NATIONAL ACADEMY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION TO CALL FOR THE CORPORATIZATION OF THE USPTO: In a report summary being circulated by NAPA, a recommendation is being floated to reorganize the USPTO as a federal corporation. The idea behind the reorganization is to insulate the USPTO against fee diversion (which is always a good idea), and to set the USPTO loose in establishing its own performance milestones.

Under the proposed reorganization, the CEO position would take the place of a board of directors, and an "advisory board" could be set up to provide input from people interested in patent policy.

A PTO spokesman had no comment on the recommendation but said an official response will be included in the final report when it is released in the near future.

Calls were previously made to incorporate the USPTO (the last serious attempt was in 1997) , but it never panned out, mostly dues to resistance from independent inventors and federal employee unions (POPA). I doubt it will go anywhere this time either, but I still think it's a good idea.