(2002-04-19) e

Silly patent Of The Day: swinging sideways, issued to a 5-year-old. A spokeswoman for the Patent and Trademark Office said she could not comment on the merits of any particular invention, but pointed out that typically only 400 of the 187,000 patents issued each year come under challenge... Inventors have long grumbled that the Patent Office has a lengthy backlog--currently 25 months--and that application fees go into the general government budget, rather than being used specifically to fund patent examinations.