riff_raff
It is a sad situation. I agree with your comments about government employees. In addition, the low cost of the actual filing of a Patent Application will resulted in approximately 300,000 new US Patent Applications in 2009. These employees may not have the time to properly process these applications, even if they are consciences individuals.
It has been reported that the Congress is unable to revise the patent situation in the US due to resistance from the drug industry in general, plus United Technologies and 3M specifically. Why would large companies want it changed when they can be granted nebulous patents? They can then use these patents as the crowbar to pry open the Court's door and then use their financial resources as the mallet to knockout the financially handicapped opponent.
Occasionally we read about a 'small guy' winning against a large corporation. However, it is probably the rarity of this event that gave cause for the article.
Happy New Year,
Dave