🚀 go-pugleaf

     An interesting observation about patents and recessions.  The March
24th issue of the Official Gazette of the US Patent Office listed about
2000 patents that had expired because the assignee failed to pay the
maintenance fees.  I haven't looked closely, but I suspect many of these
were due to small businesses and individuals not having the money to
maintain their patents, for one commercial reason or another.
     This list of 2000 was an unusual amount for the Gazette, which 
usually lists some patents expiring, but I haven't seen to many with so
many.

Greg Aharonian
Source Translation & Optimization

[mod- this may not be so unusual. In the past the US did not have
renewal fees, now they have them every 4 years. This would result in a
lot higher number of patents actually lapsing were as in the past
they would have not showed up...]