Amazon's one click patent is now getting reexamined, which I blogged about earlier, and another patent application is getting reexamined as well.

At the request of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) will reexamine a controversial patent for online test-taking from Test.com. The reexamination order is the second granted in just two months after petitions from EFF's Patent Busting Project.

I like the EFF. As far as I can tell, I think they are doing a good job that is in line with their mission. However, their characterization of their reexamination "win" confuses me. The EFF "Breaking News" entitled "Internet Test-Taking Patent Draws Official Suspicsion" says

"Bogus patents like these are hurting innovation and education in America," said EFF Staff Attorney Jason Schultz, who heads up the project. "This is a perfect example of how the patent system is broken and what needs to be fixed."

Broken? How? If the patent system was that broken then the EFF would not be able to request a reexamination and get it granted. Reexamination is part of the patent system because the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says "Hey we don't know everything."; "We don't know every piece of prior art that exist." or "We make mistakes sometimes." It is commmendable for a government agency to go back over their work to try to get it right on a second try. I wish I could say that about the executive branch other government agencies.

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