If you have ever filed anything with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), you are completely aware of how long the turn-around takes before a patent application review is completed.  On average, an application will take approximately thirty-six grueling months before being processed.  I am not saying that this DMV-like delay is the result of poor workmanship, quite the contrary; resources and funding is usually the prime culprit.

However, it was recently announced that the Obama administration is trying to get Congress to allot an additional $279 million to the USPTO.   The goal of such an enormous increase in budget would be to help the USPTO process applications more quickly, trying to reduce the process time to approximately twenty months on average.

Do not think that the Patent Office has a lot on their plate?  Just ask the 700,000 patent applicants from last year who have been backlogged, and I am sure you will get an earful.

What do you think?  Should the Obama administration be spending this amount of money for the USPTO in such a time of recession?