Dell's Peterman needs to check his facts

Anthony Peterman of Dell in a commentary entitled Reform act of 2007 a patently good idea in the News & Observer had text:

Second, the number of patent applications has mushroomed but the strained resources of the Patent and Trademark Office have been unable to keep up. As a result, a rising tide of patents is overwhelming hardworking patent examiners and a higher number of low-quality patents are getting by. According to the Federal Trade Commission: "A questionable patent can raise costs and prevent competition and innovation that would otherwise benefit consumers."

Peterman needs to be reminded of text in the NAS/STEP report. Careful reading of the National Academy of Sciences/STEP report reveals a lack of firmness in the "patent quality" conclusion. At page 3, one reads: "The claim that quality has deteriorated in a broad and systematic way could be, but has not been, empirically tested. Therefore, conclusions must remain tentative." At page 48, one has the statement: "Nevertheless, the claim that quality has deteriorated in a broad and systematic way has not been empirically tested."

One can also note Getting the Patent Reform Wars Back on Track