[bduerst]

Does USPTO make more money if it approves patents? I thought you paid the submission fee whether it's approved or not.

[MichaelBurge]

If it rejected 99.9% of patents, the expected value of the typical application drops to 1/1000 its current value. So fewer people would pay the application fee.

Fewer patent clerks would be needed, so their operating costs would also decrease. But presumably not below 1/1000.

[derekp7]

If it gets a reputation for being stricter on granting patents, a lot of people won't waste their time or money in submissions that are likely to be rejected.

[mrguyorama]

I may be mistaken, but I believe patent renewal fees are a thing, and more expensive than the application

[chris_wot]

The USPTO does not primarily deal with law enforcement.