(This article first appeared on IPWatchDog)

I used think that if I followed the law, applied for a patent, and that patent application was approved, then I would receive a patent that protects my invention. But U.S. patents don’t work like that anymore. They are useless if a big corporation decides to steal your invention. Several factors have led to this dire situation but the number one enemy of inventors is the politicized division of the patent office called the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Rather than issuing and defending patents, the job of the PTAB is to revoke patents. They are very proficient at this, overturning their examiner colleagues over 90% of the time. My own patents are in limbo with the examining division issuing patents for my Bunch O Balloons invention, but then the PTAB comes along afterward to declare it a mistake. It has cost me millions of dollars in legal fees and enabled a notorious infringer to avoid liability for stealing my invention.

To read the rest of Josh Malone’s Article, click here.