It’s official – President Obama has lost another nominee for Secretary of Commerce. Republican Senator Judd Gregg officially withdrew from consideration for the post, citing political differences with the administration.

As this story was developing, the Patent and Trademark Office held its public roundtable discussion on the possibility of implementing a deferred examination procedure (the request for examination sort, not the de facto deferred sort). The discussion was mostly mundane, but did have a few high points.

One exchange in particular caught my ear -  John Doll and Professor Arti Rai hinted at a planned increase in the fee for filing a Request for Continued Examination. Some feel Professor Rai’s comments carried an implication that the fee should be set high enough to actually discourage the filing of RCE’s (see the comments on this PatentlyO post).  Indeed, late yesterday, a trusted source from the Office, who wishes to remain anonymous, confirmed that “a rumor that has been circulating is that a proposed significant fee increase is forthcoming.” If true, look for statistics regarding increases in various after final procedures first….to justify any later proposed increases as reasonably related to covering the cost of examination.

The roundtable comments by Doll and Rai should serve to put the patent bar on notice: the Office continues to seek radical administrative reform, all while President Obama continues the troubled search for a policy leader in the Department of Commerce. In the absence of policy directives from above, the pursuit for administrative efficiency appears to be guiding the ship.