The Israel Patent Office is to hire 42 new examiners by the end of the year, says a source at the patent office.
This will more than double the number of examiners available and should reduce the backlog of unexamined files. Most of the new examiners will be regular patent examiners and will be assigned to the various departments, depending on backlog levels. A small number will join the PCT Receiving Office and the trademark departments.
It is anticipated that once the new examiners are able to work unaided, some of the pensionable examiners, that are well past normal retirement age but have been kept on as subcontractors on special contracts, will finally retire.
THE IP FACTOR 