Faster, better - costlier? [US Patent & Trademark Office's strategic plan]

The US Patent & Trademark Office's (PTO) 350-page strategic plan, unveiled last June, is reviewed. The 21st Century Strategic Plan to dig the PTO out of a growing backlog of patent applications is bold and controversial. The plan got a push on 2 November, when US President George W. Bush signed into law the 21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act, which, among other things, requires that the plan officially be submitted to Congress within four months. The act also provides the PTO with up to US $50 million a year for the next three years for an electronic system for filing and processing patents and trademarks.