<div dir="ltr"><div>In the meantime:</div><div><br></div><div><p style="color:rgb(33,33,33);font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none;margin:0px;font-weight:bold;font-family:LatoWebBold,Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.2"><a href="https://www.law360.com/ip/articles/2289297?nl_pk=85293991-3e6d-4814-9099-f48bacd22414&secondary_source=truncated&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ip&utm_content=2025-01-30-impaired-2&read_main=1&nlsidx=0&nlaidx=0" title="https://www.law360.com/ip/articles/2289297?nl_pk=85293991-3e6d-4814-9099-f48bacd22414&secondary_source=truncated&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ip&utm_content=2025-01-30-impaired-2&read_main=1&nlsidx=0&nlaidx=0" style="color:rgb(0,103,177);text-decoration:none">USPTO Backlog 'Unacceptable,' Trump's Commerce Pick Says</a></p><p style="font-family:LatoWeb,Arial,sans-serif;font-variant-caps:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none;margin:6px 0px;font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-style:italic;line-height:1.2">By Ryan Davis</p><p style="color:rgb(33,33,33);font-family:LatoWeb,Arial,sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none;margin:2px 0px 3px;font-size:14px;line-height:1.2">Commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick said at his confirmation hearing Wednesday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's backlog of unexamined patent applications is "unacceptable," and pledged to work to reduce it so that patents are issued more quickly.</p><p style="color:rgb(33,33,33);font-family:LatoWeb,Arial,sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none;margin:2px 0px 3px;font-size:14px;line-height:1.2"><br></p><p style="color:rgb(33,33,33);font-family:LatoWeb,Arial,sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none;margin:2px 0px 3px;font-size:14px;line-height:1.2"><a href="https://www.law360.com/ip/articles/2289297">https://www.law360.com/ip/articles/2289297</a></p><p style="color:rgb(33,33,33);font-family:LatoWeb,Arial,sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none;margin:2px 0px 3px;font-size:14px;line-height:1.2"><br></p><p style="color:rgb(33,33,33);font-family:LatoWeb,Arial,sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none;margin:2px 0px 3px;font-size:14px;line-height:1.2">This is going to be an interesting needle to thread, attempting to force examiners back into in-person, while pledging to reduce backlog.</p><p style="color:rgb(33,33,33);font-family:LatoWeb,Arial,sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none;margin:2px 0px 3px;font-size:14px;line-height:1.2"><br></p><p style="color:rgb(33,33,33);font-family:LatoWeb,Arial,sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none;margin:2px 0px 3px;font-size:14px;line-height:1.2">Judith</p><p style="color:rgb(33,33,33);font-family:LatoWeb,Arial,sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-decoration:none;margin:2px 0px 3px;font-size:14px;line-height:1.2"><br></p></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Jan 28, 2025 at 10:53\u202fPM Carl Oppedahl via Patentpractice <<a href="mailto:patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com">patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><u></u>
<div>
See <a href="https://blog.oppedahl.com/uspto-employees-offered-buyouts-to-retire-early-to-avoid-having-to-return-to-the-office/" target="_blank">blog
article</a>.
</div>
-- <br>
Patentpractice mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com" target="_blank">Patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com</a><br>
<a href="http://oppedahl-lists.com/mailman/listinfo/patentpractice_oppedahl-lists.com" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://oppedahl-lists.com/mailman/listinfo/patentpractice_oppedahl-lists.com</a><br>
</blockquote></div>