By Dr. Cassandra Swain, Microsoft Corp. (December 9, 2016, 1:07 PM EST) -- Over the past seven years, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has made patent quality a major priority, launching initiatives and taking executive action to reduce application pendency, enhance prior art search capabilities, bolster examiner training, increase clarity of the record, enhance transparency, and calibrate examiner incentives. Putting these efforts in context, Duke Law School's Center for Innovation Policy and Santa Clara Law School's High Tech Law Institute organized two patent quality conferences, inviting input from policymakers, academics and stakeholders. Discussion began Sept. 9 in Santa Clara, California, and will resume Dec. 13 at a forum co-organized by the USPTO and hosted at its headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. Here, in the latest article from conference participants, Microsoft Corp. Assistant General Counsel Cassandra Swain shares her perspective....