In a major policy speech in Washington, D.C., today, Microsoft's general counsel pressed for sweeping reforms of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. If the suggestions are heeded, it could mean fewer legal headaches for the software company, which spends $100 million a year fighting intellectual property cases. In a speech to the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative policy group, Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) General Counsel Brad Smith said that while "we have benefited substantially as an industry and a country from patent protection...the long-term health [of the patent system] is threatened unless we take this opportunity to reform it." The company was careful to point out several times that the PTO is an important engine for economic growth in the U.S., but that it is under-funded and has become overwhelmed with an explosion in patent applications. According to Microsoft, the number of applications filed to the PTO annually has tripled to about 350,000 over the past two decades. In 2004, the PTO approved more than half of those, roughly the same number it approved in 2003.