Who influences USPTO patent examiners?

Abstract

We test for evidence that the patent attorney has an extra-ordinary influence on the patent examiner using data on examiner citations of 93 608 patent applications to the USPTO. We find that examiners cite patents from the same patent attorney (as used for the focal application) at an abnormally high rate. This evidence is consistent with the view that attorneys are influencing the examiners reports. Coupled with new evidence that non-blocking examiner citations have a positive effect on the grant decision, this suggest that the grant decision may be compromised.