.through Dennis Crouch.The USPTO possesses 2 traditional functionalities: (1) high quality exam to make sure requests delight the asking for statutory needs of patentability and also (2) well-timed as well as dependable processing of those requests. Latest information advises the Workplace is actually having problem with the second of these directeds, as demonstrated in a sharp uptick in Patent Phrase Modification (PTA) awards. [Graphes below]