Albert Einstein, Patent Examiner

 Did you know that Albert Einstein worked at the Swiss patent office in the early 1900s? I did not, until a patron asked about his work with the USPTO. I felt like that was a little factoid I would know, because the USPTO would absolutely love to tell people about it, so I decided to do a little research.

As it turns out, Einstein was not employed by the US Patent Office. However, he did work for the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property.

Much like I had imagined the USPTO would have done had it employed Einstein, the Swiss IGE proudly boasts of his time there between 1902 and 1909, and even has a group of webpages dedicated to information about his time there. 

I wanted to try to search for patents he has examined, but it turns out most patents that old are not well-indexed enough to search for with very specific parameters. Of course the Swiss IGE has a few listed that he most likely examined personally (with a disclaimer) because they aren't 100% certain either. From my point of view, it's also not nearly as fun as trying to craft the exact query phrase to find just his patents. 

If you're interested in learning more, here's a link to the Swiss IGE page about Einstein.

And here's a list of the patents they believe he examined personally, copied from their page:   

• Pat.-Nr. 39561 (pdf): Gravel sorter

• Pat.-Nr. 39619 (pdf): Meteorological station controlled by ambient humidity

• Pat.-Nr. 39853 (pdf): Electrical typewriter with shuttle-type carrier

• Supplementary-Pat.-Nr. 39988 (pdf) (to main patent Nr. 38853):

    Alternative-current commentator motor with short-circuit brushes and opposite-mounted auxiliary coils for spark suppression

• Objections to Alternative-current commentator motor (pdf) 

Anyway, check back next week for a lengthier post about IP I was able to actually search for a post.

Federal Register -- Patent Examiner Employment Application

 

Federal Register
Vol. 85, No. 206
Friday, October 23, 2020

Patent and Trademark Office

NOTICES

Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and

Approvals:  Patent Examiner Employment Application,

67525–67526 [2020–23521]                                                           [TEXT]  [PDF]

Request for Comments on Examination Time Goals

Comment Request from the Federal Register Volume 81, Number 206 (Tuesday, October 25, 2016)[Pages 73383-73384]:

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office or USPTO) is soliciting public feedback as part of an effort to reevaluate its examination time goals. Examination time goals vary by technology and represent the average amount of time that a patent examiner is expected to spend examining a patent application in a particular technology. The Office plans to use the public feedback as an input to help ensure that the Office's examination time goals accurately reflect the amount of time needed by examiners to conduct quality examination in a manner that responds to stakeholders' interests. In addition to accepting public feedback through the submission of written comments, the Office will provide the following avenues for increased interactive participation: IdeaScale[supreg], a Web-based collaboration tool that allows users to post comments and interact with the posted comments of others; and five roundtables that the Office will be conducting in: Alexandria, Virginia; Detroit, Michigan; Denver, Colorado; Dallas,Texas; and San Jose, California.

DATES: Written Comments Deadline: To be ensured of consideration, written comments must be received on or before December 27, 2016.

For more information https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-10-25/html/2016-25758.htm

Patent Examiner Training Seeking Expert Assistance

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is expanding its Patent Examiner Technical Training Program and requesting voluntary assistance from scientists, engineers, professors and industrial designers to participate as guest lecturers.

Those interested in being a guest lecturer are invited to submit a request via the online form available at http://www.uspto.gov/patents/pettp.jsp or by sending an email request to Examiner_Technical_Training@uspto.gov .

Download a PDF of a brochure explaining the details at: http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/pettp_brochure201406.pdf.

Patent Examiner Recruitment

For fiscal year 2012 the USPTO is planning to hire 1500 new examiners preferably with a bachelor's or advanced degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, or mechanical engineering. Applicants should also have effective oral and written communication skills and be able to succeed in a production-oriented environment.

Interviews will be conducted during the Patent Examiner Recruitment Open House held on Friday, May 18 and Saturday, May 19 at USPTO Headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. To schedule an interview register at http://www.usptocareers.gov/jobfair/ by Tuesday, May 15, 2012.

For those unable to attend the open house, an online application is available through the USPTO's Careers website: www.USPTOcareers.gov.

New USPTO Detroit Office

In December the USPTO announced plans to open a satellite office in Detroit that will create new patent examiner jobs in an effort to reduce the patent backlog. See the Dec. 16, 2010 press release for more details.

The USPTO has now opened an email address, DetroitHiring@uspto.gov, for those seeking more information about job opportunities and the hiring process for the new office.

"The Detroit office – the first-ever USPTO regional office – is scheduled to open later this year, and the hiring of patent examiners is slated to begin in the spring. More than 100 new positions are expected to be filled within the office’s first year of opening."

Patent Examiner Technical Training Program

[Federal Register: September 15, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 178)]
[Notices][Page 56059-56061]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15se10-47]
--------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
[Docket No. PTO-P-2010-0061]
Patent Examiner Technical Training Program
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.

To view the complete text of this notice see:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2010_register&docid=fr15se10-47
-----------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is seeking public assistance in providing technical training to patent examiners within all technology centers. The Patent Examiner Technical Training Program (PETTP) is intended to provide scientists and experts as lecturers to patent examiners in order to update them on technical developments, the state of the art, emerging trends, maturing technologies, and recent innovations in their fields. Such guest lecturers must have relevant technical knowledge, as well as familiarity with prior art and industry practices/standards in areas of technology where such lectures would be beneficial.

DATES: Effective Date: September 15, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Raul Tamayo, Legal Advisor, Office of Patent Legal Administration, Office of the Associate Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy, at (571) 272-7728.

Wynn Coggins, Director of Technology Center (TC) 3600, available at (571) 272-5350, will provide oversight of the Patent Examiner Technical Training Program.

Hiring Practices Not Reducing Patent Application Backlog

The GAO (General Accounting Office) released a report on February 27, 2008 entitled: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: Hiring Efforts Are Not Sufficient to Reduce the Patent Application Backlog . The report indicates that attrition is offsetting hiring efforts with one patent examiner leaving the USPTO for approximately every two hired during the period 2002-2006. The newly hired examiners leave at the highest rate. Seventy percent of those who left had been at the agency for less than five years.

One of the chief reasons for leaving appears to be production goals formulated over 30 years ago that do not reflect the complexity of today's applications. Seventy percent of patent examiners worked unpaid overtime last year to meet their production goals. On the other hand, the USPTO's retention policies introduced between 2002 and 2006 are cited by those who chose to stay. The examiners who remained on the job liked the USPTO's salary and pay incentives and the flexible work schedule.