The office was formally opened a year ago when Russomano arrived from the Department of Defense. The PTO had been working steadily on reinvention efforts for about two years, but Russomano says there was a general lack project discipline when he arrived. Immediately he focused on improving the patent examination structure. That isn't surprising at an agency that receives a wave of 1,000 patent applications per day. The PTO also has a strong tradition of individuality.
Patent examiners tend to work alone in a well-established routine.
That's is a big challenge for an agency that is currently housed in 15 buildings. Mail and new patent applications are moved among the buildings in shrink-wrapped rolling carts to keep the weather out. The goal to drive the average pendency time down from the current 19 months. Right now, PTO examiners directly deal with he applications for 11.6 months. The rest of the pendency happens while applicants answer specific questions about their inventions.