Unfortunately not, because when applications are rejected, the lawyers simply change some parts and send them back in. The only way to get rid of an application forever (as far as I know) is to accept it.
Well, guess we'll be spending the day invalidating this.
Instead of getting angry, just invalidate! It's easy! Find some prior art. This one should be a fucking dawdle.
It doesn't fully contradict your point, but FWIW, Applicants do have to pay the USPTO $1,200 to $1,700 (with some exceptions) every other time they send the application back in. And of course, "changing some parts" typically involves reducing the scope of rights you're seeking, which most folks would regard as progress for the public's interest.
That is peanuts to a large firm who has now pushed a large legal burden on it's competitors.
If this is about saving money and clearing the backlog, then the government is externalizing the cost back to the tech industry.
If patent applications were version controlled with git, it'd be easy to check if those changes warranted a patent. No need to reread the entire thing, if the same examiner were checking it.
Maybe there should be a limit to the number of times to can refile a rejected patent and within a limited amount of time (like 6-9 months)
