currently “defective” according to Squires. IPWatchdog reached out to both the USPTO and Squires for confirmation of this statistic. A spokesperson for the USPTO said they were not sure where the number came from, and Squires had not responded as of the time of publication.

Sources:IPWatchdog