One group of administrative judges needs more independence from its agency

To keep patent disputes out of the courts, Congress formed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board a few years back in the America Invents Act. A survey of patent judges conducted by the Government Accountability Office came up with a disturbing finding. Three quarters of the judges said U.S. Patent and Trademark Office management pressured them to change their decisions. To get more on this story, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Candice Wright, GAO’s Director for Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics.