[donaldc]

Since the USPTO is financed by patent application fees it has a perverse incentive to continue promiscuously granting as many patents as possible.

I would hope that filers for patents that are rejected would still get charged a fee. If they aren't, they should be. After all, it still takes up a patent clerk's time.

[rgraham]

This appears to be the case. Well, perhaps not an additional fee, but filing isn't cheap.

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/qs/ope/fee031913.htm