Obama rips USPTO

In a post titled Obama: Patent office's system is 'embarrassing', Kim Hart points to a remark by President Obama which is not flattering to the US Patent Office.

The first comment suggests that the President may have gone for a soundbyte, rather than the deeper problem:

The case management system is not nearly as much of a problem as President Obama makes it out to be. It is what it is, could be better, but it's not the source of the delays.The big problem in obtaining a patent is the lack of qualified examiners relative to the number and complexity of applications. A successful patent application carefully defines the "novelty" to be protected, without being so narrow that it offers little protection or so broad that it won't be granted.Patent examiners must understand and "get" the novelty, then examine the entire body of patents to see if it has already been patented. As the number of patents increases, this challenge gets harder. Patent lawyers for the inventor fight to get a patent granted, and lawyers for the other side challenge patents and claim infringement.With a system built for contention, it's a wonder anything gets a patent. But it's not the computer's fault!

Also, a comment on PatentHawk also questions with the Prez got his arms around the real issue:

Unfortunately, even our President doesn't have the facts straight on how EFS currently works. Instead, it would help if the Obama administration would focus on "real issues," amongst others, Congress again "stealing" user fees that are badly needed to support the USPTO's operation.