It's Official, The Patent System Needs To Be Fixed

“the [National Research] council recommended in its report that the patent office and Congress take seven steps to improve the patent system. Those steps include, among other things, hiring new patent examiners, creating a more open system for challenging questionable patents, and rejecting more patents on processes that are deemed to be "obvious" by people in the field.” [1]

Finally, some traction in the government.

[1] http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,63248,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_4